AOL Censored Wordlist

This memo has been circulating around the Internet and is alleged to be AOL's internal rules on the use of certain words.

This list contains examples of vulgar, conditionally vulgar and acceptable phrases and subjects.

Synonyms of these are usually unacceptable.

Gender is not taken into account; if "men on men" is not allowed, neither is "women on women."

Asterisks and other symbols cannot be used to "mask" a violation if any letters of the vulgarity are still present.  "F--- you" is vulgar, but "my *** hurts" is okay.

Key

• VULGAR  - Unconditionally vulgar.
• ROOMS  - Vulgar in room names or screen names.
• ROOMS (SEXUAL)  - Vulgar in room names or screen names if possibly sexual.  These words are only allowed in screen names or room names if other phrases clearly make them not sexual.  For instance, a member may not create a room "Oral," but "Oral Roberts" is permitted.  "Slaves here" is not allowed, but "Free the slaves" is.  "Jimmy69" would be fine, but "Ilike69" would have to be deleted.
• OK  - Acceptable.  These words do not, in and of themselves, constitute vulgarity or sexual connotations.
• OTHER  - Number next to word refers to Notes Section number near end of document.

VULGAR  - blow (job), bondage, cock, cornhole, cunnilingus, cunt, defecation, dick, douche, fags, fellatio, feltch, fuck, genitalia, horny, masturbation, nigger, penis, pussy, sadomasochism, semen, sexual devices, shit, slut, submissive, tit, transsexual, transvestite, twat, urination, vagina, whips & chains.

ROOMS  - bound to tease, boys, cross dressing, do me, dom, domination, erotic, fetishes, gay lovers, gay teens, gay youth, girls, hot videos, insults, kinky, lingerie, lust, men on men, panties, pervert, shaved, slave, spanking, sub, teen showers, teens, teens wanted, ts, underwear, who want, women on women, youth.

ROOMS (SEXUAL)  - 69, leather, oral, shower, video.

OK  - adultery, bare skin, bears, bearskin, bi, couples, damn, flirt, gay, gay bears, gay couples, gay young adults, gay videos, graphics, hell, hot men/women, hot tub, lambda, lesbian, let's go private, looking for, men for men, men to men, men, private rooms, sapphos, stud, swingers, tv, virgins, wanted, who like, who love, women for women, women to women, women.

OTHER  - anti-AOL (6), ass (5), bitch (2), come (3), cum (3), dykes (11), fart (5), fascism (8), gif (4), graphic exchange (4), hot (8), KKK (7), Nazi (7), nudity (9), piss (5), queers (11), racial issues (7), sex (10), suck (5), wet (8), who want - rooms (1)

Notes

1.)  *who want*  - If referring to people, this is not allowed in room names.  For instance, "Men who want women" is vulgar, while "Men who want a car" is not.

2.)  Bitch  - Vulgar if an insultable person, place, or thing is being called a bitch.  "Life's a bitch" is fine, "My mom is a bitch" is vulgar.

3.)  Come/cum  - Vulgar if used in a possibly sexual manner.  "Cum over here" is fine, "I come when I think of you" isn't.

4.)  GIF/Graphic Exchange  - While not vulgar, this is not allowed in room names due to the probability of illegal GIFs being exchanged.

5.)  Suck/Ass/Fart/Piss  - Vulgar if used in a possibly or probably sexual/vulgar manner ("suck me", "kiss my ass", "I just farted"), or if an insultable person, place, or thing is said to be this.  "The Redskins suck" is fine, "Life sucks" is fine, "Jimmy sucks" is not fine.  "Nirvana kicks ass" is O.K., "Jenny is an ass" is not.  "Rich is an old fart" is O.K., "You should hear my brother fart" is not.  "I'm pissed off" is O.K., "Piss on you" is not.  Exception: A member may say that AOL, or any manifestation such as the Hosts/Forum Staff, sucks.

6.)  Anti-AOL  - We do not want to appear to censor members who speak out against us.  Anti-AOL comments, or comments protesting manifestations of AOL such as Hosts, should not warnt (sic) a warning.

7.)  Racial Issues  - Racial slurs are not allowed.  Rooms promoting racism (KKK Unite) are not allowed, but discussion of racial issues (KKK Discussion) are.

8.)  Hot, wet  - These are borderline words.  Use your judgment, and consider it vulgar if they're talking about "hot" as in sex, or "wet" as in feminine moisture.  Hot men/women/cars/videos/etc. are fine, as hot could be referring to "good looking" or some other non-sexual thing.

9.)  Nudity  - Discussion of nudity is fine; nude room names are a judgment call.

10.)  Sex  - This is a judgment call.  "Sexy" is fine, as an adjective.  The word should never appear in room names or screen names as a noun (ILikeSex).  In other situations, use the context to determine whether the member was committing a TOS violation.  For instance, "Hey babe, anyone here wanna have sex" would be a violation.  "I didn't let my child see the movie because of the sex in it" would not be a violation.

11.)  Dykes/Queers  - This is O.K. if a member is referring to themselves.  If it is used "against" someone then it is warnable.  However, this word requires judgment.

America Online's Terms of Service
March 6, 1994/Last revision: September 17, 1995