Thank you for waiting on this write-up of Patreon’s policy live stream of Thursday, 16th July 2026.  It will summarise the hour-long stream, the majority of which was dedicated to answering several recurrent questions from Patreon Content Creators via CPEP (The Creator Policy Engagement Program) over recent months; in particular, the subject of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and its place on Patreon. A link to the archived version of the live stream EDIT 19/7/26], is available here: https://www.patreon.com/PatreonforCreators/posts/mid-year-2026-164117222. A text-only version will be available in my archives.

This was a little difficult to get it into a state suitable to post on here so please forgive any euphemisms or blank-outs of certain words and phrases.  I did my best.

The hosts were as follows:

AGENDA

Policy proposals for creator consideration

A look ahead: second half of 2026

Additional developments; transparency, advocacy

Q&A (Questions and Answers)

Wrap-up

Policy proposals for creator consideration

The latter half of 2026 will see Patreon’s Policy Team concentrate on the following areas:

Subheading 1

The Community Guidelines (https://www.patreon.com/policy/guidelines) already prohibit any content or promotion of harmful rhetoric aimed at or centred on any person(s) based on their:

but something that will be added to the above list soon is:

With certain events going on in various parts of the world that we’re all probably aware of, Patreon will not allow more subtle forms of any of the above slip through the cracks, a la:

stereotyping

claims of superiority over others deemed ‘inferior’

certain symbols, memes and coded terminology (previously known as ‘dog-whistles’).

Subheading 2

Subheading 3: Inauthentic Behaviours

Inauthentic behaviours as a topic was a bit of a woolly one, the hosts admitted, as asking any person in the street as to what “inauthentic behaviour” constitutes of varies massively.

So Patreon will be looking to define this term for the platform, and is actively seeking feedback to help shape its policies regarding it.  It was mentioned here that the Q&A within the official Patreon Discord sever will be open for two weeks as from 16th July: https://discord.gg/t9YGnW56G  (as supplied by a moderator in the chat who was part of the Patreon Team).

Note: No policies have been finalised yet, but everyone will be updated accordingly when things have been decided and will be enacted.

A Look Ahead: Second Half of 2026

The hosts briefly covered policies already-in-effect that they will review and adjust/amend as needed.  Namely:

They were keen to point out that context matters, and the Policy Team’s aim is to prevent the glorification of such things, and impressionable minds accessing as such. 

Additional Developments

Transparency Report 2026

In reference to what Patreon has already done policy-wise, these have been documented in this year’s summary report, published in March and viewable here: https://news.patreon.com/articles/Patreon%20Transparency%20Report%202026

Public policy and advocacy

Patreon has been very active on the political front.  This is the second year Patreon has been part of the Internet Works Coalition, a body of now 30 mid-sized tech companies.  You can find out more about them here: https://theinternet.works/

Courtney mentioned attending the Congressional Creators Caucus: https://clarke.house.gov/creators-caucus-co-chairs-reps-clarke-and-van-duyne-host-first-ever-creator-row-on-capitol-hill in Washington DC recently.  This was something set up last year by Beth Van Duyne (New York Republican Representative) and Yvette Clarke (Texas Democratic Representative) and is meant to support online creator contents.

AI ethics, internet privacy legalisation, safety, algorithmic responsibility, clearer tax codes and better communication regarding legislation re: content creators and online businesses are its key tenets; it is all illustrated here in this press release: https://vanduyne.house.gov/2025/6/reps-van-duyne-and-clarke-launch-bipartisan-creators-caucus-to-celebrate-and-support-digital-content-development. 

This was widely publicised and is supported by internet personality now political advisor Matthew Patrick, (formerly known as MatPat on YouTube): https://web.archive.org/web/20260204161829/https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/youtube-congress-creators-caucus-launch/

Patreon is also a member of Middle Tech Europe: https://middletecheurope.eu/  and the Middle Tech Coalition https://www.middletechcoalition.com/  (the UK-specific version since the UK is no longer a part of the European Union) and has also attended summits concerning digital services and the online economy in Brussels (Belgium) and Dublin (Ireland).

Patreon will continue to represent all its content creators to those who shape the laws playing catch-up to the ever-changing landscape, and will keep everyone updated on whatever may/will affect the platform in the future.

Creator Q&A (Questions and Answers)

As aforementioned, the lion’s share of the livestream was dedicated to this.  The aim was to go through 20 pre-submitted questions, though they were quick to iterate that the conversation will continue on Official Patreon Discord for the next two weeks.

The 20 questions were categorised into the following five subjects:

I’ll go through in order and report what was answered, starting with:

Mid-year updates

This seeks to expand upon any forthcoming changes or seeking more clarification on previously established and active policies.

