Instagram and Facebook have recently come under fire for blurring and blocking posts related to abortion healthcare and access, as well as hiding accounts from appearing in the search bar.
US-based abortion pill provider Aid Access stated in a January 24 Instagram post that they had previously had their account suspended and had both Instagram and Facebook posts blocked by Meta, as well as having images censored or inaccessible to the public.
“We know some of our posts are still blurred or missing, and we’re working hard to fix that”, the post read.
“We’re here to stay, to keep fighting, and to provide essential medical info.”
(Source: Instagram)
Aid Access provides a service of connecting patients with doctors who can prescribe abortion pills, and one of their posts that was blurred included an illustrated guide on how to take the pills at home.
Comments on the post pointed out the censorship, with some mentioning it went against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s previous stance of free speech on their platforms.
“Well well well, if this isn’t censorship then I don’t know what is”, wrote one user.
“The images won’t load at all for me. This is horrible and dystopian”, said another.
The post that was censored. (Source: Instagram)
One Reddit user wrote “all the latest actions are just disgusting. And calling them “errors” that they are gonna fix is insulting”, in response.
“Gross. It amazes me that people still think that this shit is okay. It’s not,” wrote another.
Earlier this month, Meta announced the axeing of their fact-checking program and have instead shifted into a community-driven system similar to Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter).
This news came via video by Zuckerburg, who stated that “fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the US.”
As reported by The New York Times, the censorship of abortion-related posts had “ramped up in the last two weeks” and was “especially noticeable” in the past few days.
Other accounts, including Women Help Women and Just The Pill, were also suspended while Instagram account Hey Jane was hidden from the search bar.
“Given Meta’s recent promises around free speech, we’re incredibly disappointed to see how the platform is restricting our free speech”, Hey Jane marketing lead Rebecca Davis told the NYT.
Meta responded to the NYT by confirming the blurring and censorship of images, and stated that they had restored some accounts on January 23.
The social media company also stated that the censorship of abortion-related accounts and posts was not related to their controversial policy changes, but others have yet to be convinced.
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