Women’s health issues are over three times more likely to be censored on social media compared to men’s, according to a censorship study.
In an experiment, influencer Aly Boghici (@allmumstalk) found that posts about menopause and sex were viewed by 66 percent fewer non-followers than her usual Instagram content. In contrast, when her husband, Justin (@alldadstalk), posted about sex and testosterone imbalance, he experienced only a slight decrease in views from non-followers.
The study indicated that content related to women’s health and sexual wellness is frequently being censored on social media platforms due to outdated algorithms flagging words such as vagina or period, preventing non-followers from viewing.
The disparity was also evident in the engagement rates between their posts. Aly saw a 69 percent drop in comments, while Justin enjoyed a 76 percent increase, with both followers and non-followers showing genuine interest in men’s health topics.
Health and hygiene firm Essity, the producer of menstrual health brands Bodyform and Modibodi, sponsored the experiment as part of its campaign to stop social media companies from prohibiting medically and anatomically accurate terminology associated with women’s health.
Aly Boghici reported a ‘massive drop’ in engagement for her four posts concerning women’s health. She noticed less interaction than usual when posting about menstrual health, sexual health, or even charities supporting menstrual health.
Without the backing of the algorithm, she conceded that she might be less inclined to post about those specific topics in the future, but warned this could have a detrimental impact on breaking taboos.
During the experiment, Aly made additional posts on subjects such as periods, heavy bleeding and endometriosis – which received 25 percent fewer views, as well as topics like thrush and discharge – which had 14 percent less engagement than usual content.
Meanwhile, when Justin posted about so-called taboo topics such as testicular pain he saw a 34 percent surge in activity from non-followers. His posts discussing penile, testicular and prostate cancers saw a four percent increase in views from non-followers.
Justin commented: “It doesn’t feel fair that one gender appears to be disproportionately censored when it comes to sharing information about health.”
The experiment coincides with research involving 4,000 adults, which found that 47 percent of social media users consider it an important platform for educating themselves about health and wellbeing.
Moreover, 45 percent don’t believe any restrictions should be imposed on posts containing the correct medical or anatomical terms to describe the human body.
Furthermore, 44 percent think anyone should be able to publish content related to women’s health, for example menstrual health or breast cancer.
Essity, in collaboration with campaign group CensHERship, is striving to raise awareness about the detrimental effects of censoring women’s health topics on social media.
Spokesperson Kate Prince stated: “Our Bodyform brand is regularly censored when it launches new campaigns on social media that are designed to improve education around menstrual health.
“We’re asking the social media giants to use their expertise and offer a solution that would help millions of women and girls gain access to important content and information.”