Colombia – ‘It’s not the 90s any more’: the all-women team reinventing abortion advice for the TikTok age

The irreverent approach of the Colombian hotline Jacarandas has made it the most-followed abortion account on social media in the Spanish-speaking world

Isabel Choat
Tue 13 Jan 2026

What do a purple cartoon cat and abortion have in common? Nothing – and that is the point, say the women behind Jacarandas, a Colombian abortion helpline. Determined to set themselves apart from more traditional reproductive health organisations, Jacarandas commissions street and graphic artists to create eye-catching illustrations – most recently a cartoon feline called Gataranda, inspired by the team’s much-loved office pet.

The aim is not to make light of abortion but to appeal to the teenagers and young women who use Jacarandas’ services. “A lot of people do not connect with [an image of] the uterus on fire, so we thought ‘what can we do to connect more with young women?” says Carolina Benítez Mendoza, the deputy director.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jan/13/its-not-the-90s-any-more-the-all-women-team-reinventing-abortion-advice-for-the-tiktok-age

Meta shuts down global accounts linked to abortion advice and queer content

More than 50 organisations report sites being restricted or removed, with abortion hotlines blocked and posts showing non-explicit nudity triggering warnings

Aisha Down
Thu 11 Dec 2025

Meta has removed or restricted dozens of accounts belonging to abortion access providers, queer groups and reproductive health organisations in the past weeks in what campaigners call one of the “biggest waves of censorship” on its platforms in years.

The takedowns and restrictions began in October and targeted the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp accounts of more than 50 organisations worldwide, some serving tens of thousands of people – in what appears to be a growing push by Meta to limit reproductive health and queer content across its platforms. Many of these were from Europe and the UK, however the bans also affected groups serving women in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/dec/11/meta-shuts-down-global-accounts-linked-to-abortion-advice-and-queer-content

Meta is Removing Abortion Advocates’ Accounts Without Warning

BY LISA FEMIA
September 24, 2025

When the team at Women Help Women signed into Instagram last winter, they were met with a distressing surprise: without warning, Meta had disabled their account. The abortion advocacy non-profit organization found itself suddenly cut off from its tens of thousands of followers and with limited recourse. Meta claimed Women Help Women had violated its Community Standards on “guns, drugs, and other restricted goods,” but the organization told EFF it uses Instagram only to communicate about safe abortion practices, including sharing educational content and messages aimed at reducing stigma. Eventually, Women Help Women was able to restore its account—but only after launching a public campaign and receiving national news coverage.

Continued: https://www.eff.org/pages/meta-removing-abortion-advocates-accounts-without-warning

24.09.2025

Commentary

digital censorship

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Meta and abortion

Meta censorship

Meta’s Transparency Center

RISE Center for Reproductive Health Research

Stop Censoring Abortion campaign

Vital abortion-related content is apparently being blocked by Meta – potentially putting women at risk

The tech company, which owns Facebook and WhatsApp amongst others, has reportedly blocked or limited access to abortion providers
By Kimberley Bond

22 May 2025

The tech giant Meta has been accused by abortion providers of limiting their content in the US and Central America.

MSI Reproductive Choices (an international non-government agency that provides reproductive healthcare) and Plan C Pills (an information resource helping people with understanding safe, at-home abortions) claims Meta, which owns social media platform Facebook and messaging service WhatsApp, have censored their services.

The WhatsApp for Business account of the leading abortion provider in Mexico, Fundación MSI (part of MSI Reproductive Choices), has been suspended, which has led to an immediate 80 per cent drop in people booking appointments. WhatsApp was the primary channel for people seeking reproductive care, with MSI Reproductive Choices now fighting to get the platform reinstated.

Continued: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/a64849730/meta-block-abortion-content/

Abortion-rights groups denounce censorship on Meta-owned apps in Latin America and beyond

All of a sudden, women contacting one of the biggest sources of information about abortion in Mexico through the encrypted messaging app WhatsApp were met with silence

By MARÍA VERZA, Associated Press
May 15, 2025

MEXICO CITY -- All of a sudden, women contacting one of the biggest sources of information about abortion in Mexico through the encrypted messaging app WhatsApp were met with silence.

The nongovernmental organization’s business account had been blocked. Weeks later, a similar digital blackout struck a collective in Colombia.

