SAN FRANCISCO: US senators on Monday demanded Meta address reports that its Facebook and Instagram social networks have been censoring information about how to legally get an abortion.
Democratic senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren gave Meta until July 15 to answer questions including how many posts about abortion have been removed since the US Supreme Court overturned a long-standing right to such medical care.
“Reports indicate that multiple posts providing accurate information about how to legally access abortion services were removed, often within minutes after the information was posted,” the senators said in a letter to the chiefs of Meta and Instagram.
In response to a request for comment, Meta referred AFP to a tweet by spokesman Andy Stone saying that while attempts to provide or procure pharmaceuticals are banned by content policy, posts discussing access to medications are allowed.
“We’ve discovered some instances of incorrect enforcement and are correcting these,” Stone said.
A Meta glitch had also resulted in posts about abortion and other topics being accidently veiled by banners marking them as “sensitive” material, according to the tech giant.
The senators want to know what measures are used to flag abortion-related posts, according to a copy of a letter sent to Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri.
“As a result of the court’s decision, it is more important than ever that social media platforms not censor truthful posts about abortion,” the senators said in the letter.
In a first, a pharmaceutical company applied Monday for US approval to make its birth control pill available over-the-counter.
HRA Pharma, a subsidiary of Perrigo, said in a statement it was seeking the switch away from prescription-only for its product Opill, a progestin-only daily birth control pill — also referred to as a mini pill or non-estrogen pill.
The application will now be reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration, a process that would normally take around a year to complete.
President Joe Biden said last week that federal legislation offered the fastest route to restoring US abortion rights and urged voters to elect pro-choice legislators in upcoming elections in defiance of an “out of control” Supreme Court.
US senators fear Facebook censoring abortion posts
https://arab.news/cccth
US senators fear Facebook censoring abortion posts
- US senators demand Meta to address reports that its Facebook and Instagram are censoring information about how to legally get an abortion
Trending: BBC report suggests sexual abuse and torture in UAE-run Yemeni prisons
- The investigation was produced by British-Yemeni BBC journalist Nawal Al-Maghafi
LONDON: A recent BBC video report diving into what it says was UAE-run prison in Yemen has drawn widespread attention online and raised fresh questions about the role of the emirates in the war-torn country.
The report, published earlier this month and recently subtitled in Arabic and shared on social media, alleged that the prison — located inside a former UAE military base — was used to detain and torture detainees during interrogations, including using sexual abuse as a method.
The investigation was produced by British-Yemeni BBC journalist Nawal Al-Maghafi, who toured the site, looking into cells and what appear to be interrogation rooms.
Al-Maghafi said the Yemeni government invited the BBC team to document the facilities for the first time.
A former detainee, speaking anonymously, described severe abuse by UAE soldiers: “When we were interrogated, it was the worst. They even sexually abused us and say they will bring in the doctor. The ‘so-called’ doctor was an Emirati soldier. He beat us and ordered the soldiers to beat us too. I tried to kill myself multiple times to make it end.”
Yemeni information minister, Moammar al Eryani also appears in the report, clarifying that his government was unable to verify what occurred within sites that were under Emirati control.
“We weren’t able to access locations that were under UAE control until now,” he said, adding that “When we liberated it (Southern Yemen), we discovered these prisons, even though we were told by many victims that these prisons exist, but we didn't believe it was true.”
زارت بي بي سي مواقع داخل قواعد سابقة لدولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة في اليمن، حيث يقول محتجزون إنهم تعرضوا لسوء المعاملة. pic.twitter.com/BfS5GRxULp
— BBC News عربي (@BBCArabic) January 23, 2026
The BBC says it approached the UAE government for comment, however Abu Dhabi did not respond to its inquiries.
Allegations of secret detention sites in southern Yemen are not new. The BBC report echoes earlier reporting by the Associated Press (AP), which cited hundreds of men detained during counterterrorism operations that disappeared into a network of secret prisons where abuse was routine and torture severe.
In a 2017 investigation, the AP documented at least 18 alleged clandestine detention sites — inside military bases, ports, an airport, private villas and even a nightclub — either run by the UAE or Yemeni forces trained and backed by Abu Dhabi.
The report cited accounts from former detainees, relatives, civil rights lawyers and Yemeni military officials.
Following the investigation, Yemen’s then-interior minister called on the UAE to shut down the facilities or hand them over, and said that detainees were freed in the weeks following the allegations.
The renewed attention comes amid online speculation about strains between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over Yemen.
