Community Services Content Transparency

Community Services Content Transparency

Published: February 15, 2024

Last Edit/Review: December 4, 2024

What's New?

On December 4, 2024, we implemented updates to improve clarity and completeness. To eliminate duplicative restrictions, we consolidated and detailed content restrictions such as those that were previously referenced in our Code of Conduct. We removed reference to Unity Forum and we added information on how a user can report content on Unity Play.

The difference between an edit/review and an update is that "updates" involve material changes to our Policy whereas edits are not material or simply indicate a review has occurred. For example, we may make clarifying edits by giving additional examples. When we provide an update, you will receive a notice to accept and read the changes, which are summarized here.

This page contains policies that set out what content is and isn’t allowed to be provided by a user of Unity Community Services (collectively, “Provided Content”). Unity moderates Provided Content in our Offerings based on these policies with the aim of creating a safe online environment for users.

The supplemental policies and principles below constitute “Additional Terms” and are incorporated into the Unity Terms of Service, Unity Website & Communities, applicable Additional Terms or such other applicable agreements between you and Unity Technologies SF (“Unity”) or its applicable Affiliates, which governs your use of the Offerings including or Codes of Conduct (collectively, “Community Terms”). Capitalized terms used but not defined herein have the meanings given such terms in the Unity Terms of Service or the applicable Additional Terms.

Community Services include but are not limited to Unity Discussions, Unity Learn, SpeedTree Forums, Ziva Community, Plastic SCM Forums, Unity Play. Before using any Unity Offerings, please review the following information and ensure that you are in compliance when using our Offerings. Please note that examples provided are for illustrative purposes only and are not exhaustive.

Unacceptable Content

Unacceptable Content means any Prohibited Content or Restricted Content provided by a user of our Community Services.

• Prohibited Content is any of Your Content that is not allowed pursuant to the Community Terms.
• Restricted Content is any of Your Content that it is not allowed pursuant to the Community Terms without prior authorization by Unity or without meeting additional requirements.

Prohibited Content

• Intellectual Property and Legal Infractions
  • Illegal Content, including content that infringes, misappropriates or attempts to infringe or misappropriate any third party right such as intellectual property or proprietary rights of any person (including privacy and publicity rights) or violates or attempts to violate any applicable laws or regulations.
  • Discussions on pirated software or illegal activity.
  • Discussing the modding or decompiling of third-party projects
• Misleading and Deceptive Content
  • Fraudulent, false, misleading, deceptive, or defamatory content.
  • Unsolicited or unauthorized communications, such as promotional materials, email, junk mail, spam, chain letters or other forms of solicitation.
  • Internet “links” to content that is not associated with, connected or related to the original content.
  • Unverified AI-generated responses or AI-generated content not marked as such.
• Offensive and Harmful Content:
  • Hateful or discriminatory content, including offensive content that is based on race, gender, color, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability
  • Profane or vulgar content.
  • Harmful, threatening, obscene, infringing, abusive, harassing, disturbing, violent or shocking content.
  • Pornographic or sexually suggestive content.
• Malicious and Destructive Content
  • Malicious/ Deceptive Software or Operations such as viruses, worms, defects, malware, spyware, malicious code or other destructive content that could have an adverse impact on any software, data, computer systems, networks, hardware or and devices.
  • Forge any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any email or newsgroup posting, or in any way use the Site, Communities, Website Content or user content (other than your own user content) to send altered, source-identifying information.
• Content Impersonation and Misrepresentation
  • Content that impersonates or misrepresents an affiliation with any person or entity.
• Sensitive and Restricted Content
  • Discussions on political issues as well as gray areas including but not limited to religion, race, and sex.
  • Confidential information, such as sales information provided by the sales team.
• Promotional and Solicitation Content
  • Content promoting illegal or harmful activities or substances.
  • Content which promotes or incites Prohibited Content.

Restricted Content

• Content that implies Unity’s sponsorship or affiliation, including any form of content utilizing a Unity trademark, logo URL or product name.
  • Please see our Guidelines for Using Unity Trademarks for more information.
• Content containing personal information, including child, sensitive, or biometric personal information as may be defined by applicable laws.
  • Please see the applicable Terms of Service for when this is authorized.
  • Never share personally identifiable information without consent (doxing).
• Spamming or unsolicited advertising, including non-commercial promotions.
  • Concessions exist in the Multiplayer, Assets and Asset Store, Commercial and Collaborative Work, Works in Progress, and Made with Unity forums, as long as they are relevant to these spaces.
• Solicitation of Support Requests
  • Unsolicited requests shouldn’t be sent to anyone via personal messages
  • Requests for customer support for third-party games are not permitted

Additional Requirements

• Community Guidelines

  • Respect and Courtesy: Treat all community members with respect and courtesy. Engage in thoughtful replies that enhance the conversation while avoiding divisive or derogatory comments.
  • Open-Mindedness: Be considerate of differing viewpoints and actively challenge your own assumptions to foster a more inclusive and productive community.
  • Language Use: If you choose to post in a language other than English, provide an English translation. This ensures inclusivity in our primarily English-speaking community.
  • Inclusivity: Embrace the diversity of our community. Be patient and understanding to avoid alienating non-native English speakers.
  • Relevance: Keep your comments relevant to the topic at hand. Avoid diverting conversations into unrelated areas.
  • Constructive Engagement: Avoid being unnecessarily contrarian. If you disagree, do so respectfully and constructively, or consider saying nothing.
  • Resolve Disagreements Privately: Refrain from engaging in personal arguments or airing grievances with other members. Resolve disagreements privately or seek moderation assistance when necessary.
  • Value Multiple Solutions: Recognize that there can be multiple valid solutions to a problem. Avoid debating which is the "best" solution.
  • Appropriate Categorization: Choose the appropriate category and location for your topic. Respect any supplemental guidelines that apply to specific forum sections and use tags where applicable.
  • Avoid Necroposting and Duplicate Content: Do not revive inactive topics that have already served their original purpose. Also, avoid cross-posting or creating multiple topics for the same information to maintain clarity.
  • Content Over Tone: Focus on responding to the content of a post rather than reacting to its perceived tone to avoid misunderstandings.

• Content Quality
  • Pre-Post Research: Conduct preliminary research and utilize available resources. Read relevant pinned or stickied messages before posting to avoid redundancy. Be mindful that others are dedicating their free time to help. Show initiative in your own learning process.
  • Comprehensive Context: Ensure your posts include comprehensive context and adhere to the guidelines.
  • Problem-Solving Steps: Before seeking help with unexpected script behaviors or performance issues, consider “rubber duck debugging” first and use your IDE’s debugger and Unity’s profilers to examine your project
  • Valuable Contributions: Contribute meaningful comments that build upon the discussion.
  • Supporting Materials: Attach relevant supporting materials, such as screenshots, videos, or code snippets, for better clarity and understanding.
  • Debugging Steps and Error Messages: Share the debugging steps you’ve taken and provide relevant error messages along with their stack traces to facilitate effective assistance.
  • Bug Reporting: While discussing bugs with the community is welcome, note that posting here is not an official method for reporting bugs to Unity. Use Unity’s bug reporter for formal submissions.
  • Account or License Issues: For account or license issues, contact the Customer Experience team, as forum members cannot assist with these problems.
• Style and Formatting
  • Clear Formatting: Use clear and concise formatting. Avoid excessive use of emojis or other distracting elements.
  • Code Formatting: Use code blocks for your code snippets. Do not post screenshots of code or unformatted text.
  • Avoid Link Abuse: Do not engage in link redirect abuse or post misleading links.
  • No Signatures: Do not sign your posts. Your profile information is automatically attached to every post.

