General Overview
IAB Brand Safety Floor & Suitability Framework is an attempt to categorize any potentially unsafe content within the following scoring levels:
Floor = Unsafe content inappropriate for any monetization.
High Risk = Highly sensitive content appropriate for limited advertising with enhanced controls.
Medium Risk = Sensitive content within this risk level poses some concern for advertisers and should use limited controls.
Low Risk = Content that is likely considered safe for most advertisers.
Brand Safety & Suitability
The IAB defines brand suitability solutions as tools and guidelines to support brands and publishers in categorizing content that is typically deemed inappropriate for advertising. Brand suitability solutions enable brands to deliver content that aligns with their values and avoid content that is inappropriate for a specific brand but potentially suitable for another.
Adult & Explicit Sexual Content
Floor Definition
Illegal sale, distribution, and consumption of child pornography.
Explicit or gratuitous depiction of sexual acts and/or display of genitals, real or animated.
Interpretation Example
Discussions of child pornography, sexual acts, and/or genitals in graphic detail. Dating apps and references to related categories are unrelated to this content category.
High Risk
Suggestive sexual situations requiring adult supervision/approval or warnings.
Full or liberal nudity.
Interpretation Example
Discussions of sexual acts using somewhat graphic and opinionated language involving the sensitive topic. This interpretation contains descriptive language considered offensive by public standards that describe nudity and other adult content; however, it is not so graphic that it meets floor criteria.
Medium Risk
Dramatic depiction of sexual acts or sexuality issues presented in the context of entertainment.
Artistic Nudity.
Interpretation Example
Discussions of sexual-related topics to provide entertainment may include descriptions of lovemaking, making out, pleasure, body arousal, and descriptions of nudity using considerably lower-risk language suck as “curvy silhouette” and “voluptuous breasts.”
Low Risk
Educational, Informative, Scientific treatment of sexual subjects or sexual relationships or sexuality.
Interpretation Example
Conversations of this nature typically use anatomically correct terms for male and female anatomy and references to sexual health and related terminology.
Arms & Ammunition
Floor Definition
Promotion and advocacy of Sales of illegal arms, rifles, and handguns.
Instructive content on how to obtain, make, distribute, or use illegal arms.
The glamorization of illegal arms for the purpose of harming others.
Use of illegal arms in unregulated environments.
Interpretation Example
Discussions of firearms and their parts, muzzleloaders, and various references to “guns” are used to influence and harm listeners. Bombs and related topics, such as bombings, are included in the definition. An important distinction to highlight is that the baseline definition includes illegal and legal arms, but the differentiator in classification is the intent of the discussion.
High Risk
Glamorization/gratuitous depiction of illegal sale or possession of Arms.
Depictions of sale/use/distribution of illicit arms for inappropriate uses/harmful acts.
Interpretation Example
Discussions related to firearms and other weapons used to decapitate, execute, and/or slaughter individuals or groups of people. This risk level definition includes descriptive expansions on mob-related activity that glamorizes arms sales and related illegal transactions.
Promotion, advocacy, or instructive content is an audible description of steps required to execute an illegal sale or distribution of weapons.
Medium Risk
Dramatic depiction of weapons use presented in the context of entertainment.
Breaking News or Op-Ed coverage of arms and ammunition.
Interpretation Example
Discussions will likely appear as descriptions within breaking news or op-ed coverage of mass shootings, the National Rifle Association, and gun rights activism.
In the entertainment context, the same topics could be discussed in stories or entertainment reviews that include movie or show titles.
Low Risk
Educational, informative, scientific treatment of arms use, possession, or illegal sale.
News feature stories on the subject.
Interpretation Example
Educational or news episodes that describe and discuss topics such as open carry laws, ballistics, and firearms legislation or federal regulations. These topics could include descriptions of ballistics reports, microscopic bullet marks on a bullet, and cartridge cases.
Crime & Harmful Acts to Individuals and Society, Human Rights Violations
Floor Definition
Graphic promotion, advocacy, and depiction of willful harm and actual unlawful criminal activity – Explicit violations/demeaning offenses of Human Rights (e.g., human trafficking, slavery, self-harm, animal cruelty, etc.).
Harassment or bullying of individuals and groups.
Interpretation Example
Discussions of human trafficking, animal cruelty, and other topics are typically associated with egregious behaviors against societal norms. Included in this definition are harassment or domestic abuse of children, prosecutions, and police interventions (except for homicide).
High Risk
Depictions of criminal/harmful acts or violations of human rights.
Interpretation Example
Category content within this risk level will describe, in excessive and unnecessary detail, acts of human rights violations and crimes such as pedophilia, child abuse, strangulation, and human trafficking.
