Clinics, advocacy groups, and individuals in Latin America and the United States report that social media platforms are removing abortion-related informational posts, even when these do not appear to violate stated policies. The removals have prompted concerns about censorship in regions where abortion is legal.
Companies such as Meta maintain that their policies regarding abortion content have not changed. However, experts suggest that the increase in takedowns may be due to a shift toward artificial intelligence-based moderation systems, which can struggle with context and nuance. Social media companies have been reducing spending on human content moderation in favor of automated systems.
Jennifer Pinsof, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), said her organization has collected nearly 100 examples of content takedowns from abortion providers, advocacy groups, and individuals across platforms including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn. “The goal of it was to better understand the breadth of the problem, who’s affected, and with what consequences. Obviously, then once we had a better understanding of the trends, we hope to call attention to the issue, demand accountability and increase transparency in the moderation practices and ultimately, help stop the platforms from censoring this essential, sometimes life-saving information,” Pinsof said.
It remains unclear whether there has been an actual increase in takedowns or if more people are posting about abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Brenna Miller, a TikTok creator who works in reproductive health care, described having an informational video removed by TikTok after it was online for at least a week. She recounted difficulties appealing the decision: “TikTok does have an appeal process, which I tried to go through. And it just locked me out. It said that I didn’t have the option to appeal it,” Miller said. “So I started emailing them, trying to get in contact with a person to just even get an explanation of like, how I violated the community guidelines with an informational video. It took months for me to even get in contact with a person and I don’t even (think) it was really a person. They were sending an automated message for months straight.” Her video was eventually restored without explanation several months later.
Miller added: “I work in public health in my 9-to-5 and we’re seeing a real suppression of public health information and dissemination of that information, particularly in the reproductive health space. And people are scared,” she said. “It’s really important to get people this medically accurate information so that they’re not afraid and they actually can access the health care that they need.”
TikTok states that while sharing information about abortion or medication is generally allowed on its platform—selling or marketing drugs is restricted—and misinformation harmful to users is prohibited.
At Red River Women’s Clinic in Moorhead, Minnesota—a state where abortion remains legal—the clinic experienced account suspensions after attempting to promote a post about medication abortions on Facebook. The post included an image of mifepristone but did not offer telehealth services or attempt sales online; appeals resulted first in reversal but were followed by another suspension before resolution via contacts at Meta.
“We were not trying to sell drugs. We were just informing our followers about a service, a legal service that we offer. So that’s alarming that, you know, that was flagged as not fitting into their standards,” said clinic director Tammi Kromenaker. “To have a private company like Meta just go with the political winds and say, we don’t agree with this so we’re going to flag these and we’re going to shut these down is very alarming.”
Meta reiterated its position: “We allow posts and ads promoting health care services like abortion as well as discussion and debate around them as long as they follow our policies —and we give people the opportunity to appeal decisions if they think we’ve got it wrong,” according to its statement.
Emory University’s Center for Reproductive Health Research in the Southeast (RISE) also faced issues when its Instagram account was suspended following a post describing mifepristone; after appeals failed initially but succeeded following direct contact with Meta staffers outside standard channels.
Sara Redd from RISE commented: “Where I get concerned is (that) with the increased use of social media we also have seen correspondingly an increased rise of misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms about many health topics,” she said.“One of main goals through our communications and through our social media is to promote scientifically accurate evidence-based information about reproductive health care including abortion.”
Laura Edelson at Northeastern University noted broader implications: while policy debates continue,“what matters is people’s experiences of sharing information and [the] information [they] are able to get and they’re able to see.”
