SOLIDARITY REQUEST: YouTube has suspended the safe2choose account
“Several months ago, YouTube suspended the safe2choose account, claiming that we violated their guidelines by generating content in a video that allegedly “encourages or promotes violent or dangerous acts that have an inherent risk of serious physical harm or death”. Stories hold power. We believe that sharing stories about safe abortion experiences can go a long way in helping lift the veil of stigma and misinformation that has long been associated with abortion. Online censorship has constrained our reach and diminished our ability to reach abortion seekers. Please sign this petition!
“Our goal is to raise awareness about freedom of speech, freedom of choice, and human rights. These continuous suspensions on grounds that do not match with our content or intent have increasingly proven to be a barrier in our mission work. More importantly, it has stopped the flow of lifesaving, crucial information to those that need it the most.
“We want to use our voices for the common good and represent the marginalised communities we serve. We are calling for your solidarity and support in signing this petition, to request that YouTube respects reproductive rights, stops censoring important life-saving information, and re-instates our account. We are seeking at least 500 signatures before we contact YouTube to reinstate our account. In mid-August only 121 had signed!!” PLEASE SIGN NOW!
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Google and other search engines may misdirect as many as one in 10 searches for abortion to anti-abortion “pregnancy crisis centers” in the US
In the US, searchers looking for an abortion provider may be sent by a search engine to centres that do not provide abortion care but are anti-abortion fronts that try to convince women not to have an abortion — often called pregnancy crisis centres. A new study has found that one in 10 Google searches for abortion services in US states where abortion is already or may soon be made illegal – are being misdirected that way.
SOURCE: The Guardian, by Kari Paul, 9 June 2022
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USA Senators tell Facebook and Instagram to stop deleting abortion posts for no reason
When Facebook and Instagram began removing posts about abortion that didn’t violate any community standards, two US Senators, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), sent a letter to Meta asking what the company plans to do to end abortion-post censorship on its platforms. They gave Meta until 15 July to respond, seeking evidence that the company is taking immediate action. Examples of censorship cited in their letter included instances where Facebook and Instagram removed “posts providing accurate information about how to legally access abortion services” within minutes and placed sensitivity screens over a post promoting an abortion documentary. The senators also took issue with censorship of health care workers, including a temporary account suspension of an “organization dedicated to informing people in the United States about their abortion rights.”
SOURCE: Ars Technica, 12 July 2022
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USA: Nebraska mother and her teenage daughter have been investigated and charged after Facebook told police about their FB messages
The daughter was at about 24 weeks of pregnancy; her mother explained to her how to use abortion pills to end the pregnancy. Law enforcement authorities obtained the messages with a search warrant, and detailed some of them in court documents. In early June, the mother and daughter had only been charged with a single felony for removing, concealing or abandoning a body, and two misdemeanors: concealing a death and false reporting. It wasn’t until about a month later, after investigators reviewed the supposedly private Facebook messages, that they added abortion-related felony charges against the mother. The daughter, who is now 18, is being charged as an adult at prosecutors’ request. Both pleaded not guilty. The boyfriend was also involved.
In addition to its 20-week abortion ban, Nebraska tried but failed this year to pass a law that would have banned all abortions if Roe v. Wade fell.
National Advocates for Pregnant Women found 1,331 arrests or detentions of women for crimes related to their pregnancy from 2006 to 2020.
SOURCES: CBS News, 10 August 2022 ; CBS News, 16 August 2022