Following Online Outrage, Facebook Restores Abortion Pill Provider's Page

After more than twenty-four hours and amid online outrage and demands it be restored, Facebook on Friday morning re-published the page for Women on Web (WoW), an international online service that provides medical information and access to abortion pills to women where it is restricted or forbidden (see below).

With their Facebook page back up and running, the group stated, “We appreciate so much all the support from many persons and organizations who have spoken up for freedom of expression and the human rights of women. We will keep publishing life-saving info to everyone who needs them.”

Facebook did not put out any specific statement on why the page was taken down in the first place, why it took so long to restore, or respond to earlier requests for comments on the incident.

As of late Thursday night, Facebook has yet to explain why it has blocked the page of a women’s health organization that provides abortion counseling and drug access to thousands of women across the globe each day. And reproductive rights advocates from around the world are not happy about it.

“I’ve seen a lot of this lately. Extreme conservatives using loopholes in the fb algorithm processes to bully various pages and groups.”

News that the Facebook page operated by Women on Web, which runs a global help desk for women seeking information on ending pregnancies safely and provides access to abortion pills, was first reported by its sister organization, Women on Waves, which operates a boat that travels the world providing medical care, including abortions, in places where access to such services for women is limited, highly restricted, or banned outright.

As their Facebook page remained active, Women on Waves on Thursday morning posted a message—alongside a screenshot of the notice received from Facebook which said the page had violated terms of service—to alert people to what had happened.

“Dear all,” the post reads, “our sister organization @WomenOnWeb.IF has been unpublished by Facebook under the accusation of ‘encouragement of drug use.'”

Defending its partner, the post described how the group, which is based in Amsterdam, “provides life-saving information to thousands of women worldwide” and that its page on Facebook “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.” 

Supporters of the groups who commented on the post were outraged. “What the hell?” said one in reaction. Someone else added, “WTF Facebook?!”

Another suggested it was part of a larger and more troubling trend. “I’ve seen a lot of this lately,” the person wrote. “Extreme conservatives using loopholes in the fb algorithm processes to bully various pages and groups.”