Crucial Information About Abortion Access Is Getting Censored on Social Media

A new report reveals nearly 100 instances of anti-abortion censorship across TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn.

By Danielle Han | September 16, 2025 | 6:54pm

Photo: iStockphoto Abortion

Crucial Information About Abortion Access Is Getting Censored on Social Media

In January, as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg began kowtowing to President Trump, he said the company would get rid of its fact-checking program—yet disclosed little about what that would actually entail. But a new report by a digital rights watchdog group reveals that it probably did not entail ensuring that crucial information about abortion access wasn’t being censored.

Since the start of this year, various clinics, activists, and reproductive rights groups say their abortion-related content has been removed from TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn, despite adhering to the platforms’ posting policies. The reports were compiled by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which published the first installment of its findings on Monday.

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“We received nearly 100 submissions from a variety of users both in the U.S. and abroad, including personal accounts, influencers, healthcare clinics, research organizations, and advocacy groups,” Elizabeth (Lisa) Femia, a staff attorney at the organization, told Jezebel. “These users had experienced multiple post removals, account suspensions, and page takedowns without warning, and other limits on their accounts—mostly on Meta platforms. Many had appealed with little success.”

In one of the instances cited, a health policy strategist posted on Threads about different abortion pills, how to store them safely, and their standard shelf life. Meta took the post down, saying the platform “[doesn’t] allow people to buy, sell, or exchange drugs that require a prescription from a doctor or a pharmacist.”

But… that wasn’t what the post did. According to Meta guidelines, the platform permits “discussions about the sale for these goods in online stores or by online retailers” and that “debating or advocating for the legality or discussing scientific or medical merits of prescription drugs is allowed.”

While the EFF report does not exclusively name the other affected countries, social media users in places like Mexico and Colombia were shocked to see an abortion-related NGO’s WhatsApp account blocked in May.

“We found that almost none of the reported posts actually violated any policies,” Femia added. “And when we raised the issue with Meta directly, the company confirmed to us that organic, educational information about abortion is permitted under its Community Guidelines.”

Some experts suggest the pattern is a consequence of Zuckerberg’s decision to axe Meta’s fact-checkers earlier this year. Having vowed to use a “community notes”-inspired system like Twitter, many were skeptical of the technocrat’s ulterior motives at the time. But over the past few months, instead of spending money on content moderation, Meta—and other Big Tech companies—have been pouring money into AI. The thing that’s known for its inability to account for context and nuance.

Ever since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, bowdlerizing abortion-related videos on social media has become common practice. Right after the Dobbs ruling, Jezebel spoke to TikTok creators facing censorship for their abortion-related videos, one of whom said that whenever she stitched anti-abortionists’ videos with a teasing reply, the videos would be taken down for “bullying” and “harassment.” (During the same crackdown, Instagram and Facebook practiced some serious double standards, and did not take down misleading posts about “abortion-pill reversal,” a mythological treatment.)

The censor crusade has persisted since. In June 2024, Amnesty International identified at least six abortion groups whose videos were unfairly blocked over misapplied content moderation guidelines. And in January, Instagram and Facebook confirmed to the New York Times that they were suspending accounts and blurring posts by abortion-pill providers—something they later admitted was “over-enforcement.”

“This isn’t just a U.S. problem,” Femia said. “It’s part of a broader global trend that threatens freedom of information and disproportionately harms communities already facing barriers to reproductive care. We hope this campaign holds platforms like Meta accountable and encourages them to adopt more transparent content moderation and fairer and more accurate enforcement processes.”

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