‘Lifesaving’ women’s health content censored and blocked on social media

CensHERship campaign reveals initial study results and is featured in The Times, Daily Mail and Express

Women’s health and sexual wellness content is being routinely censored or restricted on social media platforms, a new study has found.

Research by the campaign group CensHERship - which is co-founded by FutureFemHealth - has found content is being incorrectly taken down on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Instead, it is labelled as pornographic because it uses anatomical terms such as ‘vagina’ and ‘breast.’

9 out of 10 accounts censored

In a survey of 54 organisations and creators, nine out of 10 accounts which shared women’s health content said they experienced some form of censorship in the last 12 months.

Findings were reported on Friday 23 February in national UK media including The Times, Daily Mail and Daily Express.

Nearly 40% of respondents had experienced 10 or more separate issues of censorship.

Examples of content censored include advice on how to identify symptoms of cancer, breast exam tips and facts about menstruation.

One respondent revealed that a breast cancer awareness campaign resorted to showing a male nipple instead of a female one to avoid censorship.

Author Clio Wood, co-founder of censHERship and founder of &breathe said: 

“Creators, charities, medical practitioners and brands are being censored constantly through algorithms picking up words like sex, vagina, vulva, or period. But you can't be a period care brand without talking about periods. Creators end up using written symbols and numbers to disguise these words and bleep them out in speech to try to get around this censorship, which is just ridiculous. 

“I've experienced this first hand on Instagram, with my reach being restricted for simply posting a body confidence reel of me dancing in a bikini. What's especially galling is that every day men's health topics are left uncensored, and hyper-sexualised women's bodies, unsolicited 'dick pics' and fake accounts using nearly naked female profile pictures are making their way into social media feeds and inboxes unchecked. It’s hypocritical.”

Anna O’Sullivan, co-founder of censHERship and founder of FutureFemHealth said:

“The current rules are damaging and harmful. They are preventing charities communicating life-saving education about gynaecological cancers, campaigners battling to break the taboo of menopause, and small businesses trying to share with the world their transformative health solutions. It’s just not right that they aren’t able to reach people.

“This is an entirely avoidable situation if social media platforms agree to adjust their policies to avoid the restriction and censorship of women’s health content.”

Inviting collaboration

The censHERship campaign now aims to collaborate with social media platforms including Meta to ensure women’s health and sexual wellness content can be shared without censorship. 

Following the survey, which ran from 7 - 20 February 2024, an initial roundtable was held in London on Friday 23 February for creators, brand representatives and charities. CensHERship is now working on a roadmap for 2024. To be involved in the this work please submit your details in the survey here. 

Share your experiences

The censHERship survey remains open to collect further experiences.