How to stop harassment & bullying on Google+

• Reach out. If you’re friends with a person who’s making you feel uncomfortable, ask them to take down the content that’s bothering you. You’d be surprised how often this works. In some cases, the person who posted the content might not have known how it would make you feel.
• Report abuse. Report the content to Google using your computer or mobile device. We review flagged content around the clock, and will take action if the content violates our policies. For example, we will remove the content if it violates our harassment policy, and we may even disable the user in some circumstances.
• Take control of your content. If someone has left a comment on one of your posts, you can report the comment for abuse or delete the comment. If you feel like things are getting out of control, consider disabling comments on that post.
• Try not to retaliate. Bullies and trolls (people who try to upset others online) often lose interest if you don’t respond. Engaging with these people can create a more toxic environment for everyone.
• Take action against the user.
  • Remove the user from your circles. After you remove them, you’ll stop seeing their updates in your stream.
  • Block the user. This is a more serious move. Among other things, blocking a user will stop the user from being able to add new comments to your content, and from mentioning you in their own posts and comments.

If you see someone being harassed or bullied on Google+, speak up. Don’t assume the problem will get solved on its own. If the person is a friend, you can reach out and offer support. You can also let the person know that they can get in touch with a counselor or law enforcement if they’re experiencing something severe.

We take harassment and bullying very seriously. If we see content meant to harass, threaten, or maliciously attack someone, we’ll remove it. That includes comments, photos, posts, and anything else shared on Google+. If we find that the primary purpose of a Google+ profile is to engage in harassment or bullying, we’ll remove the entire profile.

Sometimes, you may see content that you think is negative or mean, or that expresses an opinion that you don’t share. Though you’re welcome to report it, we’ll only remove content if it violates our User Content and Conduct Policy.

• If you’ve seen a pattern of abusive behavior towards you, be sure to report as many of the abusive posts or comments as you can. When we have multiple reports, it’s easier for us to identify harassment.
• Try to report the individual pieces of harassing content instead of reporting an entire page or profile. This will make it easier for us to find and review the specific pieces of bad content.
• Before you write a comment or post about someone, think about whether it might cross the line into bullying or harassment. Treat others the way you would want to be treated.
• You can read additional tips on how to protect teens from bullying.

For more information about what is and isn’t allowed on Google+, please read our User Content and Conduct Policy.

Learn more about steps you can take to be safe on the Internet by visiting the Google Safety Center.