Facebook’s content moderation techniques have been called into question at multiple instances over the past few years. The social media giant is steadily shifting focus from employing human editors to amalgamating AI into the mix as well. This resulted in some algorithmic changes, which may have caused today’s suspension of a women’s abortion support group to be added to the growing list of its moderation mishaps.
Earlier in the day, the social media went ahead and shut down (or unpublished) Women on Web’s Facebook page for one of the most strangest reasons. This organisation connects women to doctors and helps them gain access to abortion tablets from them. This has become especially important for those women, who live in countries where abortion is illegal and access to the said service has been restricted. This development was initially reported by The Guardian.
In an official post, also published on Facebook, Women on Web’s parent organization ‘Women on Waves’ posted a message, with a screenshot of the suspended page, condemning Facebook’s decision. The social media giant blocked the Page from its platform as it was in violation of its Community Standards, which prohibits users from the ‘purchase, sell or trade prescription drugs, marijuana, firearms or ammunition.’ Thus, the page was suspended based on this policy, stating it was against ‘promotion or encouragement of drug use.’
The organisation stated that the support page has been helpful to thousands of women across the globe, scouting for life-saving info about pregnancy and other related healthcare issues. Like its sister organisation, the parent is also involved in providing the women access to abortion and reproductive healthcare services. They also ship pills and other healthcare necessities in international waters. Thus, one can surely understand that it is no drug cartel but an attempt to help women in need.
A transcript of their message against Facebook’s decision reads,
Women on Web provides life-saving information to thousands of women worldwide. Its Facebook page publishes news, scientific information and the protocols of the World Health Organization and Women on Web has answered over half a million emails with women who needed scientific, accurate information essential for their health and life.
We expect Facebook will undue this action soon enough, as access to information is a human right.
The Facebook is now back online and can be accessed from right here. But, why did Facebook suspend the social media giant in the first place, especially when it ha snow diverted focus to building a social infrastructure — communities on its platform. It is moving away from its previous goal of just connecting individuals. It is also organizing a ‘Communities Summit’ later in June to show off its new solutions and tools developed to support groups and pages.
As mentioned before, this is not the first time Facebook has been accused of removing controversial content from the platform. It has already faced heavily rebuked over the removal of an iconic Vietnamese war photograph of the Napalm girl from the Norwegian Prime Minister’s page. It has recently changed its guidelines to prevent such global outrage against the platform and has decided not to censor newsworthy content.
With its ongoing campaign against fake news, it has also decided to recruit 3,000 content reviewers to ensure that content posted on the social media website falls in line with its community standards — meaning there is no abuse or hate speech. In addition to flushing fake accounts, it has also introduced a handful of new tools to curb the spread of misleading content.
