Block for students, allow for staff
The usual school policy. Students lose feeds during the day while teachers keep access for school accounts.
group students : block Social Networking
group staff : allow Social Networking
Social Media Domains List: Block Social Networks by Category
Blocking a social network is harder than it looks. Each platform runs on a family of domains for media, APIs and short links, and adds new ones without notice.
This page lists the main and supporting domains of the best-known platforms, then shows how a category list keeps the block working as those families grow.
Main domainsMedia deliveryShort linksAPI hostsNew domains dailyPer-group policy
Well-known social media domains, by platform
These are the main, publicly known domains for each platform. Platforms change their infrastructure over time, so treat this as a starting point and let category data catch the rest.
| Platform | Main domains | Media and delivery | Short links and extras | Step by step guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
facebook.com fb.com | fbcdn.net facebook.net fbsbx.com | fb.me messenger.com | Block Facebook | |
instagram.com | cdninstagram.com, shares fbcdn.net | ig.me | Block Instagram | |
| TikTok | tiktok.com | tiktokcdn.com tiktokv.com | Regional delivery domains | Block TikTok |
| X (Twitter) | x.com twitter.com | twimg.com | t.co | Block X |
| Snapchat | snapchat.com | sc-cdn.net | snap.com bitmoji.com | Block Snapchat |
reddit.com | redditmedia.com redditstatic.com | redd.it | Block Reddit | |
pinterest.com | pinimg.com | Country domains | Block Pinterest | |
| Threads | threads.com | Shared Meta delivery hosts | threads.net now redirects | Via the category list |
linkedin.com | licdn.com | lnkd.in | Often allowed for staff | |
| Discord | discord.com | discordapp.com discordapp.net | discord.gg | Block Discord |
Domains drift. Threads, for example, launched on threads.net and moved its main address to threads.com in April 2025. Hand-made lists miss changes like this; a category list picks up the new name when it is categorized.
Why one domain per platform is never enough
A social app is a bundle of services. If you block only the name users type, the app still loads its feed, images and video from the others.
Main domain
The address in the browser bar and the app's sign-in. Blocking it stops the website, not always the app.
Media hosts
Images, video and stories. Leave them open and embedded posts still load across the web.
API hosts
What the mobile app talks to. Some apps keep working on cached sessions if only the website is blocked.
Short links
Shared in messages and email. They redirect to the main site, so they count as part of the platform.
A category list covers all four layers at once, because media, API and short-link domains that mainly serve a platform are categorized with it. That is what keeps an app from quietly working after the main name is blocked.
The same pattern applies to video and messaging apps. See how to block social media at work for a full rollout on firewalls, DNS and managed devices.
What the social media category covers
Beyond the famous names, the Social Networking category holds a long tail of smaller networks, regional platforms and niche communities. Related categories let you go wider or narrower.
Core
Social Networking
Platforms built around profiles, follows and feeds, from global networks to regional and niche ones. See social media category.
Separate
Email and Messaging
Chat and messaging services, kept apart so you can allow messaging and block feeds. See messaging.
Optional
Forums / Message Boards
Discussion boards organised by topic rather than by follows. See forums.
Optional
Community Sites
Fan, hobby and interest communities that mix social features with content.
Separate
Streaming Media
Video and live streaming platforms, including the big video sites, managed on their own.
Separate
Dating
Dating and matchmaking platforms, which have their own category and policies.
Because a domain carries ranked categories, a video platform with strong social features can carry both Streaming Media and Social Networking. Your policy decides whether either category is enough to block.
Four common social media policies
Few organisations block every social platform for everyone. These patterns cover most real policies, shown as plain rules your enforcement point can express.
Block all, allow one platform
Common for careers classes and HR teams who need one professional network.
block Social Networking
allow linkedin.com, licdn.com
Time-based access
Open at lunch and after hours, closed during lessons or shifts. Needs an enforcement point with schedules.
12:00-13:00 : allow Social Networking
otherwise : block Social Networking
Block feeds, keep messaging
Keeps team chat and family messaging working while removing the scroll.
block Social Networking
allow Email and Messaging
Schools in the United States can compare this with funding rules in K-12 school web filtering. Companies will find more on corporate web filtering.
