Six leading women’s health startups have filed formal complaints with the European Commission, challenging major tech platforms over systematic censorship of female health content. The companies are invoking the Digital Services Act (DSA) to address how platforms like Meta, Google, Amazon, and LinkedIn disproportionately restrict, shadowban, and remove women’s health-related content.
The complaints are led by advocacy campaign CensHERship and blended-finance investment portfolio The Case For Her, with participating companies including Bea Fertility, Aquafit Intimate, Geen, HANX, Lactapp, and Daye. These startups have documented how content moderation policies have negatively impacted their businesses, female entrepreneurship, and public access to crucial health information.
“From menopause education to sexual wellness, businesses working to address critical gaps in women’s healthcare are being unfairly penalised,” said Clio Wood and Anna O’Sullivan, co-founders of CensHERship.
“The evidence we have collected cites multiple cases where medically accurate, expert-led content has been blocked or labeled as ‘adult content’ or ‘political,’ while ads for male erectile dysfunction products continue to be approved without issue. We can’t improve women’s health if we can’t talk about our bodies using anatomically-correct language. We urge the platforms to help level the playing field for women’s health content.”
The complaints highlight several key concerns, including:
- Lack of objective application of existing terms and conditions, with content being removed or restricted inconsistently
- Lack of transparency and effective appeal mechanisms when content is removed
- Biased policies that explicitly allow ads for male erectile dysfunction products while restricting discussions around female libido, menopause, and reproductive health
- Significant financial impact on startups due to blocked ads and account suspensions
The complaints follow recent reports documenting the extent of these issues. A 2025 report by the Center for Intimacy Justice analyzed responses from 159 organizations serving users in over 180 countries, finding that 84% of businesses had ads rejected on Meta platforms, 64% had product listings removed on Amazon, and 66% had ads rejected on Google.
Survey respondents estimated annual revenue losses ranging from $10,000 to $1 million per company on Amazon alone, with Meta’s content restrictions potentially causing up to $5 million in losses annually per entity.
A separate 2024 report by CensHERship found that 95% of 95 respondents (including brands, creators, medical professionals, and charities) reported at least one issue with censorship of women’s health or sexual wellbeing content online, with 17% reporting up to 10 issues across platforms including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, and Google.
The complaints include numerous specific examples of content censorship:
- Bea Fertility had its Amazon storefront content rejected for using anatomically correct terms like “vagina” and “vaginal canal,” while “semen” was permitted
- Aquafit Intimate faced repeated restrictions on LinkedIn, including having posts about endometriosis, postpartum recovery, and vaginal health removed as “illegal products and services”
- Daye had ads for diagnostic tampons restricted under Google’s “birth control, fertility, and testing” policy, despite not being related to either category
- Geen had educational content about diverse vulva shapes blocked, and a post about gender biases in technology was categorized as “political content”
- HANX had condom advertisements rejected despite Meta’s own policy stating that such ads are permitted, while male erectile dysfunction ads were approved
- Lactapp had breastfeeding support content censored, including Instagram automatically inserting a “beep” to obscure the Spanish word “teta” (breast) in subtitles
Cristina Ljungberg, co-founder of The Case For Her, highlighted the broader economic impact: “When femtech companies face digital suppression and censorship by the big tech platforms, they struggle to reach customers, limiting their ability to advertise and generate revenue. As an investor, I recognize how this not only restricts women’s access to essential health products and services but also deters already sparse capital from flowing into the sector—hindering growth and innovation in women’s health.”
The startups and their advocates are urging the European Commission to investigate platform policies and hold tech companies accountable for fair and transparent content moderation. They are also calling on the platforms to implement clear, non-discriminatory advertising guidelines that protect rather than silence women’s health conversations, and to ensure accessible and effective appeal mechanisms.