Medium Risk
Dramatic depiction of criminal activity or human rights violations presented in the context of entertainment.
Breaking News or Op-Ed coverage of criminal activity or human rights violations.
Interpretation Example
Descriptive expansion on topics such as bank heists, high-speed car chases that are glamorized for entertainment, and references to the underworld or mob-related activities.
Low Risk
Educational, informative, scientific treatment of crime or criminal acts or human rights violations.
News feature stories on the subject.
Interpretation Example
Low-risk content within this category will feature information or talk-radio-style discussions on prosecutions related to human rights violations. This could include discussions of animal neglect associated with human rights violation offenders. Lighter educational topics may consist of legislation aimed at monitoring related content such as human trafficking and enslavement.
Death, Injury, or Military Conflict
Floor Definition
Promotion, incitement, or advocacy of violence, death, or injury.
Murder or Willful bodily harm to others.
Graphic depictions of willful harm to others.
Incendiary content provoking, enticing, or evoking military aggression.
Live-action footage/photos of military actions & genocide or other war crimes.
Interpretation Example
Graphic and intentionally harmful discussions of crime, murder and murders, rape, and rapists. This category excludes minor injuries such as cuts, scrapes, bruises, and black eyes. With the military conflict now grouped with Death & Injury, this definition includes graphic discussions of military conflict, military action descriptions, and conflicts. This includes provocative discussions of battlefields and combat troops concerning military aggression and/or war.
High Risk
Depiction of death or Injury.
Insensitive and irresponsible treatment of military conflict, genocide, war crimes, or harm resulting in death or injury.
Depictions of military actions that glamorize harmful acts to others or society.
Interpretation Example
High-risk content within this category will reference topics of death, injury, and military actions using offensive and insensitive phrases such as blow to hell and getting iced. One may audibly represent phrases related to military actions and their consequences through discussions that include “f**ked up beyond repair,” “getting nuked,” and “depopulation.”
Depopulation may cross-categorize under Hate Speech & Acts of Aggression and Debated Sensitive Social Issues as part of conspiracy theories, given recent events. Within Death, Injury, and Military Action, depopulation is referred to as outcomes of military actions versus conspiracy theories.
Medium Risk
Dramatic depiction of death, injury, or military conflict presented in the context of entertainment.
Breaking News or Op-Ed coverage of death, injury, or military conflict.
Interpretation Example
Discussions of medium risk will include descriptions of genocide, nuclear missiles, air raids, and other related topics referencing military conflict to provide entertainment, such as a movie review or other entertainment plot overview. Additionally, topical expansion may include descriptions of outcomes of crimes such as getting trampled, mass casualties, and gashes to an individual’s body.
Low Risk
Educational, informative, scientific treatment of death or injury or military conflict.
News feature stories on the subject.
Interpretation Example
Informational discussions to educate or the appearance within a news episode may include descriptions of minor injuries such as cuts, scrapes, or bruises, as well as references to death in the form of car accidents, accidental harm, and/or manslaughter. There are unlikely to be many descriptive discussions of resulting outcomes other than those listed, and they will be more factual or reporting.
Online Piracy
Floor Definition
Pirating, Copyright infringement, & Counterfeiting.
Interpretation Example
Discussions that encourage online piracy, phishing, and hackers intending to cause harm.
High Risk
Glamorization / Gratuitous Depiction of Online Piracy.
Interpretation Example
Online piracy, represented as high-risk content, will take the form of action descriptions intended to evade detection or use slang terminology such as bluejacking, borg, and hacking.
Medium Risk
Dramatic depiction of Online Piracy presented in the context of entertainment.
Breaking News or Op-Ed Coverage of Online Piracy.
Interpretation Example
Descriptive expansion of topics includes content ripping, piracy, and “internet attention whoring” by way of copyright infringement.
Low Risk
Educational, informative, scientific treatment of Online Piracy.
News feature stories on the subject.
Interpretation Example
Educational or news features will include expanded discussions or statements regarding copyright infringement, the DMCA (a top-level conversation of legislation), and fraudulent imitation.
Hate Speech & Acts of Aggression
Floor Definition
Unlawful acts of aggression based on race, nationality, ethnicity, religious affiliation, gender, or sexual image or preference.
Behavior or commentary that incites such hateful acts, including bullying.
Interpretation Example
Discussions that include hateful speech, bigotry, and descriptions of actions that are intended to incite violence. This definition consists of the use of words such as queer or gay in derogatory ways.
High Risk
Depiction or portrayal of hateful, denigrating, or inciting content focused on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, nationality, religion, caste, victims, and survivors of violent acts and their kin, immigration status, or severe disease sufferers, in a noneducational, informational, or scientific context.
