Ending shadow banning: A call to protect access to women’s health information online

Essity’s campaign, Ending shadow banning: A call to protect access to women’s health information online, used a two-wave media strategy to expose how women’s health information is suppressed on social media platforms and to drive constructive engagement with policymakers and industry.

Wave one established the scale of the issue through a nationally representative survey. Findings showed that 74% of 18–34-year-olds rely on social media for health information, 29% of Gen Z cite it as their primary source, and 39% believe their posts have been restricted. This phase resulted in 94 news articles, generating an estimated 1.59 million views.

Wave two provided clear human-led proof of bias. A controlled influencer experiment demonstrated that women’s-health posts received 66% fewer non-follower views and 69% fewer comments, while comparable men’s-health posts saw only a 16% reduction in reach and a 76% rise in engagement. A parallel experiment with two freelance journalists produced the same disparity and secured a feature in the Mail on Sunday. This wave delivered 336 articles, reaching 1.8 million readers.

Essity’s media relations efforts ensured these findings travelled across national, business and public-affairs titles, prompting a parliamentary roundtable on 20 November 2025 to discuss constructive solutions to the issue. Attended by MPs, women’s health advocates and major industry stakeholders, including a senior representative from TikTok, the event delivered a significant signal of cross-sector engagement driven by Essity’s campaign. With further discussions to follow, the impact of this campaign is far from over.