"Public morals" redirects here. For the 1996 sitcom, see Public Morals (1996 TV series). For the 2015 television series, see Public Morals (2015 TV series).

Public morality refers to moral and ethical standards enforced in a society, by law or police work or social pressure, and applied to public life, to the content of the media, and to conduct in public places. A famous remark of Mrs Patrick Campbell, that she did not care what people did as long as they "didn't frighten the horses" shows that in some sense even high tolerance expects a public limitation on behaviour (sexual conduct is implied here). At the opposite extreme a theocracy may equate public morality with religious instruction, and give both the equal force of law.