By Jane Eklund, Tech and Reproductive Rights Fellow, Amnesty International USA
As attacks on abortion access have intensified in the United States and globally, a crucial aspect of this fight has been raging on the internet: the fight to keep accurate abortion information accessible online.
Digital Abortion Advocacy Post-Roe
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, the United States lost federal abortion protections. Following the Court’s decision, reproductive health and rights organizations worked fervently to share updated information on abortion access and legality as state laws were changing on a day-to-day basis, and social media was one of the easiest and fastest ways to share information in a confusing legal landscape. However, just as people needed this information more than ever, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok were removing vital information on how to access abortion care.
Social media is a crucial tool for accessing abortion information, especially as digital reproductive rights advocacy and telehealth services grow. For those in states with restrictive abortion laws or limited access to reproductive health clinics, the internet often provides essential connections to telehealth abortion services and accurate information on medication abortion. Removing this content or suspending social media accounts sharing it can block access to life-saving information and create even more obstacles for abortion seekers.
Although Meta and TikTok claim their community guidelines don’t explicitly ban abortion-related content, their practices often contradict this. The unclear (or nonexistent) guidelines relating to reproductive health and rights information have led to the seemingly arbitrary removal of posts sharing essential abortion information. Advocacy groups are urging tech companies to clarify how they moderate abortion content and update their community guidelines to ensure that accurate abortion information can be shared and people get the information they need.
Working in Coalition
Since 2022, Amnesty International USA has partnered with Repro Uncensored, a global coalition of reproductive health and rights organizations, digital rights activists, and creatives. Co-chaired by Amnesty International USA, Plan C, Women on Web, Women First Digital, and Reproaction, this coalition is committed to ensuring that accurate abortion information remains accessible online.
Repro Uncensored has gained support from U.S. and international organizations that champion sexual and reproductive health and rights, as many of these organizations have experienced content removal or account suspensions firsthand. In a post-Roe world, where many abortion seekers rely on digital platforms to access critical healthcare information, removing abortion-related content not only silences voices, it cuts off a vital lifeline for those in need. The coalition works to conduct research on this issue, educate the public and reproductive rights organizations, and advocate for Big Tech companies to be more transparent and modify their practices to ensure reproductive health and rights information is not removed.
Demands for Action
Amnesty International and reproductive health and rights organizations are calling on Meta and TikTok to:
- Ensure that accurate reproductive health and rights information can be easily accessed and that the platforms make necessary changes to their content moderation practices to ensure that such information can be shared.
- Undertake proactive, ongoing human rights due diligence to identify, mitigate, prevent, and address any potential and actual harms arising from the moderation of abortion-related content.
- Increase transparency about how their community guidelines apply to reproductive health and rights content and how content moderators are trained to assess such content.
- Increase transparency regarding the use of artificial intelligence-driven content moderation systems and how they moderate reproductive health and rights content.
AIUSA Tech and Reproductive Rights Research Fellow, Jane Eklund, with the petition signatures and sign-on letters in Amnesty International USA’s Washington, DC office.
Supporting Organizations
The following organizations have signed on to this effort:
- Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine (ACT)
- Access Now
- Actions Communautaires pour le Développement de la Femme (ACODEFEM)
- Amnesty International USA
- carafem
- Center for Intimacy Justice
- Charley
- FEMINIST
- Groupe Santé Josaphat
- Hey Jane
- Hola Amigue
- Hydra Mutual Aid Fund
- Ipas
- M+A Hotline
- Mayday Health
- Plan C
- Repro Uncensored
- Reproaction
- Shout Your Abortion
- Vitala Global
- Woodhull Freedom Foundation