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FactHub reusable chart

How many of six contested viewpoint topics each platform's rules restrict

Bar chart: of six political flashpoint topics, how many each of nine social platforms' written policies remove or restrict, as of October 2026.

Credit: FactHub analysis of platform policy pages

Node: chart:platform-viewpoint-rules-count

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Bar chart of how many of six contested viewpoint topics each platform's written rules remove or restrict: X 0, Rumble 0, Truth Social 0, Reddit 1, YouTube 2, Bluesky 2, Meta 3, mastodon.social 5, TikTok 6.

Hover over the chart or focus a point to inspect its values.

Of six contested topics (misgendering, gender-identity views, vaccine claims, stolen-election claims, climate denial, and calls to exclude or deport immigrants), X's and Rumble's written rules restrict none. Truth Social restricts none explicitly but has five vague catch-all rules. Reddit restricts 1, YouTube 2, Bluesky 2, Meta 3, mastodon.social 5 and TikTok all 6. Policies as of October 10, 2026.

What this chart asks

Which social platforms' written rules restrict the most contested political viewpoints?

Why it is shown this way

  • Bars compare a single count across nine platforms.
  • The y axis starts at zero and runs to the maximum of six topics, so bar lengths are proportional.
  • Platforms appear in the order of the saved analysis, from fewest to most restricted topics.

Chart annotations

These markers provide relevant context for interpreting the chart. Their timing or position does not, by itself, establish causation.

Written rules only; vague catch-all rules not counted
Value: 6

See the dataset for each platform's verdict and quote on every topic.

Data and accessibility

Download chart data · Open accessible table · Download PNG · Download SVG

Dataset social-media-viewpoint-policies, analysis viewpoint-index

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

Written viewpoint rules on nine US social platforms (October 2026)

  1. X Help Center: Abuse and harassment policy Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 1, 2026

  2. X Help Center: Hateful conduct policy Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 1, 2026

  3. X Help Center: Civic integrity policy Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 6, 2026

  4. X Help Center: The X Rules Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

  5. X Help Center: Violent and hateful entities policy Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured August 21, 2026

  6. X Help Center: Violent content policy Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured September 25, 2026

  7. X Help Center: Illegal or regulated goods and services policy Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

  8. Truth Social: Terms of Service Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 6, 2026

  9. Truth Social: Community Guidelines Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  10. Rumble: Terms and Conditions (last updated September 1, 2026) Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  11. Reddit Rules Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  12. Reddit Help: Hate Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

  13. Reddit Help: Quarantined communities Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

  14. Reddit Help: Illegal or prohibited transactions Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured August 20, 2026

  15. Reddit Help: How Reddit fights the dissemination of terrorist content Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

  16. Reddit Help: Violence Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

  17. YouTube Help: Hate speech policy Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

  18. YouTube Help: Harassment and cyberbullying policies Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 8, 2026

  19. YouTube Help: Medical misinformation policy Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

  20. YouTube Help: Elections misinformation policies Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  21. YouTube Help: Violent extremist or criminal organizations policy Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  22. YouTube Help: Sale of illegal or regulated goods or services policies Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  23. YouTube Help: Violent or graphic content policies Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  24. Google Publisher Policies: Climate change misinformation (monetization) Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  25. Meta Community Standards: Hateful conduct Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  26. Meta Community Standards: Bullying and harassment Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  27. Meta Community Standards: Misinformation Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  28. Meta Community Standards: Dangerous organizations and individuals Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  29. Meta Community Standards: Restricted goods and services Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  30. Meta Community Standards: Violent and graphic content Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

  31. Oversight Board decision on "From the River to the Sea" posts (September 4, 2024) Primary: Oversight Board decision applying Meta policy

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  32. Washington Times: Meta to remove posts targeting "Zionists" (July 9, 2024) Secondary news report of a policy change (Meta announcement page no longer loads)

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

  33. Bluesky Community Guidelines (last updated September 19, 2025) Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  34. TikTok Community Guidelines: Safety and civility Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 6, 2026

  35. TikTok Community Guidelines: Integrity and authenticity Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

  36. TikTok Community Guidelines: Regulated and commercial activities Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured September 28, 2026

  37. TikTok Community Guidelines: Sensitive and mature themes Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  38. mastodon.social server rules (instance rules API) Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  39. Mastodon Server Covenant Primary: platform policy page

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; short quotations used for commentary. Not redistributed; linked only

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

Limitations

  • Counts written rules, not how often or how evenly they are enforced.
  • Rules that could cover a topic but do not name it (vague rules) are not counted; Truth Social has five such rules and Bluesky three.
  • Each topic counts equally, and treating vaccine and climate misinformation rules as viewpoint restrictions is a judgment call.
  • mastodon.social is one Mastodon server; others set their own rules.
  • Reddit counts only site-wide rules, not subreddit rules.

Articles and datasets using this chart

Version details

The exact citing versions, and the version of this chart each cites.

  • Article x-most-permissive-social-network — version 5 (published) cites version 2