In the United States, the right to abortion is played out online

• While the right to abortion disappears in the United States, many voices have alerted on the issue of digital surveillance.

• Menstrual monitoring applications, geolocation, Google search history, private messages… All this data could be used against those who would like to have an abortion.

• On social networks, a wave of solidarity aims to support those who would like to travel to have an abortion or obtain contraceptive pills.

It's a novel that has the air of dystopia, way

.

However, it is indeed the reality that struck the United States a few weeks ago, when the Supreme Court attacked the Roe vs. Wade judgment, which recognized the right to abortion throughout the territory since 1973. With this decision, each State could set its own rules on abortion, make it subject to certain conditions or simply ban it.

Thus, in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas or Wyoming, the right to abortion is about to be prohibited without exception, including in cases of rape.

“The judgment returns the question to the federated states and opens the way to many years of legislative and judicial combat on this question”, analyzes Anne Légier, doctor in American civilization and teacher at the University of Aix-Marseille.

A decision that would endanger all pregnant people,

This news created a worldwide wave of support, reminding us of the importance of protecting the right to abortion.

In France, the question of constitutionalizing this right is back in the public debate, while sordid stories come to us from the United States, such as this 10-year-old child, pregnant with rape, forced to have an abortion in another State.

But we have also seen many tweets on the web encouraging women to delete their menstrual tracking applications, but also to protect their personal data if they seek to perform an abortion.

In an interview for the newspaper Le Monde, the director of cybersecurity of the

, Eva Galperin, said: “My recommendation is that if someone is doing research related to abortion, they use the Tor browser, which is designed specifically to hide your IP from the sites you visit.

We also have to anticipate what could happen in the future”.

Because in our ultra-connected society, the digital issue cannot be dismissed when we talk about the right to abortion.

Please delete your period tracking apps asap!

Apps such as Flo has and will be selling personal data.

With what just happened in the Supreme Court w Roe vs Wade this is scary and will only further help prosecute ppl who they believe are miscarrying and seeking abortion.

— Pluto's Daughter (@__laurelluna) May 4, 2022

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For menstrutech, the examination of conscience on the processing of personal data

Bad times for menstrutech, these new technology companies related to menstruation, such as apps that track periods or fertility.

Very popular, they allow users to enter certain information, such as their period start dates, the intensity of their flow, the frequency of sexual intercourse, libido or pain before, during or after the cycle.

The most famous of these apps, Flo, claims more than 100 million users worldwide.

But now, many American women fear that these tools will be used against them in a lawsuit.

For several years, some of these health applications have been accused of selling their users' data,

and we can now imagine that the latter could be requisitioned by the States.

Even if these tools work on the declarative, and therefore remain difficult to use in a court of law, they can be part of a bundle of clues.

For Anne Légier, it is necessary to think more broadly: “For the moment, the majority of the solutions proposed to women who reside in a State hostile to abortion are accessible via the Internet, which poses problems of data security.

There's been a lot of buzz around these apps for tracking your menstrual cycle, but think more broadly.

Internet browsing data or geolocation data from a phone, photos posted on the Internet, text message conversations with a loved one… are elements that could be used by a zealous prosecutor to build a prosecution case.

Caution is therefore in order, but we must be realistic: very few people have the knowledge necessary to protect all of their data.

A concern also shared by Eva Galperin in her interview with Le Monde: “We could start to see states request geolocation data, health data, communications content.

And they could use them to create a net to find people who are traveling to another state to have an abortion [in a clinic], or ordering medication to have an abortion on their own.

Chilling.

flo got scared bc everybody was deleting they app pic.twitter.com/X51Ppjay54

— key (@sadluvbug) June 30, 2022

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The responsibility of the platforms in play

When we talk about the protection of personal data, we cannot ignore the share of the major platforms, GAFAM in the lead.

"It is important for companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google to think about the type of information they collect and the conditions under which they will communicate it to governments", hammered Eva Galperin to World.

Location data, private messages, shared documents… For pro-abortion activists, users should protect themselves from their own smartphone.

has published a whole guide related to abortion on its site, explaining how to protect its data and empty its history in the event of research on abortion.

Digital Defense Fund partnered with artist @HazelMeadArt to create this amazing poster and social media-ready graphics for you to share to help navigate digital security for abortion and pregnancy privacy.

Find out more and download the kit at our website: https://t.co/X3L0IOqjQZ pic.twitter.com/r9OXZyc28p

— Don't post about crimes.

(@KateRoseBee) March 10, 2021

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Some platforms are trying to offer solutions: for example, Google announced on July 1 that its location history was going to change, by automatically removing visits to certain places, such as abortion clinics or fertility centers, but also shelters. against domestic violence or weight loss and addiction clinics.

For their part, Facebook and Instagram have censored posts promoting abortion pills by the thousands across the country.

While the demand for abortion pills and morning after pills has exploded in the United States.

Amazon has decided to impose maximum purchase quantities on its platform.

A huge chain of solidarity

In addition, an online mobilization has been created for several weeks, on Instagram, Twitter or TikTok.

Many users of this last social network have thus made short videos, more or less coded, declaring that they could help and welcome women wishing to have an abortion.

Others have brought out the grimoires, extolling the merits of certain plants reputed to be abortive.

“These “solutions” or “life hacks” offered on TikTok or other social networks by people who are not real health professionals are not only ineffective, but they can also be extremely dangerous, even fatal!

recalls Anne Légier, who calls for distrust of what can be broadcast on social networks.

, these anti-abortion organizations playing on possible confusion with clinics that perform abortions.

“These hubs carry a lot of misinformation and have a strong online presence,” she notes.

The Doctor of American Civilization encourages consulting more reliable sources, such as

 or

.

False structures also exist in France, through SOS Bébé and IVG.net, religious sites from the “March for Life”.

I've been adopted by abortion tik tok pic.twitter.com/31s4nefhf8

— very unserious (@bobeaubreaux) November 30, 2020

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Social networks have also been the scene of heated debates between "pro-life" (thus anti-abortion) and "pro-choice" activists on the effects of the Supreme Court's decision: sexism, guilt of those choosing to have an abortion , proposals to adopt the child rather than abort... But as Anne Légier explains, prohibiting abortion does not make it disappear: “History has taught us that prohibiting the termination of pregnancies is a non- medically meaningful.

This drives abortion underground and increases risks, especially for the most vulnerable women who are less likely to have access to reliable information.

Social networks, with their propensity to spread misinformation very quickly and on a large scale, should therefore be considered with great vigilance.

A disinformation that has existed since long before the Internet, but which has found a new sounding board there.

We remember that in 2015-2016, the anti-abortion group "Survivors" proclaimed that "the best abortion is the one you avoid".

Movements still very solid, while 81% of French people are in favor of including abortion in the Constitution.

One thing is certain: the battle for the right to abortion will also be a digital battle.

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• abortion

• UNITED STATES

• Abortion

• Social networks

• Gafa

• Womens rights