As far as Patreon’s Policy Team is concerned, this is any content attacking a person or persons based on prejudice, actively promoting harmful rhetoric or violence that may/will endanger the individual(s) in question.  Patreon has a zero tolerance policy towards this and will not allow such content on the platform, as already indicated by the existing Community Guidelines: (https://www.patreon.com/policy/guidelines)

It was stated that Patreon takes a proactive approach on monitoring policy compliance, abiding external reviews and pressure from payment processors who transact on Patreon’s behalf.

However, there is no manufactured bias to placate the aforementioned parties; it’s simply the case that 18+/Adult Content Creator accounts are the ones that generate the most user-submitted reports of violations.

Acknowledging this, between December 2025 (when the last Policy Livestream happened) and March of this year, Patreon has worked to make the ‘red-lines’ a lot clearer; therefore 18+/Adult Content Creators can better understand the rules and not fall afoul of them.

I’d like you to address LGBTQ+ as a whole and [Patreon’s] policy on protecting the community.

Patreon does not allow for any prejudiced attacks based on gender, gender identity and preferences/personal choice.  To that end, Patreon itself does not discriminate content creators who focus on the lived experiences of being transgender, non-binary and/or non-gender-conforming.  Being LGBTQ+ does not inherently label the Content Creator as 18+ but all content must abide by the Community Guidelines. 

This was expanded upon a little later in the stream.

Artificial Intelligence

(I’ve merged two questions together because the answer applies to both)

Why are AI image generation accounts allowed to exist on Patreon?  I thought this site was for creators.

What is Patreon’s stance on AI-creators on the platform?  Is posting AI not allowed?  Will posting AI get demoted or looked down upon?

Note: the following are not my personal opinions; I’m just reporting what was said.

Eric answered the bulk of this question due to being a photographer and having an ear close to the ground on the highly emotive subjective of generative artificial-intelligence images/videos.

As a whole, Patreon does not inherently disqualify or demote content creators who use generative-AI as part of their content.  However, Patreon does draw a line at generative-AI being used for non-consensual intimate images, especially if they are the hyper-realistic kind that can be mistaken for real humans.  Patreon does not allow for AI content that promotes or amplifies real world harms, or blatant replications of others’ content and trying to pass it off as one’s own.

The subject is nuanced and rapidly evolving as generative-AI continues to improve.  No one wants Patreon to become a platform known for purely “AI-slop” but it must be acknowledged that hybridised content exists; whilst unavoidable and challenging, Patreon must ensure that content creators who both do and do not utilise gen-AI and large-language models (or LLMs) are treated and represented fairly.

Are there any anticipated changes to policy regarding AI creations?

Presently, Patreon does not anticipate changing its stance but if need be, will rectify its policies in the future.

I’d like to ask whether Patreon officially uses artificial intelligence to conduct content reviews, or even authorises AI to automatically ban accounts; I understand that AI can lower costs when handling large volumes of review, but my experience with [other platforms] has made me concerned.

The blanket term answer is that Patreon’s Trust and Safety Team use both people and technological processes.  Whilst technological automation is used to review contents at (large) scale, there will always be a person at the end point.  The technology part used is part of a triage process and there are many aspects to it.  I don’t really understand it but what was mentioned as parts of the process were:

Quality chains

Vendor relations

Precise input/output engineering

Overall though, there is always the question of whether Patreon is monitoring and reviewing policy violations accurately.  Being 99% right but 1% wrong when that 1% could massively impact upon a lot of creators is a concern.  So this is why Patreon always seeks feedback, so better approaches and methods are ‘baked-in’ going forward.  Any issues are best bought up with Patreon’s Support team.

To close, one of the moderators for the chat said the following:

The topic of A.I. and the nuance of how people utilise it is, indeed, a hot discussion and can be quite personal and emotionally charged.  Thank you, folks, for the reminder to not make blanket assumptions on all creators, and the decisions they do or do not make in their creative work.  We know that this is a sensitive topic and are seeking to clarify Patreon’s policies in such a way to be inclusive to all types of creative work, whilst maintain safety and authenticity on the platform.

Adult/18+ Part 1

(I’ve merged two questions together here as the answer encompasses both)

I’m an R18 content provider, so I’m just interested in how these different policies will affect people like myself specifically, and if that impacts the tools we’re currently allowed to use on Patreon.

The response was that presently, there are no new policies coming for Adult/18+ creators because the focus is on hate speech prevention and harassment management.  That said all Adult/18+ Content Creators were reminded to observe the Community Guidelines and keep all public-facing posts safe-for-work.

There is no current consolidated resource list to prevent minors accessing material they shouldn’t, but generally speaking, paywalls act as a natural barrier as most minors do not have the means to financially access said material. 

Regardless, Patreon continues to heavily invest in developing safeguarding tools, specialised policies and human-assisted reviews (bearing in mind context applies significantly in this field), so it can proactively ensure the safety and well-being of all who use the platform. 