Shared infrastructure: the tricky part
Some social domains do double duty. Blocking them affects things you may want to keep, so decide on these before rollout.
Shared media between sister apps
Instagram loads some content from fbcdn.net, which also serves Facebook. Blocking it hits both apps.
Social sign-in
Many shops and tools offer sign-in with a social account. Blocking the main domain breaks that button.
Embedded posts
News and blog pages embed posts. With media hosts blocked they show blank boxes, which is usually fine.
Business pages
Small firms use social pages as their website. Staff researching suppliers may need read access.
Customer support
Support teams answer customers on social platforms. Give their group its own allow rule.
Advertising tools
Marketing teams run ads through platform dashboards. They need the platform and its ad tools open.
Size and freshness of the social media list
The famous platforms are a small share of the category by count. Most entries are smaller networks, regional sites and supporting domains that users find once the big names are blocked.
Long tail
Regional and niche networks make up most of the category, and they are where blocked students go next.
Daily deltas
About 300,000 newly registered domains are categorized every day, across every category.
Rechecks
New domains are checked again after a week and after a month, as sites fill in after launch.
Monthly refresh
All other domains are refreshed monthly, so renamed and retired platforms are kept in order.
Exact counts change daily and are shared with licence holders. Router-sized exports can be trimmed to the popular subset within the 20 million most visited domains.
Formats and how to deploy the list
Licensed customers receive the category in CSV, Parquet and JSON, and as RPZ, hosts, adblock style, firewall EDL or PAC exports. The blocklist formats guide shows each one.
Decide groups first
Students, staff, guests and special teams. A social media policy without groups ends in exceptions for everyone.
Block at DNS and firewall
DNS covers every device. The firewall catches apps that connect to cached addresses after a lookup.
Close the bypass routes
Force DNS through your resolver and pair this list with the VPN and proxy domains list.
Manage the apps on devices
On managed phones and tablets, use MDM app restrictions alongside the list, since installed apps may cache content.
Add allow rules per group
LinkedIn for HR, support platforms for the service desk, ad dashboards for marketing.
Test on phones and laptops
Open each major app on Wi-Fi with a fresh session, and try posting, loading video and sending a message.
Social media blocking by environment
The right policy depends heavily on who is on the network. This table sums up what each type of operator usually does with the category.
| Environment | Usual policy | Common exceptions | Main concern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary school | Block for all pupils | School's own channel for staff | Age limits, contact from strangers |
| Secondary school | Block in lessons, sometimes open at breaks | Careers network, media studies classes | Distraction, bullying, wellbeing |
| University | Usually open | None needed | Bandwidth and security, not content |
| Office | Open, limited or time-based | Marketing, HR, support teams | Productivity and data leaks |
| Call centre or shop floor | Block on work devices | Team leads and social care staff | Focus and customer data |
| Kids' devices and family apps | Parent decides per platform | Messaging with family | Age limits and screen time |
| Guest Wi-Fi | Open | None | Complaints if blocked |
How users get around a social media block
Once the big platforms are blocked, determined users try a handful of routes. Each one has a matching fix.
VPN apps and proxies
The most common route. Block the VPN / Proxy / Anonymizers category and VPN protocols at the firewall.
Encrypted DNS
Browsers and apps that use their own resolver skip your list. Block outside DNS and use the Firefox canary domain use-application-dns.net.
Private relay features
Some phones offer a relay that hides browsing. Apple documents returning no answer for mask.icloud.com and mask-h2.icloud.com to signal it is not allowed.
Smaller platforms
Users move to lesser-known networks. The long tail of the category is what catches them.
Mobile data
Phones switch off Wi-Fi. Only device-level controls or MDM reach them there.
Translation and cache sites
Some services fetch pages on the user's behalf. Proxy-like services are covered by the VPN and proxy list.
Full steps for each route are in how to block VPN apps and how to block proxy sites.
For app makers: social media controls in your product
Parental control apps, kids' browsers and school device tools all offer a social media switch. Category data turns that switch into one rule instead of a list to maintain.
What parents expect
A single toggle for social media, plus a choice per platform for the ones their children actually use.
They also expect the toggle to keep working when a platform changes its domains, which only a maintained list can deliver.
