ALT Safe Abortion Day: 28 September Abortion Misinformation Day: Everyday Your favourite social media platform is not a “passive bystander” within information pollution ecosystems. It participates actively and profits regularly. From January 2020 to September 2021, Facebook alone accepted between $115,400 and $140,667 for 92 ads promoting “abortion pill reversal.” P.S: It’s an unethical and unproven procedure that causes dangerous hemorrhaging via the use of progesterone to reverse a medication abortion in its early stages.

ALT 98% of these Facebook ads promote websites claiming so-called abortion “reversal” is “effective”, despite lacking scientific evidence for this claim. Facebook ads for so-called abortion “reversal” were shown to minors 700,000 times The anti-abortion group Heartbeat International placed ads promoting the use of so-called abortion “reversal” in Kenya to a US audience. Facebook approved these ads despite its policies stating that “ads targeted to minors must not promote products, services or content that are inappropriate, illegal or unsafe, or that exploit, mislead or exert undue pressure on the age groups targeted.”

ALT Some Google ads carried misleading titles such as “find abortion clinic near me”, while others failed to carry disclaimers warning the advertiser does not offer abortions as required by Google’s own ad policies. 83% of Google searches for abortions carry ads for so-called abortion “reversal.” 94% of them claim the procedure is effective.

ALT Platforms must enforce their existing policies and stop accepting ads for so-called abortion “reversal” now and in perpetuity. Platforms must remove advertising privileges from organizations that have repeatedly violated terms-of-use to promote harmful medical misinformation. Platforms should donate revenues from ads for so-called abortion “reversal” to organizations providing science-based care for women. Recommendations suggested by Center for Countering Digital Hate: