Meta Was Restricting Abortion Content All Along

Johnsen’s experience is typical of those in the liberation struggle. Most of the people who spoke to WIRED say that their contents appear to have been removed by AI, rather than by another user.

Developers are also concerned that even if that cannot be completely eliminated, its reach could be limited by platform AI.

While it is impossible for users to realize how Meta’s AI moderation is being used in their own context, last year the company announced its emphasis on politics and content in the users ’News Feed. Meta did not answer questions about abortion in political parties.

Just as abortion advocates who spoke to WIRED experienced various improvements on the Meta platform, so do users in various locations around the world. WIRED tried to send the same message, “Abortion pills are available through mail,” from Facebook and Instagram accounts in the UK, US, Singapore, and the Philippines in English, Spanish, and Tagalog. Instagram removed the English version of the term when it was sent from the US, while abortion was only banned in some countries after a court ruling last week, by the Philippines, which is not allowed. But the Spanish-language text written in Spanish and the Philippine text in Tagalog did not change.

The words remained on Facebook and Instagram after being posted in English from the UK. Posted in English from Singapore, where abortion is widely accepted and widely available, the statement remained on Instagram but posted on Facebook.

Ensley told WIRED that the Instagram Reproaction campaign on abortion in Spanish and Polish both did very well and did not see the difficulties the English team faced.

“Meta, in particular, relies heavily on automated machines that are fluent in English and poorly understood in other languages,” says Katharine Trendacosta, a co-ordinator of policy and advertising at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

WIRED also tested the accuracy of Meta and List 1 items that are approved for use as entertainment in 19 states and as medical devices in 37 countries, sharing the phrase “Marijuana is available for posting” on Facebook in English from the US. The note is not mentioned.

“Improving AI content and machine learning takes a long time to develop and it takes a lot of effort to maintain,” says a former Meta employee who is well versed in the agency’s work, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “When things change, you need to adjust, but it takes time and effort. That is why when the world is changing so rapidly, those algorithms often do not work as well as they can, and they can constantly follow the times of great change. ”

However, Trendacosta is concerned that law enforcement agencies may reinstate the content to be removed. In a public 2020 Meta report, the company said it “barred access to 12 items in the United States that have been reported by various government officials regarding the promotion and sale of controlled goods and services, as well as 15 items reported by the US Attorney General. the task of raising prices. “After that, all records were restored. “State attorneys can simply say to Facebook, ‘Remove this,’ and Facebook’s actions, even if re-installed, are dangerous,” says Trendacosta.

Meta spokesman Andy Stone told WIRED that the company had not changed its terms of reference based on the company’s dismissal. Roe v. Wade, and said the company is planning to renovate. In response to a Motherboard article on abortion care, she tweeted that Meta does not endorse any attempt to “buy, sell, sell, gift, solicit or give away drugs,” but allows for articles that discuss the “feasibility and availability” of prescription drugs. He added, “We’ve found some wrongdoing and we’re fixing this.” On June 28, Instagram publicly acknowledged that views had been added to several abortion articles, calling them “monsters” and that the platform was under construction.

Meta spokesman Dani Lever did not respond to questions from WIRED as to whether the company was selling money to multiple regulators for abortion-related purposes, or whether it was applying the same principles to international standards. Lever confirmed that Meta had already fixed the issue with Instagram posts that had been identified and removed.

Confusion over Meta’s practice of abortion has led some activists to speculate about the difficulties that people face in relying on one company’s social networking site. “For the developers, Facebook was all about building your team and being able to organize, when I started back in 2007,” says Robin Marty, author of the book. New Handbook for a Post-Roe America and director at West Alabama Women Center. “This was a real place where we all came together to prepare online. And the same tools we have been given and have been using for over ten years to get this work done, are now being taken away from us.”