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Historical, Political & Public Figure Content

Guidelines for handling sensitive content about history, politics, and public figures.

1. Why This Is a Sensitive Topic

Reasons Platforms Restrict

Public Figure Filter triggers:
  - Defamation risk
  - Misinformation about real people
  - Political manipulation concerns
  - Historical revisionism
  - Propaganda potential

Particularly sensitive during:
  - Election periods
  - Crisis events
  - Controversial historical figures
  - Living politicians

Case Study Example: Qin Shi Huang

Why blocked on Vertex AI:
  1. "Qin Shi Huang" = Historical/political figure
     → Triggers "public figure" filter

  2. "tomb" / "ancient burial"
     → May trigger "sensitive content"

  3. Google Cloud enterprise policies
     → Stricter than consumer products

Solutions:
  - Use generic name: "Ancient emperor"
  - Focus on historical facts, don't dramatize
  - Switch to AI Studio (less strict)

2. Figure Classification

Living Public Figures

Type Sensitivity Approach
Current politicians Very high Factual only, no opinions
Candidates Very high Neutral, balanced
Celebrities High No fake quotes, no defamation
Business leaders High Factual, professional
Influencers Medium Context-dependent

Historical Figures

Type Sensitivity Approach
Controversial rulers High Educational context
War criminals High Documentary tone
Religious figures Very high Respectful, factual
Historical politicians Medium Academic approach
Scientists, artists Low Generally safe

Deceased vs Living

Deceased (>= 70 years ago):
  - Generally more flexibility
  - Academic discussion OK
  - Creative fiction may be OK (platform-dependent)
  - Still need respectful treatment

Recently deceased:
  - Still sensitive
  - Family/estate considerations
  - Public interest balance

Living:
  - Most restricted
  - No fake quotes
  - No defamatory content
  - Limited creative fiction

3. Platform-Specific Rules

Google Gemini / Vertex AI

Particularly strict with:
  - Current politicians
  - Election-related content
  - Controversial historical events
  - Religious leaders

Common triggers:
  - Politician name + opinion request
  - Historical atrocities with graphic detail
  - Religious figures + controversial context

Workarounds:
  - Frame as "educational" or "historical analysis"
  - Cite sources
  - Avoid value judgments
  - Use neutral language

OpenAI

Model Spec guidelines:
  - May generate political persuasion content (broad, non-targeted)
  - Restricts targeted campaign messaging
  - Prohibits election misinformation

Allowed:
  - "Write a persuasive speech for Candidate X"
  - Explaining political positions
  - Historical analysis

Prohibited:
  - Targeted voter manipulation
  - Fake quotes from real people
  - Election interference content

Anthropic Claude

Updated Policy (Sep 2025):
  - Prohibited: Deceptive/disruptive to democracy
  - Prohibited: Voter/campaign targeting
  - Allowed: Policy research, civic education, political writing

Can do:
  - Explain political positions objectively
  - Write educational content
  - Analyze historical events

Cannot do:
  - Create targeted campaign content
  - Generate misleading political claims
  - Impersonate political figures

4. Specific Topic Guidelines

Wars & Conflicts

Allowed (educational context):
  - Historical facts about battles, casualties
  - Analysis of causes and effects
  - Comparing different perspectives
  - Documentary-style narratives

Restricted:
  - Glorification of violence
  - One-sided propaganda
  - Graphic descriptions of atrocities (gratuitous)
  - Denial of documented events

Template prompt:
  "Provide a balanced educational overview of [conflict],
   including multiple historical perspectives and
   documented facts from reputable sources."

Genocide & Atrocities

Approach:
  - Acknowledge documented historical events
  - Respectful to victims
  - Educational purpose
  - Avoid graphic details beyond necessity

Prohibited:
  - Denial of documented genocides
  - Glorification of perpetrators
  - Minimizing victim suffering
  - Conspiracy theories

Safe phrasing:
  "The [event] is a documented historical tragedy that
   [factual description]. Historians estimate [facts].
   It is important to remember and learn from this history."

