Understanding Square’s Terms of Service and Hate Prohibition Guidelines
About Square's Terms of Service and Hate Prohibition Guidelines
Square does not tolerate hate in our products or on our platform. This is reflected in Square’s Terms of Service, which states that “You may not use the Payment Services for the following businesses or business activities: …(26) hate or harmful products.”
At Square, we continuously evaluate our policies and procedures, and we conduct reviews of accounts to evaluate whether use of our platform constitutes prohibited hate. The guidance below explains in detail how we define relevant terms for the enforcement of our hate prohibition and outlines what will happen if an infraction is detected.
Before you begin
Ensure you’ve reviewed our General Terms of Service and our Payment Terms.
We regularly monitor all transactions on the platform to keep all of our businesses safe and will take action on any account that violates our Terms of Service, regardless of when the infraction is identified.
If Square determines that a business is using Square’s products or services to promote violence, discrimination, or dehumanization against a protected class as defined by Square, the account will be deactivated and the account owner will be notified. Square takes context and intent into consideration when making these determinations.
Review Square’s hate prohibition terms
Hate is the promotion of violence, discrimination, or dehumanization against a person or group of people based on a protected class as defined by Square.
Discrimination on Square’s platform is unfair or prejudicial treatment of a person or group of people based on protected classes as defined by Square. Promotion of historically excluded or disadvantaged protected classes may not constitute discrimination.
Dehumanization is the reference to or comparison of a protected class as defined by Square to any of the below:
- Insects
- Animals that are culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior
- Filth, bacteria, disease, or feces
- Sexual predators
- Subhumanity
- Violent and/or sexual criminals
- Mocking the concept, events, or victims of hate crimes even if no real person is depicted in an image