Please note that this policy does not apply to Quora Spaces. To learn more about our policies for Spaces & Space content, please see: What is Quora's policy on Spaces?
There are three types of question deletions on Quora:
- Deletions made by the user who added the question. After adding a question, the OP (Original Poster) has a grace period during which they are permitted to delete the question; this grace period ends when a certain level of activity on the page has occurred. This policy is consistent with Quora's philosophy that questions belong to the community.
- Deletions requested by a user - e.g., regarding a question about themselves as an individual.
- Deletions made by Quora Moderation. Questions that are merely badly formed or unclear should be improved or tagged for improvement rather than removed. Joke questions should not be deleted; instead, they should be tagged with the Joke Questions tag which will limit their distribution to users who are interested in that content. There is a presumption in favor of editing questions rather than deleting them where this is reasonable and practicable.
Some reasons why Quora Moderation may delete a question include:
- The question is not a sincere attempt at eliciting good answers, perhaps because it is primarily focused on making a point in an argumentative manner. In cases where the question has been posted anonymously: If a question is posted by an anonymous OP, we will aggressively interpret the sincerity test; if reasonable people would conclude that there is a greater-than-50% chance that the question is not sincerely intended to elicit good answers, then it will be deleted. If the OP wants to appeal this decision, they will need to remove anonymity on the question and post a comment on the question making their case why the question should be interpreted as sincere. Once a question has been deleted per this policy, the anonymous OP cannot fix the question by editing it; the OP needs to reveal their identity and explain their rationale. This rule will be enforced especially aggressively on hot topics (e.g., religion, gender, politics, etc.).
- The question violates Quora's Policy on Protecting Individuals.
- The question could be considered to constitute harassment or hate speech by a reasonable observer and has the potential to make the experience of using Quora uncomfortable for targeted group(s) of users.
- The question is posed such that a direct answer that sincerely attempts to provide the information requested by the question would inevitably be contrary to a Quora policy, including but not limited to the Be Nice, Be Respectful policy and the policy prohibiting answers that advocate certain harmful actions.
- The question's primary focus is the promotion of a product or service.
- The question is a legal or medical question that concerns client- or patient-specific facts.
- The question is incoherent or otherwise unable to be answered meaningfully, and would not be improved by straightforward edits.
- Questions that are created with the purpose of attracting spam content are also considered spam and may be deleted.
- The question is a solicitation, classified ad and/or job posting. (To be clear, it is fine to ask questions like "What are the best ways to go about hiring great iPhone developers in Silicon Valley?" that are requests for general, reusable advice.)
Additional Notes:
- A user cannot delete a question that another user has added. However, if a user notices two or more duplicate questions, the user can merge the newer question(s) to the older question. Users can also edit questions to improve them.
- If you feel your question has been unfairly deleted, please use this contact form to submit an appeal.