Colonialism & Imperialism

Balanced approach:
  - Acknowledge historical facts
  - Multiple perspectives
  - Impact analysis
  - Contemporary relevance

Avoid:
  - Justifying atrocities
  - One-sided narratives
  - Modern political weaponization

Religious History

Particularly sensitive:
  - Founding figures of major religions
  - Religious conflicts
  - Sectarian disputes
  - Modern religious politics

Safe approach:
  - Academic, scholarly tone
  - "According to [tradition/historians]..."
  - Avoid value judgments on beliefs
  - Respect for sacred figures

5. Political Content Guidelines

Election-Related Content

STRICTLY PROHIBITED on most platforms:
  - Fake voting information (how/when/where to vote)
  - Voter suppression content
  - False claims about election outcomes
  - Impersonating election officials
  - Targeted disinformation campaigns

Allowed:
  - Factual voter information (with caveats)
  - Explaining electoral processes
  - Comparing candidate positions (neutral)
  - Historical election analysis

Political Opinions & Bias

AI platforms typically:
  - Avoid expressing political opinions
  - Present multiple viewpoints
  - Decline to endorse candidates
  - Provide factual information only

Users can request:
  - Arguments for specific positions
  - Steelmanning different views
  - Policy analysis
  - Historical context

Current Events & Crisis

Sensitive events filter:
  - Active conflicts
  - Natural disasters
  - Public health emergencies
  - Terrorist attacks
  - Civil unrest

Approach:
  - Factual, breaking news style
  - Avoid speculation
  - Cite official sources
  - Acknowledge uncertainty

6. Creative Fiction with Historical Figures

Levels of Acceptability

Generally OK:
  - Historical fiction with factual basis
  - Clearly labeled as fiction
  - Respectful treatment
  - Educational purpose

Borderline:
  - Invented dialogue for historical figures
  - "What if" scenarios
  - Romanticized portrayals

Usually Rejected:
  - Sexual content with real people
  - Defamatory fake scenarios
  - Putting words in mouths of living people
  - Political manipulation content

Safe Fiction Template

Safe prompt:
"Write a historical fiction scene set during [era] featuring
[historical context]. Create fictional characters who interact
with or observe the documented historical events.
Focus on [aspect] while maintaining historical accuracy
for the setting and events."

Risky prompt:
"Write a scene where [real historical figure] says [specific things]
and does [specific actions]"

7. Practical Workarounds

Rename / Generalize

Instead of → Use
"Qin Shi Huang" → "ancient Chinese emperor"
"Hitler" → "fascist dictator"
"Trump/Biden" → "US president", "candidate"

Frame as Educational

Add context:
"For educational purposes about [topic]..."
"In a historical analysis context..."
"For academic research on..."
"To understand the historical impact of..."

Use Indirect References

Instead of names:
- "The leader of [country] during [period]"
- "A figure known for [achievement/event]"
- "Historical records indicate that [leader of X]..."

Request Balanced Perspective

Prompt template:
"Provide a balanced, educational overview of [topic/figure],
including:
1. Historical context
2. Different scholarly perspectives
3. Documented facts
4. Contemporary relevance
Please maintain a neutral, academic tone."

8. Country-Specific Considerations

Content about Vietnam

Sensitive:
  - Vietnam War (perspectives)
  - Contemporary politics
  - Party history
  - Recent historical figures

Safe approach:
  - Focus on documented history
  - Multiple international perspectives
  - Economic/social development facts
  - Cultural heritage (non-political)

Content about China

Particularly sensitive:
  - Tiananmen
  - Tibet/Xinjiang
  - Taiwan status
  - Hong Kong
  - Current leadership

Platform behavior:
  - Some platforms may refuse entirely
  - Others provide factual information
  - Context and framing matter significantly

Content about Middle East

High sensitivity:
  - Israel-Palestine conflict
  - Religious sites
  - Sectarian conflicts
  - Current conflicts

Approach:
  - Acknowledge complexity
  - Multiple perspectives
  - Focus on humanitarian aspects
  - Avoid taking sides

Quick Reference Decision Tree

Content related to public figure?
    │
    ├── Living person
    │   ├── Politician → Factual only, no opinions
    │   ├── Celebrity → No fake quotes, check defamation
    │   └── Private person → Generally avoid
    │
    └── Historical figure
        ├── Controversial → Educational context required
        ├── Religious → Extra respectful, scholarly tone
        └── Generally positive → More flexibility

Content about historical events?
    │
    ├── Documented atrocity → Educational, respectful, no denial
    ├── War/conflict → Multiple perspectives, balanced
    ├── Political event → Factual, cite sources
    └── Cultural/scientific → Generally safe

Current political content?
    │
    ├── Election-related → Extreme caution, factual only
    ├── Policy analysis → OK with neutral tone
    ├── Opinion content → Frame as representing a view
    └── Campaign material → Usually prohibited