Groups helping Americans find abortion pills report Instagram ‘shadow-banning’

Organizations find posts censored, removed or made difficult to find in days after Trump return to White House

Over the last week, the accounts of some major organizations that help Americans find abortion pills had their Instagram posts censored, were removed or became difficult to find through searching – a practice known as “shadow-banning”.

Censorship of abortion-related content on social media is a longstanding issue. In the days and weeks after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in June 2022, several abortion rights groups had their Instagram and TikTok posts removed or accounts suspended, while Instagram and Facebook deleted the posts of users who mentioned abortion pills.

Topics

Trump bans funding for groups that aid abortion overseas

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Some posts related to obtaining abortion pills were recently hidden on Instagram and Facebook and some accounts were suspended, before being later restored.
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Washington State’s program is the first, but other states are expected to try allowing pharmacists to prescribe the pills to counter growing efforts to curtail abortion access.
The New York Times - Jan. 7

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