Actions Due to Unacceptable Content

Depending on the product/ service the Unacceptable Content appears on, Unity may take some or all of following actions:

• Provide information about a user
• Remove/ disable access to/ restrict visibility of content
• Not approve the content for upload
• Require modification of content
  • Please note: Unity reserves to edit and make such changes to content
• Delete community threads, or prevent additional commentary on them
• Suspend/ terminate portions of the service, including, for example, use of private messaging systems.
• Suspend/ terminate an account
• Suspend/ terminate/ restrict monetization of content
• Alert local authorities if we are suspicious of a serious criminal offense

In determining whether to suspend or terminate an account, a number of factors are taken into account including:

• If an account is responsible for providing prohibited content, particularly if such content is illegal.
• Severity of the violation: Unity reserves the right to permanently suspend an account without warning for serious violations.
• Repeated violations: If an account repeatedly violates Unity’s content policies. Such as:
• Two offenses may result in a temporary (often 7-day suspension) and may result in a trust level demotion.
• Three or more offenses may result in a permanent suspension and removal from the community.

As a user of the Community Services, you direct Unity to action content in order to comply with the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065) (“DSA”) and any other applicable laws.

If you are subject to an action under Article 17 of the DSA and we have your electronic contact details, we will provide you with a Statement of Reasons.

Procedures & Measures for Content Moderation

Unity conducts content moderation activities as a result of a report. You can see how to report restricted content below under "Reporting Unacceptable Content".

Unity also has additional procedures and measures for content moderation as outlined below.

Unity may use both automated and human review means of moderation, including:

• A review of content prior to displaying such content to ensure compliance with our content policies and procedures prior to distribution, and
• Allowing viewers of the content to report such content.

Teams who are engaged in the content moderation process are trained to review content to ensure compliance with our content policies and procedures. Content may be reviewed upon receipt of a content report to determine compliance and appropriateness.

Additionally, Unity may use external volunteer moderators who review content to ensure compliance with our content policies and procedures.

Automation tooling may be used to for moderation purposes in the following ways:

• To detect when certain Unacceptable Content is occurring
• To restrict certain Unacceptable Content when identified
• To restrict Unacceptable Content when flagged by others
• To restrict service functionality and community-driven moderation privileges in accordance with “trust levels” based on engagement and commitment to the community
• To prevent, detect, and take action against spam and those who may post spam

Where we use automation, we ensure safeguards are in place such as:

• Human determination and review of threshold criteria
• The inclusion of human review
• Communication with those subject to a moderation action
• The inclusion of an appeals process

Reporting Unacceptable Content

If you are residing in the European Union, you can report Unacceptable Content here. Once received, a member of our team will review the report and take any necessary action. There is no automation or algorithmic decision making in this process.

Additional reporting mechanisms are outlined below.

Please note, while the below are valid mechanisms for reporting content, they are not intended to satisfy a Notice and Action mechanism (Article 16) under the DSA. For Article 16 notices, please use the European Union mechanism listed above.

Unity Discussions

You can additionally report a comment by clicking on the three dots below the comment and then clicking on the flag icon to report spam.

Unity Learn

You can additionally report a comment by clicking on the flag icon next to the comment.

SpeedTree Forum

You can additionally report a comment by clicking on the flag icon in the bottom right corner of the post.

Unity Play

You can additionally report a comment by clicking on the three dots and then clicking on the flag icon.

If you would like to report an Intellectual Property infringement under the DMCA, please see IP Policy & Takedown Requests

Appealing Content Moderation Restrictions

If you are residing in the European Union and believe we have made an incorrect decision about a content moderation restriction imposed on your content or account, you may submit an appeal here within six months of being notified of the restriction. When you submit an appeal, it will be reviewed by a member of our team. Regardless of the outcome, you will be notified of our decision as well as available possibilities for redress.

Recommender System Transparency

Community Services use a number of recommendation features. This section provides information on how our recommendations work.

Trending Games Feature

What is considered in determining which games to show?

Our system accounts for various considerations, such as:

• Number of plays
• Number of likes

All these factors are accounted for by our system and weighted based on their potential relevance. Number of plays receive greater weight than the number of likes.

How can a user modify the influence of these considerations?

There is no ability to influence these considerations.