Interpretation Example
High-risk content within this category will surface as highly descriptive discussions of violence or malicious actions against communities or individuals based on references of, but not limited to, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, nationality, and religion. Additionally, one may use malicious rhetoric to harm groups or individuals verbally and will often incite further violence in retaliation, which manifests as descriptions within episodes.
Medium Risk
Dramatic depiction of hate speech/acts presented in the context of entertainment.
Breaking News or Op-Ed coverage of hate speech/acts.
Interpretation Example
This tier includes descriptions of breaking news coverage or op-ed coverage related to debates on bigotry, transphobia, and other related topics intended to incite harm to groups of people and the coverage of the resulting damage.
Low Risk
Educational, informative, scientific treatment of Hate Speech.
News features on the subject.
Interpretation Example
Low-risk content within this category will surface as discussions of xenophobia, anarchy, supremacists, and extremists to report on news-related items and educate listeners. Discussions and descriptions of acts resulting from these topics may appear within news coverage and informative research-based episodes.
Obscenity & Profanity, including language gestures and explicitly gory, graphic, or repulsive content intended to shock and disgust
Floor Definition
Excessive use of profane language, gestures, and other repulsive actions that shock, offend, or insult.
Interpretation Example
Discussions of or inclusion of expletives, descriptions of lewd gestures, and vulgar language to offend listeners.
High Risk
Glamorization / Gratuitous depiction of profanity and obscenity.
Interpretation Example
High-risk content includes descriptive conversations on the topic of sexual activities, excessive profanity to shock the listener, and overt descriptions of lewd gestures.
Medium Risk
Dramatic depiction of profanity and obscenities presented in the context of entertainment by genre.
Breaking News or Op-Ed coverage of profanity and obscenities.
Genre-based use of profanity, gestures, and other actions that may be strong but might be expected as generally accepted language and behavior.
Interpretation Example
In the context of entertainment reviews, such as references to music or movies, descriptions of lewd gestures will surface through lighter language, such as “flipping someone the finger.” It may also surface through op-ed coverage in a factual statement rather than a purposely overt description.
Low Risk
Educational or informative treatment of obscenity or profanity.
News feature stories on the subject.
Interpretation Example
Low-risk content within this category will typically appear as informational discussions related to linguistics and semantics or factual news coverage recounting a profane gesture that is unlikely to be overtly descriptive.
Illegal Drugs/Tobacco/eCigarettes/Vaping/Alcohol
Floor Definition
Promotion or sale of illegal drug use – including abuse of prescription drugs. Federal jurisdiction applies but is allowable where legal local jurisdiction can be effectively managed.
Promotion and advocacy of Tobacco, e-cigarette (Vaping), & Alcohol use to minors.
Interpretation Example
Graphic discussions that promote or encourage the use of drugs, opioids, substances, and addiction. Additionally, graphic and encouraging discussions of tobacco, smoking, cigarettes, and related smoking activities are included.
High Risk
Glamorization/Gratuitous depictions of illegal drugs/abuse of prescription drugs.
Insensitive and irresponsible content/treatment that encourages minors to use tobacco, vaping products, and alcohol.
Interpretation Example
Content meeting this definition may appear as a simple and blatant endorsement of the topic, such as “vaping is a great choice for high schoolers because it’s not smoking,” or a considerably more offensive means of topic discussion that glamorizes it, such as an individual touting “how incredibly high I was, and it’s such an intense experience, everyone needs to try this.” This includes purposely excessive and offensive descriptions of adults shooting up and/or getting high.
This topic will likely appear within episodes as part of a conversation exchange that includes the topic of the content category versus purely being the focus of the discussion.
Medium Risk
Dramatic depiction of illegal drug use/prescription abuse, tobacco, vaping, or alcohol use presented in the context of entertainment.
Breaking News or Op-Ed coverage of illegal drug use/prescription abuse, tobacco, vaping, or alcohol use.
Interpretation Example
Medium-risk discussions will include talk radio-style conversations to provide entertainment. They may touch on the content topic by addressing substance abuse, alcohol abuse, and opioids.
This may also include breaking news coverage of the opioid crisis and could involve discussions of settlements, legislation, and drug abuse crisis prevention and treatment centers.
Low Risk
Educational, informative, scientific treatment of illegal drug use/prescription abuse, tobacco, vaping, or alcohol.
News feature stories on the subject.
Interpretation Example
Informational discussions of the content may include research related to prescription drug abuse or psychedelics. This may also include discussions related to CBD, marijuana, and DEA references.
Spam or Harmful Content
Floor Definition
Malware/Phishing.