What the data gives you
The Social Networking category for the toggle, well-known platforms for the per-platform choices and daily deltas for new domains.
Embedding the data needs an OEM licence; see also the parental control app database guide.
False positives and how to handle them
Social media lists rarely block the wrong platform. The usual problem is a site with a small social feature that someone thinks should be open.
Case
Learning platforms with comments
Course sites with discussion features stay in Education/Reference or Webinars/E-learning, not Social Networking.
Case
Company community sites
Customer forums run by software firms usually sit in Forums or Computers & Technology.
Case
Mixed platforms
Sites with a strong social layer on another purpose carry two ranked categories; block on the first only if that suits you.
Fix
Allow per group
Open the site only for the group that needs it, so the rest of the policy stays intact.
Fix
Report it
If a site is clearly not social media, report it so it goes back into review.
Case
Brand and product pages
A company's own site that links to its social profiles is not social media. Only the platform domains are in the category.
Case
Social features in games
Game platforms with chat and friends lists sit in Gaming. Block them with the gaming category if needed.
Fix
Keep notes on exceptions
Write down who asked for each allow rule and why. Review the list each term or quarter and remove what nobody uses.
Checking that the block holds
Social apps are good at hiding failures. A cached feed can look fine for hours, so test with fresh sessions and watch the logs for a week.
Fresh app session
Sign out, clear the app cache and open it again on Wi-Fi. A working block shows a connection error, not an old feed.
Video and stories
Try to play a video or a story. If text loads but media does not, a media host is open somewhere.
Log review
Look for allowed lookups to platform names after rollout. They point to a missing domain or an exception.
Allowed groups
Repeat the test from a staff device to confirm the allow rules work for the people who need them.
Social media domains list FAQ
Which domains do I need to block to block a social media platform?
The main domain is not enough. Each platform also uses media and content delivery domains, API hosts and short-link domains. Blocking only the main name usually leaves the app half working, so block the whole set or use a category list.
Can I block Facebook but keep Instagram working?
Partly. Instagram loads some content from shared infrastructure, including fbcdn.net, so blocking every Facebook domain can affect Instagram. Block facebook.com and messenger.com and leave the shared media host open, then test both apps.
Does blocking social media also block messaging apps?
Not with a category list. Messaging services sit in the Email and Messaging category, separate from Social Networking, so you can block one and allow the other.
Will blocking social media break other websites?
Sometimes. News sites embed posts, shops use social sign-in and many pages load share buttons. Those parts fail quietly, while the rest of the page works. Allow the sign-in hosts if staff need them for work tools.
How do schools block social media but allow LinkedIn for careers classes?
Block the Social Networking category for students and add linkedin.com and licdn.com to an allow list for the groups that need them. A category list with an allow list is easier to maintain than a hand-made list of every platform.
How does the list keep up when platforms add new domains?
New domains are categorized daily and rechecked after a week and a month. When a platform adds a new media or short-link domain, it enters the category and reaches your list in the next delta.
Is YouTube part of the social media list?
YouTube is mainly a video platform, so it sits in Streaming Media rather than Social Networking. Block it separately or use restricted mode if you want video controls. See how to block YouTube.
Can I get a list of every social media domain?
Licensed customers receive the full Social Networking category as files, including the long tail of smaller and regional networks. This page shows only the well-known platforms' main domains as a starting point.
How much does a licensed social media domain list cost?
The category comes with the full database licence. Starter database tiers start from $999; enterprise and OEM licences are quoted per deployment.
A social media list that follows the platforms
License the Social Networking category and 58 others across 120 million domains, with daily new-domain deltas and exports for every enforcement point.
Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads are trademarks of Meta Platforms, Inc. TikTok is a trademark of ByteDance Ltd. X and Twitter are trademarks of X Corp. Snapchat and Bitmoji are trademarks of Snap Inc.
Reddit is a trademark of Reddit, Inc. Pinterest is a trademark of Pinterest, Inc.
LinkedIn is a trademark of LinkedIn Corporation. Discord is a trademark of Discord Inc. YouTube is a trademark of Google LLC. Apple and iCloud are trademarks of Apple Inc. Firefox is a trademark of the Mozilla Foundation.
These names are used here only to identify the platforms discussed. Web Filtering Database is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by any of these companies.