For the past few days, Facebook and Instagram have been deleting the publications of Internet users who offer help to access abortion pills. In response to these accusations, Meta cites its drug policy.
Facebook and Instagram remove posts about abortion pills
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the United States Supreme Court, social media users have shared tens of thousands of messages in which they offer to send abortion pills to people whose access to abortion has been removed or will soon be removed . However, these posts are not tolerated by Facebook and Instagram. Some posts are even deleted within seconds. A journalist from The Verge did the test: its publication lasted two minutes before being reported.
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To justify this policy, Meta cites its regulations regarding the sale, gift and transfer of firearms or marijuana which are also prohibited by the same section. In this regulation, Mark Zuckerberg’s group also included pharmaceutical products and therefore abortion pills. The journalist from The Verge did the same test with a post in which he offered to send guns and marijuana. This has not been reported or removed.. What raise many concerns in the United States.
A powerful shock to American society
While we have learned that the authorities could access the data of women suspected of having had an abortion in order to convict them, the big step backwards imposed on Friday June 24 by the Supreme Court, with the end of abortion as a constitutional right, has revived the spectrum of “angel makers” and clandestine practices. It is a powerful shock in American society. What seemed acquired is no longer so. The battle for abortion pills goes beyond territorial disparities. While social networks are indeed essential platforms for publicizing available abortion resources, Meta’s policy is ambiguous.
The account of Abortion Finder, a site that allows women who wish to have an abortion to find a medical professional, was briefly suspended from Instagram on Sunday. The account has since been reinstated. Meta communications director Andy Stone admitted to having “uncovered some instances of incorrect application of group policy regarding the purchase and sale of pharmaceuticals”. He said Meta teams are fixing these cases. By flagging content about sending abortion pills, Facebook could prevent that information from reaching the people who need it.