Content ModerationAugments Human LaborVerified

Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, March 23, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.

Pinterest uses machine learning to automatically scan billions of images and pieces of text across its platform for content that violates its policies, including adult content, hate speech, self-harm encouragement, medical misinformation, drug promotion, and graphic violence. The system works both in batches — reviewing all existing content daily — and in real time as new content is uploaded. Pinterest says reports of policy-violating content per impression dropped 52% after the system was first deployed in 2019.

Details

The system uses neural network classifiers that take as input a combination of image embeddings (numerical representations of what an image looks like) and text extracted via optical character recognition (OCR). Two pipelines operate in parallel: a batch system that scans the entire Pin corpus on a regular schedule using distributed computing, and a streaming pipeline that flags new content within seconds of upload. As of late 2023, Pinterest had launched or updated 16 machine learning models covering categories including child safety, eating disorder promotion, depressive content, and weapons. The system handles tens of millions of deactivations per quarter — for example, 29.4 million Pins were deactivated for adult content in Q1 2023 alone.

Products affected

Pinterest home feedPinterest searchRelated PinsPinterest Boards

Sources & Evidence

News Article

News ArticleVerified

Transparency report

Pinterest Policy

https://policy.pinterest.com/en/transparency-report-h1-2023

News Article

Pinterest details the AI that powers its content moderation

VentureBeat·Mar 2021

https://venturebeat.com/business/pinterest-details-the-ai-that-powers-its-content-moderation

Company Disclosure

Company DisclosureVerified

How Pinterest fights misinformation, hate speech, and self-harm content with machine learning

Pinterest Engineering Blog·Mar 2021

https://medium.com/pinterest-engineering/how-pinterest-fights-misinformation-hate-speech-and-self-harm-content-with-machine-learning-1806b73b40ef

Cite this record

Trace Foundation. (2026). Pinterest: Pinterest uses machine learning to automatically scan billions of images and pieces of text across its platform for content that violates its policies, including adult content, hate speech, self-harm encouragement, medical misinformation, drug promotion, and graphic violence. The system works both in batches — reviewing all existing content daily — and in real time as new content is uploaded. Pinterest says reports of policy-violating content per impression dropped 52% after the system was first deployed in 2019 (data as of 2026-03-23) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/79c03423-c06d-470f-8225-e8bfb9d74267. Accessed October 14, 2026.

Stable link: https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/79c03423-c06d-470f-8225-e8bfb9d74267
Data as of: March 23, 2026
Last verified: March 23, 2026

How to cite AI Trace

Other practices by Pinterest

OtherPinterest maintains an internal program called Responsible AI that covers three areas: building inclusive AI features (the skin tone, body type, and hair pattern tools described in Practice 21), testing its AI systems for unfair bias (using internal tools that measure whether models perform equally well across different groups of users), and developing guidelines for the safe use of generative AI. The program includes red teaming — structured attempts to find flaws or harmful outputs in AI systems before they launch.OtherPinterest is testing AI-powered upgrades to its Boards feature that go beyond simple user-organized collections. In October 2025, Pinterest launched an experiment in the U.S. and Canada where the platform automatically generates outfit ideas from a user's saved fashion Pins ("Styled for you"), creates entirely AI-curated boards based on trending styles ("Boards made for you"), and suggests related products based on what a user has already saved ("Make It Yours").OtherPinterest uses AI to identify diverse skin tones, body types, and hair patterns across billions of images on its platform, then uses those signals to ensure that search results and recommendations reflect a broader range of human appearances. Users can filter fashion search results by body type ranges, skin tone ranges, and hair patterns. The body type technology launched in September 2023, with public user filters rolling out in March 2024; skin tone ranges have been available since 2018.

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