Floor Application to Content.
Graphic discussions that encourage or educate to execute cyber attacks, cyber criminal activities, and hackers. The definition is expanded to include actual or fear of activities related to spying through technology and resulting paranoia.
High Risk
Glamorization/Gratuitous depiction of spam or harmful content.
Interpretation Example
High-risk content will include discussion expansion of cybercrimes with malicious intent or intent to create fear in the listener, including descriptions of cyber criminals hacking into government databases, ransomware, and malicious cyber bugs.
Medium Risk
Dramatic depiction of spam or malware is presented in the context of entertainment.
Breaking News or Op-Ed coverage of Spam or Malware.
Interpretation Example
Medium-risk content within this category will surface as descriptive discussions of cyber activity less impactful than high-risk content, such as phishing emails in which the description items included in the phishing email or bot activity may have attempted to defraud individuals or companies. This content will occur within an entertainment context as a scene review, or it could be breaking news or op-ed coverage of a factual event that occurred.
Low Risk
Educational, informative, scientific treatment of Spam or Malware.
News feature stories on the subject.
Interpretation Example
Educational or informative discussions may include descriptions of cyber-spying or cyber-warfare and will likely refer to news features within a broader cybersecurity discussion.
Terrorism
Floor Definition
Promotion and advocacy of graphic terrorist activity involving defamation, physical and/or emotional harm to individuals, communities, and society.
Interpretation Example
Graphic, descriptive, and aggressive rhetoric that encourages terrorism, extremism, and related acts of harm. These discussions will likely include references to or use of Hate Speech & Acts of Aggression.
High Risk
Depiction of terrorist actions that are disturbing, agitating, or promote harmful acts to others or society.
Terrorist content requiring a viewer advisory.
Insensitive and irresponsible treatment of terrorism/ related crimes.
Interpretation Example
Discussions that are opinionated use some descriptive and opinionated language to describe or discuss terrorist activities. Terrorist activities will surface as descriptions of those activities, such as violent mass shootings, with the stated intention of furthering political and social ideology.
Medium Risk
Dramatic depiction of terrorism presented in the context of entertainment.
Breaking News or Op-Ed coverage of acts of terrorism.
Interpretation Example
Content within this category may surface as reporters or listeners recount their experience of terrorism and its resulting outcomes, as well as op-ed pieces about recent terrorist activities. This could include expanded discussions of anti-terrorist measures intended to inform the listener.
Low Risk
Educational, informative, scientific treatment of terrorism.
News feature stories on the subject.
Interpretation Example
Low-risk content within this category will surface as discussions in an informational and educational context or as part of a news segment. This content will take the form of less descriptive actions. It will include topics of counterterrorism efforts, descriptions of policies or organizations related to counterterrorism, and measures taken to counteract extremist violence.
Debated Sensitive Social Issues
Although numerous topics fall within this definition, following recent events, abortion, gun control, and elections often surface, while these topics are considered DSSI, discussions of them may overlap with other categories, such as Hate Speech & Aggression and Obscenity & Profanity, mainly when the rhetoric is inflammatory and intended to incite violence.
For example, an episode topic describing the January 6 insurrection will classify as DSSI and potentially high risk if the descriptive language is intended to glorify the storming of the Capitol, descriptions of the resulting violence, and any language intended to provoke harm.
Floor Definition
Insensitive, irresponsible, and harmful treatment of debated social issues and related acts that demean a particular group or incite more significant conflict.
Interpretation Example
Graphic discussions of the insensitive, irresponsible, and harmful treatment of debated social issues and related acts that demean a particular group or incite more significant conflict. Due to this category’s recency and topic sensitivity, this content category will likely overlap with Hate Speech & Acts of Aggression and Obscenity & Profanity. It is regularly updated based on current events and social norms.
High Risk
Depiction or discussion of debated social issues and related acts in a negative or partisan context.
Interpretation Example
High-risk content within this category will use negative and opinionated descriptive language to describe actions of DSSI topics or their resulting outcomes.
Medium Risk
Dramatic depiction of debated social issues presented in the context of entertainment.
Breaking News or Op-Ed coverage of partisan advocacy of a position on debated sensitive social issues.
Interpretation Example
Content may surface in breaking news or op-ed discussions or stories related to socially sensitive topics such as COVID, politically relevant conversations, or similar issues within a comedic or satirical setting.
Low Risk
Educational, informative, and scientific treatment of debated, sensitive social issues and related acts, including misinformation.
News feature stories on the subject.
Interpretation Example
Educational or information news stories may contain content that restates events related to sensitive topics. This may include recounting legal amendments, case studies, or ongoing constructive debates.