A study has found women’s health topics are more than three times more likely to be blocked on social media than men’s health content, which researchers have branded “unfair”
Women’s health issues are over three times more likely to be censored on social media compared to men’s, a censorship study has revealed. The study suggests that content related to women’s health and sexual wellness is frequently being limited on social media platforms due to outdated algorithms flagging words key words, preventing non-followers from viewing.
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 only experienced a slight dip in non-follower views.
The engagement rates between the posts also varied significantly. Aly saw a 69 percent decrease in comments, while Justin enjoyed a 76 percent increase as both followers and non-followers showed 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 halt social media companies’ practice of banning 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 confessed that she might be less inclined to post about such topics in the future, but warned this could have a detrimental impact. “We cannot break taboos if we keep silent,” she added.
During the experiment, Aly posted additional content on subjects like periods, heavy bleeding and endometriosis, which saw 25 percent fewer views, and taboo topics such as thrush and discharge – these received 14 percent less engagement than usual content.
Justin followed suit, posting about taboo topics like testicular pain, which led to a 34 percent increase in activity from non-followers. His posts discussing penile, testicular and prostate cancers saw a four percent rise 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.”
This 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.
Furthermore, 45 percent don’t believe any restrictions should be imposed on posts containing the correct medical or anatomical terms to describe the human body.
Essity is collaborating with campaign group CensHERship to highlight 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.
“Women and girls must be able to access information and advice about critical health topics on social media and they should be able to hear about and engage with the experiences of others.
“We can fully understand the need to monitor certain words and phrases, but when anatomically and medically correct language is censored then we think it’s going too far.
“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.”