Facebook accused of leaking personal information about young woman’s abortion in US


Facebook finds itself at the heart of a new controversy, this time concerning the communication of the personal data of a woman who had recourse to an illegal abortion in the United States.

The revocation of the Roe vs. Wade ruling has not finished making waves in the digital industry. Since the reversal of this judgment by the Supreme Court of the United States, many web companies find themselves in an uncomfortable position. Holders of a large amount of personal information, platforms such as Google and Facebook have become invaluable resources for States wishing to prosecute women who have performed an abortion.

A recent case perfectly illustrates the responsibility that these sites have in the fight for the right to abortion. As the magazine reveals Forbesa Nebraska teenager is facing a court sentence after the authorities requisitioned personal information posted on Facebook Messenger.

Celeste Burgess, 17, has just been accused of covering up the death of a person after her mother sent her abortion pills. At first, the teenager had told the police that she had had a miscarriage. But, during their investigation, the authorities had access to private messages proving that the young woman had aborted voluntarily with the help of her mother. However, in the State of Nebraska, any abortion after the 20th week is prohibited.

This case shows the extent to which personal information posted on the Internet can be a weapon in reducing access to abortion. The risk is not new. Last June, Google already indicated that information concerning the visit of clinics practicing abortion would be systematically deleted from the location history of people going there. Questioned at the same time on the subject, Mark Zuckerberg explained to his teams that data encryption was the answer to this kind of problem. At the same time, Meta asked its employees not to discuss this sensitive subject among themselves, while promising nevertheless that the company would reimburse the costs advanced by employees who need to perform an abortion.

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Facebook forced to collaborate

The Facebook CEO’s argument unfortunately falls flat in this case, since messages sent via Facebook Messenger are not encrypted by default. The authorities were therefore able to consult them after sending a search warrant to Facebook. Aware of the explosive nature of this revelation, Meta wanted to deliver his version of the case. In a laconic message posted on its blog, the company explains that it has received “law enforcement warrants (…) on June 7, before the Supreme Court’s decision. The warrants did not mention abortion at all, but merely stated that the police were investigating the immolation and unlawful burial of a stillborn baby”.

As this request for information was accompanied by a non-disclosure agreement, the company could not speak publicly about the matter, finding itself obliged to discreetly communicate this information to law enforcement. Facebook has therefore only complied with the law in force, but the case highlights the danger that women can face when they use the Internet to find resources on abortion. Given the colossal amount of information that Facebook collects and shares about everyone’s activity on the Web, the company’s position is difficult to sustain. If Facebook does not want to end up in many similar cases – which would not fail to undermine the little confidence that Internet users still have in the site – Mark Zuckerberg has every interest in taking a firm position on the subject.

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