Algorithms blocking women's health topics on social media, research finds
Influencer Aly Boghici (allmumstalk) shared content about menopause, pain during sex and vaginal dryness and discovered these types of posts were viewed by 66% fewer non-followers than her typical Instagram activity.
By comparison, husband Justin (alldadstalk) posted about erectile dysfunction, leaking after sex and testosterone imbalance and only noticed a mild drop in non-follower views, by 16%, compared to his normal content.
The research suggests women's health and sexual wellness content is being routinely restricted on social media platforms as outdated algorithms pick up words like vagina or period and block non-followers from viewing.
Engagement rates between posts were significantly different with Aly receiving a massive drop in comments by 69%, whereas Justin received an uptick by 76% as both followers and non-followers expressed real interest in men's health topics.
Hygiene and health company Essity, which produces menstrual health brands Bodyform and Modibodi, commissioned the experiment as part of its campaign to end the practice of social media companies banning medically and anatomically correct terminology related to women's health.
Aly Boghici said: 'I've seen a massive drop off in engagement when it comes to my four posts on the women's health subject compared to any of my other regular posts.
"While Justin's engagement was pretty much the same or even higher than his regular posts.
"It is clear my content is being censored and I can see clearly that the censorship of women's health related content is an issue.
It's not hateful, it's SUPER important that we openly discuss menstruation. Keep talking, we're listening 💜 https://t.co/swnhw04bqR
— Bodyform (@bodyform) July 2, 2023
'I have identified these following topics results in my posts receiving less engagement: menstrual health, charities supporting menstrual health, sexual health or charities supporting these important conversations, and the list can get longer.
'I might be reluctant to post about these important issues moving forward as the message doesn't seem to be supported unless more support from the algorithms will be given, and people to be given a chance to voice their personal experiences, otherwise we cannot make a change and support women going through different health scenarios… we cannot break taboos if we keep silent.'
Additional posts during the experiment by Aly focussed on periods, heavy bleeding and endometriosis which saw 25% less views.
Taboo topics such as thrush and discharge had 14% less than normal content.
Justin posted about taboo topics such as pain in your balls, weird discharge and thrush and saw a massive surge with 34% more non-followers viewing the content compared to his other activity.
His posts illustrating learnings about penile, testicular and prostate cancers experienced an increase in non-follower views by 4%.
#ProstateCancer has become the most common cancer in England. However, for a disease that affects 1 in 8 men, there's still no screening programme and outdated NHS guidelines prevent lifesaving conversations with men at highest risk. ➡️ Read more: https://t.co/wvVi5jbS0P pic.twitter.com/KUh0oY1H0R
— Prostate Cancer UK (@ProstateUK) January 28, 2025
Justin Boghici said: 'After one week of comparing notes, I noticed no notable change in engagement on my posts on male health issues, if anything, they've actually increased, especially on the reel message.
'It was quite interesting to make this men's vs women's health comparison. What surprised me was how differently my wife's posts on women's health were treated, she saw a clear drop in engagement.
'It doesn't feel fair that one gender appears to be disproportionately censored when it comes to sharing information about health.'
The experiment comes as research of 4,000 adults found 47% of those who use social media feel it is an important platform to educate themselves about health and wellbeing.
According to 45%, no restrictions should be placed on posts containing the correct medical or anatomical words and phrases to describe the human body.
While 44% think anyone should be able to publish content related to women's health, for example, menstrual health or breast cancer.
Just under eight in 10 adults (77%) said words like 'vagina' or 'periods' should not be restricted on social media when used in an educational context.
Essity is working with campaign group CensHERship to raise awareness about the negative impact of women's health censorship on social media.
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Spokesperson Kate Prince said: '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.'
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