Across the Americas, organizations that guide women seeking abortions in various countries are raising alarm, decrying what they see as a new wave of censorship on platforms owned by tech giant Meta — even in countries where abortion is decriminalized. The organizations believe this is due to a combination of changes to Meta policies and attacks by anti-abortion groups that denounce their content.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/abortion-rights-groups-denounce-censorship-meta-owned-apps-121843396

USA – Abortion Groups Say Tech Companies Suppress Posts and Accounts

The groups say they are increasingly confused and frustrated by how major technology platforms moderate posts about abortion services.

By Emily Schmall and Sapna Maheshwari
June 11, 2024

TikTok has briefly suspended the account of Hey Jane, a prominent telemedicine abortion service, four times without explanation. Instagram has suspended Mayday Health, a nonprofit that provides information about abortion pill access, without explanation as well. And the search engine Bing has erroneously flagged the website for Aid Access, a major seller of abortion pills online, as unsafe.

The groups and women’s health advocates say these examples, all from recent months, show why they are increasingly confused and frustrated by how major technology platforms moderate posts about abortion services.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/11/business/abortion-groups-tech-platforms.html

Meta and Google accused of restricting reproductive health information

Report claims posts on abortion and contraception have been deleted while misinformation on the feeds of social media users in Africa, Latin America and Asia has not been tackled

Weronika Strzyżyńska
Wed 27 Mar 2024

Meta and Google are accused in a new report of obstructing information on abortion and reproductive healthcare across Africa, Latin America and Asia.

MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes International) and the Center for Countering Digital Hate claim the platforms are restricting local abortion providers from advertising, but failing to tackle misinformation that undermines public access to reproductive healthcare.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/mar/27/meta-and-google-accused-of-restricting-reproductive-health-information

27.03.2024

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Center for Countering Digital Hate

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MSI Reproductive Choices

USA – Abortion Snitching Is Already Sending People to Jail

In places where abortion is banned, women must rely even more on social and familial networks. But with greater reliance, comes greater risk.

8/19/2023
by MORGAN CARMEN

Last month, Celeste Burgess was sentenced to 90 days in prison because she took abortion pills when she was 17 years old. Celeste was charged with removing, concealing or abandoning a human body; concealing the death of another; and false reporting, after burying her miscarriage with the help of her mother, Jessica.

The story of Celeste and her mother—who helped her get the pills and will be sentenced next month—went national. Most media attention centered on the local police’s access to Facebook messages between the two, and for good reason: Companies like Meta amass intimate information—including but not limited to messages, location data, browsing patterns, phone numbers and online searches—that may be accessed easily by law enforcement. This case was seen as a harbinger of intimate privacy violations to come.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/08/19/celeste-burgess-abortion-snitching-privacy-police-illegal/

How Meta Created a Wild West for Abortion Misinformation

New cases from Meta’s Oversight Board highlight Meta’s haphazard approach to reproductive health.

BY JENNIFER NEDA JOHN
JULY 31, 2023

In March, a member of an anti-abortion Facebook group shared a post describing what it claimed was “pro-abortion logic”: “We don’t want you to be poor, starved or unwanted. So we’ll just kill you instead.”

That same month, another Facebook user shared a link to a news article covering a South Carolina bill that would have criminalized abortion as homicide, thus making it eligible for the death penalty. In the caption, the user criticized lawmakers’ logic that “it’s wrong to kill so we are going to kill you.” On Instagram, another post struck the same tone, criticizing the idea of being “so pro-life” that “we’ll kill you dead if you get an abortion.”

Continued: https://slate.com/technology/2023/07/abortion-misinformation-meta-oversight-board.html

Facebook and Google are handing over user data to help police prosecute abortion seekers

KATHERINE TANGALAKIS-LIPPERT
MAR 5, 2023

As abortion bans across the nation are implemented and enforced, law enforcement is turning to social media platforms to build cases to prosecute women seeking abortions or abortion-inducing medication – and online platforms like Google and Facebook are helping.

This spring, a woman named Jessica Burgess and her daughter will stand trial in Nebraska for performing an illegal abortion — with a key piece of evidence provided by Meta, the parent company of Facebook. Burgess allegedly helped her daughter find and take pills that would induce an abortion. The teenage Burgess also faces charges for allegedly illegally disposing of the fetus' remains.

Continued: https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/facebook-and-google-are-handing-over-user-data-to-help-police-prosecute-abortion-seekers/articleshow/98423158.cms

05.03.2023