# How moderation and brand safety work for publishers

Genuin checks every video and ad against platform, brand, and community guidelines, so publishers keep their social experience safe and ads run only beside approved content.

Destination Brands are the publishers that use Genuin to run social experiences, aggregate content, and monetize it. Moderation and brand safety apply at every stage, from upload to ad delivery, to protect your users, your brand, your advertisers, and the communities you run. They also let you run contextual advertising without exposing users to unsafe content.

You grow and monetize your social experience without giving up safety, relevance, or control. For how roles, moderation, brand safety, and guidelines fit together, see [Control: what it does and where to start](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/control-what-it-does-and-where-to-start).

## Three layers of moderation

Genuin checks every video against three rule sets. A video must pass all three before Genuin approves, posts, distributes, or monetizes it.

| Layer | Set by | Scope |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Platform guidelines | Genuin | The whole Genuin ecosystem, applied consistently |
| Brand guidelines | You, in Brand Control Center (BCC) | Your brand, configured by you as a publisher or advertiser |
| Community guidelines | Community admins | One community or group, applied in context |

To publish videos that pass all three layers without a manual step, see [automatic approval based on brand, community, and platform guidelines](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/how-do-i-automatically-approve-content-based-on-pre-defined-brand-community-and-platform-guidelines).

### Platform guidelines

Platform guidelines are the fixed safety baseline across the Genuin ecosystem. They protect against:

- Hate speech and harassment
- Violent or graphic content
- Sexual or explicit material
- Self-harm or threatening behavior
- NSFW content, including nudity, slurs, profanity, and graphic violence

AI models analyze each video's visuals, audio, text overlays, captions, and metadata. Genuin flags, restricts, or rejects content before it ever reaches communities or ads.

This layer keeps the ecosystem safe and compliant, so you and your users post, view, and engage without reputational or legal risk. Genuin's policy floor is described in [Content policies and community guidelines](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/content-policies-and-community-guidelines), and the review queue in [Moderation Baselines and Queue](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/moderation-baselines-and-queue).

### Brand guidelines

Content that clears the platform layer is then checked against the rules you define in Brand Control Center. You control:

- Competitor exclusions
- Sensitive or off-brand topics
- Category-level restrictions
- Alignment with your brand voice, values, and positioning

For example, a health and wellness publisher can block content that promotes harmful habits, misinformation, or products and brands that conflict with its mission.

This layer gives you control over adjacency, messaging consistency, and how people perceive your brand. Learn how to [set up brand guidelines](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/brand-control-center/how-do-i-set-up-brand-guidelines). To exclude terms and topics from content and ads at once, use [Keyword and Topic Blocklists](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/keyword-and-topic-blocklists).

![The Brand Guidelines page under Settings in Brand Control Center, listing numbered rules such as No personal or professional advice requests, No self promotion, Be respectful, Be kind, and Be genuine.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/eaed2afcb8b5b4d1848360211c4b733ab98bb135-1600x779.jpg)
*You write brand guidelines in Settings, and invitees agree to them before they join.*

### Community guidelines

The last layer checks that content fits the community or group where it appears. Community rules come from:

- Community admins
- The group's purpose and themes
- Audience expectations

For example, a gaming community shows only gaming videos. A health education community prioritizes fitness, nutrition, and wellness content, and a finance community excludes entertainment and lifestyle videos.

This layer keeps communities relevant and focused, which drives engagement, trust, and long-term participation. Learn more about [Community Guidelines and Appeals](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/community-guidelines-and-appeals).

## Brand safety after a video goes live

Moderation is the first step. Genuin keeps applying contextual brand safety after content is live.

Every approved video carries structured metadata:

- Community and group details
- Categories and topics
- Keywords and descriptions
- Video attributes and engagement signals

Genuin shares this metadata securely with advertising partners and ad exchanges. They use it for context-aware ad placement, category-safe targeting, and audience-relevant messaging. As a result, ads appear only beside suitable, approved content, never in unsafe or misaligned environments.

For the IAB fields this metadata fills, see [how zero-party data powers your social experience and media revenue](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/how-zero-party-data-powers-brand-communities-and-media-revenue-without-compromising-consumer-trust#contextual-programmatic-advertising). To describe your inventory to partners and buyers, set up your [Brand Safety Profile](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/brand-safety-profile).

## Ads pass the same three layers

Genuin validates every ad against platform, brand, and community rules, and blocks inappropriate or misaligned ads before delivery. Competitor restrictions are strictly enforced.

For example, if a community restricts competitor content, a Samsung ad doesn't appear inside an Apple-focused community. Even when programmatic demand exists, Genuin rejects the ad at the governance layer.

Advertisers get brand-safe placements, and you protect your audience and your brand. To set advertiser, category, and creative rules for every demand source, see [Blocklists and Ad Quality](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/monetize/blocklists-and-ad-quality).

## Human oversight

AI scales moderation, and people stay in charge of it:

- You define and update the brand rules.
- Community admins shape relevance.
- Genuin logs every moderation decision, so you can audit and review it.
- Final control always rests with you, the publisher.

This keeps moderation intentional, explainable, and accountable, not only automated.

## See also

- [Moderation Baselines and Queue](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/moderation-baselines-and-queue)
- [Brand Safety Profile](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/brand-safety-profile)
- [Keyword and Topic Blocklists](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/keyword-and-topic-blocklists)
- [Community Guidelines and Appeals](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/control/community-guidelines-and-appeals)
- [Set moderation and brand safety](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/moderation-brand-safety)