Prohibited content categories

The following content categories are prohibited by one or more carriers. Violating Google or the carriers' content policies can result in an Agent or code being suspended, fined, and/or deactivated on one or more carriers.

IMPORTANT: Google's Acceptable Use Policy also has prohibited content categories that apply to RCS.

Google's prohibited content categories include but are not limited to: tobacco, fraud, copyright infringement, misleading content, political content, profanity & partial nudity.

Regulated goods and services are a restricted content categories that require special approval, and may not be approved by all carriers. For example, age gated alcohol content that's not promoting the use of alcohol may be approval by all carrier expect Google Fi and C Spire.

Regulated goods and services in Google's AUP include alcohol, gambling, healthcare related products and services, and fireworks.

High risk content categories

The following categories are considered high risk because they're frequently associated to malicious behavior. For that reason, some of these content categories will not be accepted.

Suggested checks

Malicious and fraudulent brands are frequently looking for ways to send spam, malware, and phishing content to unsuspecting users. For this reason, brands must be thoroughly vetted prior to requesting the launch of an Agent or code. It is also very important that traffic is being monitored post launch for potentially malicious behavior. If a code or Agent is caught sending prohibited content, receives a high number of unsolicited message complaints, or a high number of opt-outs, it may be suspended, fined, and/or disabled.

• KYC & Spam Mitigation Checks- This document outlines high risk content provider categories that are frequently impersonated by bad actors. Additionally, this document includes some suggested brand vetting steps and compliance checks that Vibes recommends completing prior to submitting an unknown brand for provisioning & post launch.
• Recommended Compliance Checks Post Launch- This guide includes suggested compliance checks that Vibes recommends conducting post launch and any time a code or Agent receives an Unsolicited Message Audit (UMA) or Sev 0 violation.

Published policies

The CTIA & Google both have published policies that apply to RCS programs. Some carriers also have unpublished requirements that apply to programs that will be running on their network.

• Google's Acceptable Use Policy applies to all RCS programs. Note, the content listed as restricted in Google's AUP are prohibited on their network at this time but may be considered for approval by the non-Google controlled carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile & Verizon.
• The CTIA Handbook - The requirements in this handbook apply to all U.S. messaging channels and are enforced by the U.S. carriers during provisioning. Aegis also issues with in market audits for live programs that are not in compliance with this handbook.