Communities we don't allow.
Most communities are welcome on Circus. A small number aren't — because they break the law, exist to cause harm, or are designed to dodge moderation. This page lists each category, why it's excluded, and what happens when one is set up.
Categories we don't host
Each category is enforced regardless of where the community is hosted, who runs it, or what name it goes by.
Communities organized around dehumanizing or targeting people based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, disability, gender, sexual orientation, age, or caste. Includes hate-symbol communities and groups whose central activity is harassing a specific person.
Examples: White-nationalist groups, communities organized around harassing a creator or member, hate-meme repositories framed as "humor".
Communities promoting, glorifying, recruiting for, or coordinating with terrorist organizations or violent extremist movements. Includes the production or distribution of attack manifestos and tactical material.
Examples: Designated-terror-org affiliates, accelerationist or militia recruitment, glorification of mass-casualty attacks.
Any community that sexualises, exploits, endangers, or enables grooming of minors. CSAM will be reported to NCMEC's CyberTipline and applicable national authorities as required by law before user uploads go live. Zero tolerance, no appeals, immediate account closure across the entire account holder.
Examples: Sharing of CSAM, grooming forums, predatory communities targeting under-18s.
Communities whose primary activity is the production, sharing, or sale of pornographic content. Circus isn't an adult platform; mature topics in non-pornographic contexts (e.g. dating, sex-ed, harm-reduction) are handled via the content guidelines.
Examples: Adult creator communities for explicit content, communities trading nude content, escort marketplaces.
Communities that encourage, glorify, or instruct self-harm, suicide, or eating-disorder behavior. Recovery and peer-support communities are welcome — the line is between supporting people and accelerating harm.
Examples: Pro-ana / pro-mia groups, self-harm method-sharing, suicide-pact organizing.
Communities that exist to sell, trade, or coordinate the distribution of items or services that are illegal in most jurisdictions Circus operates in.
Examples: Drug marketplaces, weapons sales, stolen-goods fencing, fake-document services, sex trafficking, organ trade.
Communities organized around defrauding others — phishing operations, romance-scam coordination, pump-and-dump groups, "investment opportunities" with no underlying business.
Examples: Phishing-kit trade, crypto pump groups, money-mule recruitment, fake "passive income" programs.
Communities that compile or share private personal information without consent, coordinate stalking, or organize off-platform threats. Includes "investigation" communities that exist to expose private individuals.
Examples: Address-doxxing forums, stalker-fan groups, vigilante "exposure" boards.
Networks of accounts impersonating real people, communities running coordinated inauthentic behavior, fake-engagement services, and bot-farm coordination.
Examples: Engagement-pod swap groups, sockpuppet-account markets, state-affiliated influence networks.
Communities organized around false medical claims that cause concrete harm — anti-vaccine recruitment, "miracle cure" sales targeting people with serious illness, communities promoting dangerous diet or treatment regimes.
Examples: MMS (chlorine dioxide) "cure" communities, conversion-therapy groups, dangerous fasting cults.
Communities organized around content depicting cruelty to or torture of animals — including organized animal-fighting and content created for entertainment.
Examples: Dog/cock-fighting communities, torture-content rings, "crush" communities.
Communities whose primary purpose is to dodge enforcement — coded-language repositories, ban-evasion coordination, alt-account swaps, "successor" communities for already-removed groups.
Examples: Ban-evasion how-to guides, "[name]-2" successor communities, dog-whistle dictionaries.
What happens when one is set up
Detection comes from member reports, internal scanning, and external feeds (NCMEC, GIFCT, regional regulators).
Reviewed within 24 hours
CSEA, terrorism, and credible-threat categories are reviewed within an hour. Other categories within one business day.
Removed and sanctioned
The community is taken down. The owner's account is suspended pending review. Members are notified the community has been removed and given a reason.
Reported & logged
Categories with legal reporting obligations are reported to the relevant authority. Aggregate numbers appear in our public transparency reporting.
Gray areas — what isn't on this list
Plenty of communities deal with hard topics without breaking the rules. Recovery, harm reduction, war reporting, sex-positive education, true-crime discussion, satire, controversial political opinion — all welcome, as long as they follow the community guidelines and the content guidelines.
The line is intent and effect, not topic. A grief community discussing suicide differs from a community encouraging it; a journalism community covering extremism differs from one recruiting for it. We err on the side of letting hard conversations happen — and we step in when the purpose tips toward harm.
Think a community was removed in error?
Every removal can be appealed. Owners receive a reason and a one-click appeal link in the same notification. Appeals are reviewed by a different person than the one who actioned the original decision.