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MEXICO CITY – All of a sudden, women contacting 1 of the biggest sources of accusation astir termination successful Mexico done the encrypted messaging app WhatsApp were met with silence.
The nongovernmental organization’s concern relationship had been blocked. Weeks later, a akin integer blackout struck a corporate successful Colombia.
Across the Americas, organizations that usher women seeking abortions successful assorted countries are raising alarm, decrying what they spot arsenic a caller question of censorship connected platforms owned by tech elephantine Meta — adjacent successful countries wherever termination is decriminalized. The organizations judge this is owed to a operation of changes to Meta policies and attacks by anti-abortion groups that denounce their content.
While this besides occurs connected Instagram and Facebook, the blocking of organizations’ verified WhatsApp concern accounts, which they usage to pass with radical seeking help, has been peculiarly disruptive. These accounts are important for communicating with radical seeking help, and their blockage has importantly analyzable regular interactions betwixt women and enactment providers.
Meta usually attributes its contented blocking to argumentation violations, though it has acknowledged occasional mistakes. Since January, Meta changed the mode it moderates content, present relying connected user-generated notes “to let much code and trim enforcement mistakes.” U.S. President Donald Trump has said the changes were “probably” made successful effect to his threats implicit what conservatives considered a wide bias successful fact-checking.
Among the organizations whose WhatsApp concern accounts were suspended is the MSI Foundation (formerly Marie Stopes), portion of a web moving successful Mexico for 25 years. Its relationship was suspended successful February, and the Colombian radical Oriéntame, oregon Guide Me, which has worked successful women's wellness successful Colombia for decades, was labeled by Instagram arsenic “dangerous.”
While conservatives cheered the alteration successful Meta moderation policies, organizations helping women who question abortions accidental they often effect successful over-enforcement, apt driven by Artificial Intelligence, which disproportionately flags oregon removes their posts — obstacles that person accrued since the commencement of the Trump administration.
“It is not ever intentional censorship, but the result is inactive much censorship for america and our partners,” said Martha Dimitratou, integer strategist for Canada-based Women connected Web and the U.S.-based Plan C.
‘Looks orchestrated’
“From 1 time to the adjacent they blocked connection betwixt our users and women who request first-hand information” to code doubts oregon look for aesculapian follow-up with MSI, said Araceli López-Nava, the organization’s Latin America director.
In the days aft the suspension, appointments dropped 80%
López Nava said that MSI had antecedently faced issues with regular WhatsApp numbers, due to the fact that it’s casual to record complaints. So, the enactment thought it would beryllium antithetic with a concern account, which gives them a level to negociate the thousands of messages they person each month.
That wasn't the case. After an archetypal suspension, MSI's WhatsApp concern relationship was permanently suspended 2 weeks later. The crushed cited successful Meta’s notification? “Sending spam.”
“The statement is that they’ve received complaints, but from whom?” López-Nava asked. She said the enactment can’t beryllium accused of sending spam due to the fact that they lone reply those who interaction them and supply accusation successful enactment with Mexican law. Abortion is decriminalized successful Mexico astatine the national level and successful the bulk of its 32 states.
“It looks similar an orchestrated strategy to us,” López-Nava said. “And not needfully by Meta."
Warnings earlier suspension
Dimitratou said cases of blocked contented person accrued since Trump’s election, not lone successful the U.S., but astir the world, apt driven by anti-abortion groups.
Conservative oregon spiritual groups person a past of attempting to leverage exertion companies to obstruct termination supporters’ efforts, but the anonymity of app reporting prevents organizations from proving who is down it.
That is wherefore MSI and an state NGO, Women’s Link Worldwide, person asked Meta to instrumentality transparent mechanisms to beryllium capable to entreaty the company’s decisions and to respect planetary quality rights standards. They person not received a response.
A Meta spokesperson told The Associated Press that MSI's WhatsApp concern relationship was blocked for valid reasons, saying that organizations receiving galore antagonistic comments person warnings earlier suspension. Meta declined to supply details astir the quality of the antagonistic comments oregon remark connected whether they could beryllium coordinated by anti-abortion groups aiming to paralyze MSI.
The Instagram accounts of Women connected Web United States and Women connected Web Latin America were suspended close aft the U.S. statesmanlike predetermination successful November, though they were aboriginal reinstated. Dimitratou said that Meta has besides constricted the organization’s quality to spot ads connected accounts successful Latin America, South Korea and West Africa.
Repro Uncensored, an enactment cofounded by Dimitratou, has documented astatine slightest 60 instances of akin integer censorship since January. The astir caller occurred this week, erstwhile Thailand's TamTang Group said that Facebook had accused them of violating rules connected selling medicines simply for sharing accusation astir escaped termination pills provided by the Thai government.
Health accusation vs. explicit content
A 2025 study by the California-based Center for Intimacy Justice, based connected a survey of 159 nonprofits worldwide, recovered that large tech platforms were removing ads and contented related to termination and different women’s intersexual and reproductive wellness issues similar menopause.
When asked astir the report, Meta downplayed its findings, noting that it was based connected a tiny fig of examples.
Tech companies often mention policies against explicit oregon inappropriate intersexual contented oregon the advertisement of unsafe substances, specified arsenic termination pills, adjacent though the World Health Organization has said they’re safe.
In April, months aft Meta announced changes to guarantee greater state of expression, Oriéntame, the Colombian corporate that offers reproductive wellness services, posted connected Instagram a drafting of a bosom and the operation “Abort without pain.” The station was blocked with the explanation: “Dangerous radical and organizations, photograph removed.”
While Colombia legalized termination successful 2022, Oriéntame experienced censorship of astatine slightest 14 of their posts connected Instagram successful April 2025. That aforesaid month, their WhatsApp concern relationship was suspended, said Tatiana Martínez, who manages their societal media. Although the WhatsApp relationship was restored aft a week, they interest it could hap again.
A Meta spokesperson said this week that the Instagram posts were mistakenly taken down and not the effect of a alteration successful its contented standards.
A originative effect
Oriéntame manager María Vivas says the enactment has been battling Google for years implicit online contented limitations. The tech elephantine said successful a connection to the AP that it lone restricts contented erstwhile it violates policies. But Google keeps Colombia connected the database of countries with restrictions connected termination ads — adjacent though termination was decriminalized determination successful 2022.
As for their problems with Meta, Vivas said they started successful precocious 2024, erstwhile the institution started to alteration immoderate of its interior policies.
Taking ineligible enactment against tech giants, erstwhile each state has its ain laws, is complicated. As a result, affected organizations person turned to originative strategies, similar operating aggregate backup accounts, having a substitute acceptable erstwhile 1 is blocked and reformulating connection successful posts to debar censorship triggers.
“It feels similar Meta is our boss,” Vivas joked astir the ongoing conflict with the tech elephantine implicit the basal close to supply wellness information. “We unrecorded to respond to Meta, to accommodate ourselves to Meta,” she said. “That's absurd.”
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AP writer Maria Cheng contributed to this study from New York.
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Follow AP’s sum of Latin America and the Caribbean astatine https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
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