ARACELI

‘The account’s been shut down,’ the message said. I was reading this on my phone in the middle of an event launching the medical abortion pill, mifepristone, into pharmacies – an important milestone in expanding abortion access across Mexico. Here we go again, I thought.

Anti-choice groups had been trying to shut down MSI Mexico’s WhatsApp business account for years, getting it temporarily blocked numerous times. Here in Mexico, WhatsApp reigns supreme in how we communicate. It’s also the primary way people access abortion guidance and appointments.

But in the days after that message buzzed on my own WhatsApp, it became clear that this wasn’t a temporary blip. This lifeline for people needing abortions had been shut down.

Meta told us our business account was cancelled for spam – yet couldn’t provide any evidence. We scrambled to activate other WhatsApp lines and tried to promote them to people across the country. Our client record system was no longer connected so we couldn’t filter spam or provide our usual quality service. Then these new phone lines were being blocked too. It was chaos.

There was an initial 80% drop in the number of people accessing our abortion services.

How many women were calling our number to find it didn’t exist anymore? How many were trying to reach us? The answer, I knew, was thousands.

It troubled me that this wasn’t an unexpected or unique occurrence. A frightening wave of online censorship and misinformation on sexual and reproductive health has been unfolding in front of our eyes, all across the world.

Some tech giants are stopping accurate healthcare information reaching people, while anti-abortion rhetoric spreads like wildfire. Automated systems flag, censor and block content on contraception, abortion and sex education. And to try to appeal or fight their decisions can be like hitting your head against a brick wall.

We tried everything to get in contact with Meta. Lawyers sent letters to their global board; emails and messages went unanswered. I just kept thinking: I need to have a real conversation with a real person.

Finally, in a stroke of luck, someone who used to work for Meta reached out and connected me with the team. And when I did speak to somebody, it was a relief that they could help. After months of conversations, we’ve been able to get our account back up and running – with extra protections so we’re not easily and wrongfully blocked again.

Of course this is a good outcome. But my concerns linger...

What if we hadn’t found that connection to the Meta team? What about the other major platforms still targeting and restricting elsewhere? My MSI colleagues in Ghana, the UK, Nepal and Vietnam – just to name a few – have faced similar issues.

We all rely on digital platforms, but their systems and algorithms are both intentionally and unintentionally controlling and silencing us without accountability.

What I’m seeing play out online makes me believe that women’s rights are under attack in the digital world just as much as the real world.

As my head hits my pillow at night, questions echo around my mind. How can we ensure that tech companies understand the importance and quality of reproductive healthcare? How can we get them to understand this censorship is putting women’s lives at risk? Will they take responsibility?

Only time will tell. As I tell my team – our battle on this front has only just begun.