Women’s health content being shadowbanned? Creators describe restrictions online

Advert restrictions affect businesses

Irene Breen told the BBC that restrictions caused a significant financial hit to her business. In January 2025, Instagram notified her that it was removing adverts for the company’s pregnancy pillows.

Breen said the company removed the word “pregnancy” from its website and product name, and changed URLs containing the word. The advert was later returned with “pregnancy” crossed out.

Meta, which owns Facebook, declined to discuss individual cases. It said businesses can advertise wellness, sexual health and reproductive products and services, subject to restrictions intended to prevent negative experiences across countries and cultures.

Charities report filtered posts

Women’s health creators and charities say their content has been removed, placed behind sensitivity filters or had its reach limited, a practice known as shadowbanning. Such filters blur posts and require users to press a button before viewing them; they are usually used for graphic material such as nudity or violence.

Athena Lamnisos, chief executive of gynaecological cancer charity Eve Appeal, said Instagram removed a post showing a labelled vulval anatomy diagram and discussing vulval cancer. The charity’s appeal was first denied, but the post reappeared weeks later behind a sensitivity filter.

Lamnisos said the issue continued after she raised it with Meta. She also warned that algorithms may misidentify content and repeat earlier mistaken decisions.

Health posts misclassified

O’Neill said promoting content on TikTok had become “like an obstacle course”. TikTok said some content cannot be promoted on its For You feed, and that it tells creators when posts fall into that category and allows them to appeal.

Self-censorship on the rise

A CensHERship report surveyed nearly 200 creators, clinical providers, health brands, charities and educators. It found that 96% said they had experienced restrictions in some form. The report also found that the share of respondents who said they self-censored because of shadowbanning rose from 53% in 2025 to 65% this year. CensHERship co-founder Clio Wood called the effect “really damaging”, saying it could reinforce shame and guilt around women’s health.

Wood said social media companies had begun to engage with the issue since CensHERship started in 2024. She said she would like discussions within the platforms to be more joined up.