First First Future Fellowship publication and a WIP
A publication (this one was a slog!)
The first peer-reviewed Digital and Data Capabilities for Sexual & Reproductive Health journal article is LIVE. You can read it here.
And a bit more work in progress:
I’m currently trying to write a short ‘hot topic’ explainer for our soon-to-be-launched website re the impacts of social media content moderation on digital sexual & reproductive health outreach.
A group of women’s health/femtech startups have just filed a complaint with the European Commission re the censorship of their advertising and native content on platforms ranging from Instagram to Linkedin.
This follows a survey led by the CensHERship group and Intimacy Justice Coalition, which found that content using words like ‘vagina’ were more likely to be suppressed than erectile dysfunction advertising (for example).
It’s fair to say that currently there is no coherent pattern when it comes to what kinds of sexual or health-based content are suppressed by platforms.
The current 'anti-woke' push among platform owners means that hostile pile-ons (ie hundreds or even thousands of users flagging or reporting LGBTQ+ or sexual/reproductive health related content as 'against community standards') is likely to intensify.
Because this is all literally unfolding in real time, there's not a body of literature that academics can refer to say 'do this, post here' - we're in a space of experimentation.
This is something I've ruminated over about in newsletter/blog format but haven't really written up in a structured way yet.
HOWEVER - we can already point to examples of where things might be moving.
As an example from the (largely cishet) 'sexual wellness' domain, this new sextoy company is launching with a glossy, aesthetic Instagram (as you might expect) - but also a Substack newsletter/blog and an OnlyFans account (which doesn't have any content on it yet).
I learned about this one from Rachel Akidhenor’s style/marketing blog. And as she observes, this is REALLY not business as usual - it looks like an experimental approach to see where their audience goes, and where they can actually build traction.
I’m currently looking for other examples of this kind of experimentation - if you know of any, please comment here or email me!