YouTube Trusted Flagger program

The YouTube Trusted Flagger program was developed by YouTube to help provide robust tools for individuals, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are particularly effective at notifying YouTube of content that violates our Community Guidelines.

The YouTube Trusted Flagger program includes:

A bulk-flagging tool that allows for reporting multiple videos at one time
Visibility into decisions on flagged content
Prioritized flag reviews for increased actionability
Ongoing discussion and feedback on various YouTube content areas
For NGOs only: Occasional online trainings

Program eligibility

Who can participate in the Trusted Flagger program?

Individual users, government agencies, and NGOs are eligible for participation in the YouTube Trusted Flagger program. Ideal candidates have identified expertise in at least one policy vertical (listed here), flag content frequently with a high rate of accuracy, and are open to ongoing discussion and feedback with YouTube about various content areas.

What are the steps to becoming a Trusted Flagger?

If you’re passionate about YouTube and becoming a Trusted Flagger, the first step to joining the program is to begin flagging potentially violative content for review. In order to flag content, including as part of the Trusted Flagger program, you must be signed into YouTube.

Individual Users

We invite users that flag a large volume of videos with a high rate of accuracy to join the Trusted Flagger program.

NGOs and Government Agencies

If you represent an NGO or Government agency and you wish to join the program, please reach out to your local point of contact at YouTube or Google. Please note that certain organizations, including those from countries where there is a history of human rights abuses or a suppression of speech, may be subject to further review.

Before becoming a Trusted Flagger, participants from governments and NGOs must attend a YouTube training to learn about our Community Guidelines and enforcement processes.

What are the requirements after joining the Trusted Flagger program?

The Trusted Flagger program exists to assist with the enforcement of our Community Guidelines. Participants must be committed to frequently flagging content that may violate them and open to ongoing discussion and feedback on various YouTube content areas. We also reserve the right to remove any participant who has not engaged significantly in the program.

Participants must provide their contact email or the contact email for at least one person in their organization who will be the ongoing Trusted Flagger point of contact. We will send periodic emails about the Trusted Flagger program to this email address. All participants in the Trusted Flagger program are subject to an NDA.

Please note that YouTube reserves the right to refuse participation in the program, modify program requirements, or suspend the program at our sole discretion.

Flag review process

Videos flagged by Trusted Flaggers are reviewed by YouTube content moderators according to YouTube’s Community Guidelines. Content flagged by Trusted Flaggers is not automatically removed or subject to any differential policy treatment — the same standards apply for flags received from other users. However, because of their high degree of accuracy, flags from Trusted Flaggers are prioritized for review by our teams.

The Trusted Flagger program exists exclusively for the reporting of possible Community Guideline violations. It is not a flow for reporting content that may violate local law. Requests based on local law can be filed following the instructions here.

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