Search Bar

What is considered in determining what to show in response to a search?

Our search bar accounts for various considerations, such as:

• Search Query
• Keywords
• Number of likes

All these factors are accounted for by our search bar and weighted based on their potential relevance. A strong indicator of relevance, such as whether there is an exact match for the search query, would receive greater weight than a weak indicator, such as the number of likes.

How can a user modify the influence of these considerations?

There is no ability to influence these considerations.

Termination of Services

You can terminate your use of the Services by giving notice. You can find the grounds for termination as well as any notice requirements in the Unity Terms of Service.

Digital Services Act

This section sets out the provisions applicable to individuals residing in the European Union under the Digital Services Act (“DSA”).

Transparency Reports

Unity has prepared the following transparency reports to comply with our obligations under the DSA.

• Information on The Monthly Average Users in The EU

Redress Options

If you are an individual or entity residing in the EU, you will have a number of redress options available as outlined in this section.

The redress options do not preclude you from seeking judicial redress or any rights under the Community Terms or such other applicable agreements between you and Unity or its applicable Affiliates, which governs your use of the Service

Notices submitted under Article 16

If you submitted an Article 16 notice through Unity’s Content Report Ticketing System, and have concerns regarding the decision made you may submit a complaint here.

Appealing a Decision

If we have taken an action on your content or account and you wish to appeal it, you may submit an appeal here within six (6) months from action. The appeal should include:

• Your contact information;
• Identification of the content and moderation action in question
• A statement explaining the reasons why you believe the content or account was wrongfully removed/disabled
• Any supporting evidence or legal arguments to substantiate your claims

Out of Court Dispute Settlement

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of our internal review, you have the option to engage in a dispute settlement process outside of the court system. This is a non-binding process that allows you to have your dispute reviewed by a neutral third party. You are entitled to select any out-of-court dispute settlement body that has been certified by your Member State.

Judicial Proceeding

If you believe that your concerns are not adequately addressed through our internal mechanisms or out-of-court settlement, you have the option to pursue legal action through the appropriate legal channels, such as filing a lawsuit or complaint in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.

Suspension of Users under the DSA

Providing Illegal Content

If you misuse Unity Play by frequently providing manifestly illegal content we may suspend your Account. We will notify you prior to enacting a suspension.

A suspension will last thirty (30) days, and we will issue a warning prior to enacting it. A second suspension will increase to sixty (60) days, a third suspension to 90 days, and so on.

In making the decision to suspend a user, the following is taken into consideration:

• We consider the circumstances outlined above in Actions Due to Unacceptable Content to be sufficient for a suspension.
• We consider one offense referred to in Articles 3 to 7 of Directive 2011/93/EU to be sufficient for account termination and we will promptly inform law enforcement or judicial authorities of the Member State or Member States concerned
• We consider one offense referred to in Article 18 of the Digital Services Act (criminal offense involving a threat to the life or safety of a person or persons) to be sufficient for account termination and we will promptly inform law enforcement or judicial authorities of the Member State or Member States concerned

Submitting Manifestly Unfounded Notices & Complaints

If you misuse our complaint notification system by frequently submitting complaints that are manifestly unfounded, we may suspend your access to the complaint notification system. We will notify you prior to enacting a suspension.

We consider three unfounded notices or two unfounded notices alleging offenses referred to in Articles 3 to 7 of Directive 2011/93/EU to be sufficient for a suspension.

A suspension will last thirty (30) days, and we will issue a warning prior to enacting it. A second suspension will increase to sixty (60) days, a third suspension to 90 days, and so on.

Designated Point of Contact

Pursuant to Articles 11 and 12 of the DSA, DSA Compliance Lead has been designated as Unity’s point of contact for communications with Member State authorities, the European Commission, the European Board for Digital Services, and recipients of the service.

• For inquiries, please email DigitalServicesAct@unity3d.com
• To submit reports under the DSA, please do so here.

The EU Member State in which we have our main establishment is Denmark.The language(s) which can be used to communicate with Unity are English and Danish.