Is Digital Censorship Silencing Women's Health Conversations?

Spotted us in The Independent this weekend? In today's digital landscape, talking openly about women's health shouldn't be revolutionary - yet we’re fighting a daily battle against digital censorship. We’re very proud to be part of CensHERship’s and The Case for Her’s campaign to take digital platforms to task for systematic bias and discrimination against women’s health content. Alongside our friends including breastfeeding support app, Lactapp, fertility programme Bea Fertility and sustainable period care brand, Daye, we’ve submitted a formal complaint about Meta to the European Commission, which regulates social media sites and search engines under the Digital Services Act. 

Wondering why menopause is a dirty word on Meta? Join us as we explore how these digital barriers perpetuate the ongoing stigmatisation of women and assigned-female-at-birth bodies and health concerns - and why we’re taking this action.

The Silent Battle Behind Your Screen

Would you believe that up to 80% of our carefully crafted Meta advertisements get rejected before even reaching your feed? Yes, adverts for HANX condoms, our natural libido supplement for women and menopause-friendly lubricant are consistently flagged, restricted, and censored - simply because we dare to speak directly about women's health. 

Let's examine a recent example: a recent HANX advertisement featuring an unwrapped condom (which is classified by the government as a medical device designed for preventing STIs and unplanned pregnancies) was rejected for "sexual content." As you can see below, there was no suggested sexual activity featured in the image - just the latex device itself.

You might have heard our Co-Founder Farah Kabir on BBC Woman’s Hour discussing our struggles with unclear advert censorship. This is just one of many, many of our advertisements that barely saw the light of day, despite the reasoning given for restriction not actually applying to the content - and each ban has a bigger risk attached.

In 2023, our full Meta advertising account was banned over Black Friday - one of our biggest trading periods - and our organic social posts were restricted, too. The impact? We’re transparent about the fact that we’re a small team (put it this way, we can all comfortably fit in a Mini Cooper). We don’t have the budgets, the teams or the resources of the major sexual wellness corporations. Every single trading day counts for us, but our emails and tickets requesting support to get our ad account up and running again were ignored. In fact, getting the ban lifted took 6 full days, endless messages, 10+ calls with Meta's team and hours of time lost on going round in circles. Meanwhile, our organic posts were seeing very little reach and our account wasn't searchable for anyone who wasn't already following us. Meta is actually an ideal platform for us due to its targeting tools, which really allow us to maximise our advertising spend. However, we end up being penalised for attempting to spend with the platform!

It seems farcical, especially given the World Health Organisation has reported declining condom use among young people and rising STI rates in middle-aged and older adults. Isn’t it important that we normalise conversations about our health - and how to best look after it - rather than censoring them?

Double Standards in Digital Spaces

The disparity in treatment becomes even more apparent when comparing women's and men's health content. While erectile dysfunction is specifically named in Meta's ad policies as an approved condition for advertising on the platform, women's libido issues aren't mentioned at all. Far from a niche issue, over 70% of our community experience desire dips and it’s a common side effect of major women’s life stages, including post-partum and menopause. Not only is it infuriating (!), but the unclear and incomplete guidelines also makes it far easier for men's sexual health products to appeal ad rejections by pointing to explicit policy allowances, while women's health brands like HANX are left navigating arbitrary and subjective moderation decisions.

To be clear, we think it’s great that there are brands creating trusted, effective solutions for stigmatised men’s health conditions like erectile dysfunction. We just want an equal playing field when it comes to reaching the people who really want and need our solutions.

Psst: if you’re in the mood to get geeky about digital censorship, we highly recommend The Centre for Intimacy Justice’s new report into suppression of sexual and reproductive health. We, alongside many worldwide names, shared an insight into our struggles with censorship and highlighted an aspect that isn’t always talked about...

Critical Topics Being Silenced

This isn’t just a case of brands whinging about not being able to sell products. Our organic Instagram content on essential women’s/vaginal health topics is regularly flagged or removed, including:

• Menopause: despite currently affecting one third of the UK population, we’ve seen Reels and carousels focusing on meno symptoms or products flagged 

• Vaginismus: a common, but deeply misunderstood, condition that deserves much more awareness yet has also been flagged as inappropriate content

• Declining condom use in teens: our Instagram post regarding this critical public health information was… wait for it… flagged. In all cases, we had to archive the posts to ensure our account reach wasn’t restricted beyond our followers alone.

Meanwhile, we regularly see misinformation flourishing on social media. From mystical "vaginal cleansing waters”, unproven "STI-killing" herbs, and harmful "tightening gels", there’s a vast amount of dead wrong to downright dangerous ‘advice’ out there on all the major digital platforms that goes unchecked. With our Co-Founder Dr Sarah Welsh informing and verifying all HANX content, we work hard to ensure our takes on bacterial vaginosis, condom mishaps and menopause symptoms are all medically sound. Put simply, it’s worrying that evidence-based information gets regularly restricted.

Beyond brands, individuals are also being unfairly penalised. From sexual health educators to pleasure parties, many who find their livelihoods via these platforms are being penalised, as Dr Carolina Are, a specialist in platform censorship of sex and nudity, explains here. When we joined the very first CensHERship meeting, we were shocked to hear breast cancer awareness and menstrual health charities are also the subject of content restrictions. Yet, a simple search on Instagram returns accounts dedicated to sexualised activity. Advice on spotting life-threatening women’s health conditions? Gone. Nudity for the purpose of sexual gratification? Go for it. Make it make sense.

The Path Forward

What needs to change? This action with the vital support of CensHERship and The Case for Her calls for a proper investigation into platforms including Meta’s moderation polices. We want a clear answer as to why women’s health content is being removed or restricted - and whether their moderation policies really are biased against women.

Beyond this, we’d like to see transparent moderation when it comes to advertising content. We’re not advocating for a wild west where the raunchiest of ads can proliferate unchecked, but instead clear guidelines and efficient appeals processes that help brands such as HANX learn from rejections and swiftly react.

Until this happens, the message from these digital giants is clear: women's bodies and health concerns are simply problematic, inappropriate, and frankly, taboo.

Want more?

• Women’s health champion? Small business owner? Learn more and support CensHERship’s campaign now.

• Is Meta’s content moderation policy threatening sex positivity? Read more.

• Yes, bacterial vaginosis can be sexually transmitted. Here’s why women’s health needs greater funding.