For context, from late 2022, Patreon started hosting videos directly on its platform: https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/03/patreon-adds-a-long-awaited-native-video-feature/ *. Naturally, this feature was only available to general audience Patreon accounts. 

Quips are the Patreon equivalent to YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, which served to counter the popularity of TikTok and once upon a time, Snapchat.  They’re little videos that pop up on your Feed which some content creators use to advertise themselves.  Again, this was only available to general audience Patreon accounts.

However, it was stated that Patreon will be rolling out these features to Adult/18+ Content Creators over the coming months.  These Quips and Videos will not be publicly viewable but will feature on the Feed/Timelines of your Audience Members and others who’ve verified their identities as 18+ and want to view Adult/18+ content.  Patreon will duly inform people of when this will happen.

*(Before this, if you wanted to post videos, you had to rely on a third-party site to do it, ala YouTube and link your Patrons accordingly.) 

Copyright and Miscellaneous

(I’ve merged two questions together here as the answer encompasses both)

With video-hosting growing on Patreon, how is copyright handled, and what will the punitive measures be?  i.e. will the video [be] removed, the entire post [be] removed, or will the creator’s entire page be removed?

Fan art, literature and music and the legality thereof?

Patreon cannot dispense legal advice and respects US Copyright law: https://www.copyright.gov/512 and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act: https://www.dmca.com/ and other copyright laws around the world.

Content Creators are prohibited from profiting off copyrightable works and if a rights-holder issues a copyright claim threatening legal action, Patreon must comply and remove the offending article(s).

That said, Patreon won’t eradicate a Content Creator’s account based on a singular copyright claim, especially if it’s a first-time offence.  However, repeated examples of copyright infringement may lead to account removal.

As a photographer […] I make a written agreement with most everyone I shoot, where we agree which images can be posted where…

[A model] contacted Patreon to have our images deleted.  With no concern for my expenses, my hours of labour, or my written agreement with the model, Patreon had me delete the images from the site.

I need to know if Patreon will honour my model releases without having to involve lawyers.

Patreon cannot dispense legal advice.  However, it is widely recognised that a model can withdraw their consent at any time, even if they previously agreed to give their consent.  From the point of withdrawal, continued use of a model’s image covered by their original consent is no longer permitted and Patreon, as a platform, must honour the law and the rights of likeness depiction and copyright.

Why can’t you sell things like digital documents for less than $3 (US)?

Payment processing issues and the incurred costs; the Content Creator will receive next to nothing back after these charges, so $3 is the minimum amount allowed on one-time purchases.  More information is available here:

https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/16303719836813-Selling-one-time-purchases-on-Patreon

Family or legal representatives concerning the person(s) in question can ask for the late person’s Patreon to be removed, as long as they have legally recognised documentation, like official certification, an obituary and/or legal probate.

Patreon’s process is to suspend the page and disable access to it, thereby preventing any new people joining the account without realising what’s happened.  Any funds left in the creator’s holding account are sent in one final payment to the creator’s bank account.  Then the page is quietly closed and removed.  Patreon will not publicise the reason; that’s up to those involved with the person(s) no longer with us.

Patreon does not admonish content based on personal objections to the above, but with the aim of preventing harmful rhetoric or behaviours being spread. This especially concerns scenes glorifying unwanted contact, and acts of aggression leading to mass causalities and/or worse in the real world. This isn’t to say that fictional or fantastical scenarios impossible to replicate in our reality are inherently infractions; context matters and going forward, Patreon will review the Guidelines to better communicate this.

Adult/18+ Part 2

[Can you explain] how to change from being an 18+ creator to a non-18+ creator?

Due to running out of time, this question was skipped, but Courtney said she’ll answer it Patreon’s official Discord server.

The Community Guidelines are the same for audio as they are for written and visual content on Patreon.  Any adult-themed content must be behind a paywall and not be easily accessible on any public-facing posts.

What is Patreon doing to safeguard against the pressure from payment processors to censor adult content?

The hour was almost up at this point, so the hurried answer was that Patreon is obliged to co-operate with its payment processor partners, whose own policies form the boundaries on what is permissible on Patreon’s platform.  However, Patreon will do its best for its content creators and push back where possible.  Anything affecting content creators will be publicised.

Wrapping up and staying in touch

Until Thursday 30th July 2026, there will be a Question and Answer thread continuing this discussion on Patreon’s official Discord here: https://discord.gg/t9YGnW56G

I have no access to this myself, so I cannot report findings there.  And as I’m no longer on social media, I cannot accurately report on any further developments someone else may have posted about it.  Sorry.

Still, Patreon can be contacted for further information regarding its Guidelines (not account-specific issues) by email via:  CreatorPolicy@Patreon.com

If there’s anything I have missed, or you just want to view the event for yourself and arrive at your own thoughts and conclusions, [EDIT 19/7/26], you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/PatreonforCreators/posts/mid-year-2026-164117222

The stream ended here.  Thank you for reading.