Pills, Clicks and Bans: Auditing Platformed Censorship of Access to Abortion and Reproductive Rights
June 2017
In May 2020, Women on Web’s website faced a devastating Google Core Update, a routine exercise Google practices to keep its main search engine algorithm updated. This wiped out nearly 75% of Women on Web’s traffic, meaning fewer people globally were able to find the essential service online, thereby restricting access to vital abortion care and information.
In collaboration with Concordia University’s Applied AI Institute and Digital Intimacies, Gender, and Sexuality (DIGS) Lab, Women on Web has produced two reports focused on censorship and traffic of the organization’s social media posts and website, as well as a Guideline for other organizations that are interested in carrying out a similar investigation.
Key findings:
👆 Big Tech/Meta platforms frequently limit access to data and transparency and unpredictable conditions and improper access to records can mean less access to essential services
🌍 Strategizing to safeguard access to reproductive health information by the organization was precarious, tenuous, and costly
💊 Institutional memory enable action that can challenge power imbalances between activists and Big Tech
This research documents the impacts of digital suppression and censorship the organization has faced in the years before and after May 2020, overseeing a full audit of Women on Web’s aggregate online data. It shows how certain practices imposed by Big Tech result in gatekeeping and a lack of transparency which can lead to less essential healthcare access.
The Guideline is a tool to share knowledge and galvanize collective action against Big Tech practices that leave civil society organizations at a clear disadvantage. The Guide hopefully empowers others facing similar barriers to document empirical evidence so we can continue to advocate for more transparent safeguarding of essential information.
Why these findings matter:
Research like this matters in order to keep Big Tech providers and platforms accountable, highlight policy standards and safeguards needed for essential information, and enable other similar services to analyze their own aggregate data. As health information and access moves more online, having the knowledge and the tools to advocate for accurate health access is essential.
In collaboration with: Applied AI Institute and Digital Intimacies, Gender, and Sexuality (DIGS) Lab, Concordia University
Report: Censorship of womenonweb.org
Report. Social Media Suppression
