Facebook and Instagram are removing (accounts with) posts about abortion pills. Users are posting this content in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, which eliminates the nationwide right to abortion in the United States. As a result, people are becoming increasingly aware of the danger of sharing information about their wombs with Meta.

Meta's shady policy

Recently, the Supreme Court in the United States issued a ruling with a tragic consequence: the nationwide right to abortion will disappear. As a result, people in many American states will no longer have access to abortion. This is a huge slap in the face of fundamental (women's) rights, such as the right to self-determination and choice. People immediately went looking for solutions. On social media, users started sharing information and announcements about abortion pills. For example, users will post messages offering abortion pills or messages explaining how to legally obtain abortion pills by mail.

In response, Meta's Facebook and Instagram have been removing these posts and blocking users. Posts on Facebook such as "If you send me your address, I'll send you abortion pills by mail" are removed within a minute, with a reference to Facebook's rules on guns, animals and other regulated goods.

Similar messages about weapons or drugs - "If you send me your address, I'll mail you some weed", however, aren't removed. Even though distributing cannabis by mail is illegal in the US and abortion pills are not. Posts offering mail-order painkillers aren't removed either. It therefore seems very likely that Meta has made an active decision to crack down on content about abortion pills.

Meta obstructs access to abortion

It's clear that Meta heavily interferes with content referencing abortion pills. Deleting posts and accounts dealing with this topic has severe consequences for reproductive- and women's rights. Meta's policy is an attempt at erasing certain voices, namely those sharing information about (safe) abortion (pills), from the public discourse on abortion - a discourse which to a large extent takes place on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. The result is less or no access to (information on) abortion pills for people who need them. In preventing women from receiving (information on) abortion pills, Meta's business interests indirectly obstruct the access to safe abortion.

Meta's response to criticism has been weak. A spokesperson for the tech giant said the company prohibits individuals from giving away or selling drugs on its platforms, but does allow information about access to abortion pills. The enforcement of this policy, however, "ran into some problems". Even though Facebook and Instagram are consistently taking down information about access to abortion pills, we're made to believe "that's not how Meta intended it." But why would we?

This isn't the first sign of Meta obstructing the acces to abortion

Meta's behavior is clearly directed against the right to abortion. Obstructing access to (information about) abortion pills is not mandated by law, but a voluntary measure taken by the tech giant. A measure that has major consequences. And it's not the first time the tech company's behavior has revealed its real stance on abortion.

For example, the accounts of online organizations that advocate for abortion rights were frequently disabled during the Covid-19 pandemic, precisely when such organizations were needed most. Often the tech giant would provide no reason at all, or claim a take-down was the result of a mistake. Accounts were blocked at strategic moments, such as shortly before new abortion legislation was enacted. How are people supposed to find reliable information about abortion options on the platforms they use most, when accounts providing this information and posts about abortion pills are consistently removed?

Suspicious information

With Meta so clearly taking an anti-abortion stance, people are not so sure that information about what goes on in their wombs can be entrusted to the company. This has led to a trend of women deleting their menstruation apps. These apps help people track their periods and fertility, as well as provide insight to users when they might be pregnant. Research by Privacy International found that app providers do not adequately safeguard the personal data of their users. In fact, among others, they share their users' personal data with, you guessed it, Facebook. That Meta has no qualms about sharing your personal data with third parties is common knowledge. It's not surprising, then, that people no longer feel it's safe to record this kind of sensitive data. Because what if it shows that you were at one point pregnant, and now you aren't? Could that information make its way to the desk of a law enforcement officer?

Once secured, rights need to be cherished

The reversal of the right to abortion shows how important it is to cherish and protect hard-fought rights. It also shows how intertwined the rights to privacy and freedom of communication are with other rights. Whereas a few years back people were perfectly happy using an app to track their cycle, it has become suddenly clear how sensitive that data actually is. And that it does matter that it's shared with Meta, a corporation that doesn't take human rights very seriously.