Our approach
ESPN is where sports fans come to be fans. Comments are a place to react to the games, debate the decisions, and talk with other fans who care as much as you do.
Keeping that experience good for everyone takes a few ground rules. The guidelines below explain what isn't allowed and what happens when someone crosses the line. They apply to everything you post: comments, replies, GIFs, and memes. The examples under each section are illustrative, not a complete list.
Strong opinions, criticism, and trash talk are part of sports, and they're welcome here. The lines we draw are about protecting people, not opinions.
Dangerous content
Don't use comments to threaten, demean, or endanger people.
What to avoid:
Threats of violence or wishing physical harm on a player, coach, official, fan, or anyone else
Hate speech or slurs targeting people based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability
Harassment or bullying, including coordinated pile-ons against a person and repeated targeting of another commenter
Sharing or threatening to share someone's private information, such as a home address or phone number
Content that sexualizes, exploits, or endangers a minor (we report child sexual abuse material to the authorities)
Promoting or facilitating illegal activity, including the sale of illegal goods
Deceptive content
Don't use comments to mislead other fans or game the platform.
What to avoid:
Impersonating an athlete, team, ESPN, or another person in a way that could mislead people
Spam, including repetitive comments, mass-posting, and artificial attempts to boost or bury a comment
Scams, fraud, and selling services such as betting picks
Sensitive content
Don't post content that doesn't belong in a sports conversation open to a wide audience.
What to avoid:
Sexually explicit content, or sexualizing athletes or other users
Graphic, gory, or shocking content
Strong profanity. Mild, in-the-moment language is fine; slurs and severe profanity are not, and never when aimed at a person
Public figures and newsworthy topics
Athletes, coaches, and executives are public figures, and criticism of how they do their jobs is fair game, even when it's harsh. The lines above still apply: threats, hate, sexual harassment, and doxing aren't acceptable just because the target is famous.
Some topics, such as allegations or investigations involving people in sports, are newsworthy and can be discussed. Comments that share explicit details, target a victim, or expose private information are not allowed, regardless of the topic.
How we enforce
Comments are screened automatically before they appear, using a combination of ESPN's own filters and a third-party moderation service. Comments that are reported or flagged can also be reviewed by our team.
When a comment breaks the rules, we act based on severity and how often it happens:
The comment is removed, and you're notified why.
Repeated violations lead to a temporary loss of commenting access.
Continued or severe violations lead to a permanent commenting ban.
These restrictions apply only to commenting. They don't affect the rest of your ESPN experience.
We weigh context, severity, and frequency in these decisions. The most serious violations, such as threats or content involving minors, are removed immediately regardless of context.
Reporting and appeals
You can report any comment you think breaks these guidelines. Reports help our systems and our team find content that needs review. You can also mute another user to stop seeing their comments.
If you believe we removed your comment or restricted your account in error, you can appeal from your profile. We'll review it and let you know the outcome.