This session aims to present and discuss the results of a research project that SMEX’s different units conducted over six months, “From Sharing to Silence: Assessing Social Media Suppression of SRHR Content in WANA” which investigated social media moderation process and policies, in light of credible examples that were illustrated and supported with desk analysis, survey’s input, and quotes from qualitative interviews.

The research states that platforms restrict innocuous content, even for educational, scientific, and artistic purposes. This contradicts platforms’ policies of making exceptions for such content when enforcing their policies on “sexual” and “adult” content. Interviewees accused platforms of being biased towards content from the region, mainly when posted in Arabic. These restrictions push organizations and activists to practice self-censorship and adopt tactics in content creation to evade being censored by platforms.

In WANA, discussing a range of SRHR topics remains taboo and can result in negative implications such as prosecution, imprisonment, and harassment. Platform censorship only further hinders the ability of organizations, activists, health professionals, artists, and others active in the SRHR field to freely express themselves, share and spread essential information, reach out to target audiences, and raise awareness.