Mid-year 2024 policy updates, shaped by your feedback

How your input helped shape Patreon’s latest policy developments.

In July, our Policy team shared some proposals and initiatives for creator feedback. We also held a policy livestream to discuss these developments in greater detail. Building on those discussions, we’re excited to share what’s been incorporated into our Community Guidelines and demonstrate how your feedback informed those decisions.

With creator support, the following policy updates are now reflected in the Community Guidelines:

• In the overview paragraph, we made it clearer that Patreon’s guidelines apply to creators and fans alike. We also explicitly stated our commitment to upholding globally-recognized standards for human rights like those established in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).
• In our section on Harassment, we articulated our username policy, noting that usernames cannot contain profanity directed at, or against, another person or group.
• Under Harmful Acts, we replaced the term “feederism” with “forced feeding” to be more inclusive and specific. We appreciate those creators whose input informed this adjustment.
• We detailed our zero tolerance policy related to human trafficking and sexual exploitation in the Illegal and Regulated Activities section.
• We made the following adjustments to language in our Sexually Gratifying Works guidelines based on feedback and input we heard directly from creators:
  • We added nuance under “Bestiality” to clarify the circumstances in which it is permitted for human characters to have sexual interactions with fictional mythological creatures.
  • We removed “Game of Thrones” as an example under the “Incest” section, to avoid confusion.
  • We codified the first Adult/18+ policy related to artificial intelligence that we had proposed in July: Specifically for AI-generated Adult/18+ works, hyperrealistic depictions of people must be of real humans who have documented their explicit consent (see “Age verification and consent documentation” for details). AI-generated Adult/18+ works that are animated or illustrated — as opposed to hyperrealistic — and otherwise comply with Patreon’s Sexually Gratifying Works policies, are permitted on Patreon. We also included detailed criteria for what is considered hyperrealistic as opposed to animated or illustrated: Anatomical consistency with human features (i.e. not part-robot or part-animal), mimicking natural lighting and movement, detailed texture (e.g. skin pores, wrinkles, individual eyelashes, lifelike shadows), and composition (e.g. three-dimensional, high-resolution, with intricate backgrounds and foregrounds). We recognize that some Adult/18+ accounts focus primarily or exclusively on AI-generated hyperrealistic works and we are building in time and space for these creators to either modify their pages to comply with this policy change or transition off the platform smoothly. We will begin contacting affected creators in early 2025.
  • We also codified another policy related to Adult/18+ and artificial intelligence proposed in July: Patreon will not permit Adult/18+ accounts to offer fans access to AI-driven Adult/18+ chatbots, sexbots, or virtual girlfriend/boyfriend-type experiences that incorporate user-generated content (e.g. image generation or manipulation).
• Under Teen Safety and Violent and Graphic Works, we replaced the terms “photorealistic” and “photorealism” with “hyperrealistic” and “hyperrealism.” The criteria for what constitutes hyperrealism mentioned above applies here as well: Anatomical consistency with human features (i.e. not part-robot or part-animal), mimicking natural lighting and movement, detailed texture (e.g. skin pores, wrinkles, individual eyelashes, lifelike shadows), and composition (e.g. three-dimensional, high-resolution, with intricate backgrounds and foregrounds).

Your feedback drives our Creator Policy Engagement Program, and we encourage you to stay involved. Keep an eye out in the coming months for the next round of policy proposals. Until then, you can keep in touch with the team by emailing [email protected].