Meta took down our Instagram Account. Thanks to you, we got it back!
Friday, February 7, 2025 blog Share
In December 2024, Women Help Women’s Instagram account (@womenhelporg) got taken down without warning, claiming that it violated “community standards”. This is part of a larger trend of silencing information and non-stigmatizing messaging around abortion and reproductive health. Thanks to the pressure from allies and media, the account has been restored. Thank you for all the support!
7.2.2025
In December 2024, Women Help Women’s Instagram account (@womenhelporg) got taken down without warning, claiming that it violated “community standards”. Which guidelines were being violated exactly, we have no idea. After a push from us and our partners (shoutout to @ReproUncensored and @Amnesty), and some visibility in the news, including the New York Times, we got our Instagram account back. On Monday 27th of January we received an email that said “We've reviewed your account and found that the activity on it does follow our Community Standards”, and no further explanation. A few days later, our Latin America Facebook page, @Aborto Seguro America Latina, was suspended, and our Italian Facebook page @In Rete Aborto Italia was shadowbanned.
What is clear from this is that Meta, the company behind Instagram, Facebook, and Whatsapp, can choose to take down anything they want, whenever they want, and the grounds are arbitrary. Meta’s ideological shift to the right has become more apparent, particularly in the wake of Trump’s second election. Last week Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, announced that Meta was replacing independent fact-checkers with user-led fact-checking and automization, and loosening its restrictions on hate speech, which will inevitably lead to more misinformation and a rise in online abuse. In the meantime, organisations sharing life-saving abortion information have been censored through shadow-banning, blurring of posts, and the removal of accounts completely.
Our social media platforms have always been a space of sharing information about abortion, showcasing stigma-busting initiatives, and sharing SRHR news. Our global Instagram account reaches nearly 22,000 followers with accurate and life-saving information about abortion with pills. Restrictions imposed by companies like Meta make it even harder for people to access reproductive health information, especially in countries where abortion is restricted. Social media is a prime source of information, especially for young people, and those living in contexts with state-sanctioned online censorship. Suppression of evidence-based abortion information actively prevents organisations such as ourselves from reaching people needing abortion care. This is not about sharing political views. It is about healthcare, and about the accessibility of information to help you get the care you need when you need it. Everyone has the right to accurate, unbiased information about abortion.
Online censorship of abortion information is not new, and it is not only happening in the USA - it happens all over the world. Many of our partners and allies, including Women on Web, Just the Pill, Hey Jane, and Ipas, have experienced censorship on Meta platforms. Our own website is not accessible in South Korea, and YouTube has also removed our content in the past. Google restricts abortion providers from sharing information about abortion services by removing ads and hiding certain platforms, making it very difficult for people to find safe abortion services, and contributing to the spread of misinformation online. However, we see that the censorship is getting worse, and it is more critical than ever to be aware that this is happening.
The censorship of abortion information online is a political decision, in line with the ideological views that are coming as a wave of backlash to the greater embrace of abortion rights, trans rights, and LGBTQI+ Rights, among other gains from the past years. It is a tactic to undermine human rights, and take control away from women and pregnant people and their bodies. Censorship is a direct result of abortion stigma, pushing abortion away from public discourse. Reliable sources of information get harder to find, while misinformation continues to spread and anti-abortion platforms get more traction.
Despite all of this, here we are. We refuse to be silenced, and will continue working towards fighting stigma, sharing accurate information about medical abortion, and pushing for more access to abortion pills, regardless of whether we have an Instagram page or not. We will keep pushing back against companies like Meta.
Online and offline, we are part of a community. We are not alone, and we have each other’s back. We are grateful for our partners and allies, our Instagram followers, who shared our message and helped us get our account back. We will not be silenced.
Support our work, and make a stance against online censorship by following our Instagram accounts:
Global: @womenhelporg (Insta), @Women Help Women (FB)
Spanish: @womenhelpwomen_es (Insta), @Aborto Seguro America Latina
USA: @sass_usa (Insta)
Polish: @womenhelpwomenpolska (Insta), @Aborcja Polska - Women Help Women (FB)
Italian: @in_reteabortoitalia (Insta), @In Rete Aborto Italia (FB)
Portuguese: @womenhelpwomenportugues (Insta)
Korean: @womenhelpwomenkorea (Insta)
Sources:
Mia Sato, 2025, The Verge, “Meta’s censoring of abortion information is nothing new”
Clare Duffy, 2025, CNN, “Meta is getting rid of fact checkers. Zuckerberg acknowledged more harmful content will appear on the platforms now”
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/07/tech/meta-censorship-moderation/index.html
Phoebe Davis, 2025, Tortoise, “Abortion pill information “censored” online”
https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2025/01/27/abortion-pill-information-censored-online-1
Amnesy International, 2024, Report: “Obstacles to Autonomy: Post-Roe Removal of Abortion Information Online”
Weronika Strzyżyńska, 2024, “Meta and Google accused of restricting reproductive health information”
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