Draft:Center for Intimacy Justice

• Comment: This largely just describes inequities that the organization sees and its activities- not significant coverage of the organization itself and why it's a notable organization as Wikipedia defines one. 331dot (talk) 17:08, 14 November 2024 (UTC)

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The Center for Intimacy Justice (abbreviated as CIJ) was founded in 2021 to address the expansion of equity and wellbeing in people’s intimate lives. Founder Jackie Rotman, who holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, investigates and writes about topics including digital censorship of sexual and reproductive rights, and other topics at the intersections of sexuality, gender and technology.

CIJ produced a 2022 report highlighting Meta’s (at that time Facebook) censorship targeting ads related to women’s sexual wellness. Their reporting of this censorship has been referenced in a federal hearing and public letter to urge Meta to assess and revise their advertising policy. It is also the basis for a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint filed in 2023 by CIJ and members of congress.

Notable Investors

The Case for Her

The Archewell Foundation

Playground

Harper Wilde

Origin Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy

Report on Censorship of Health Ads

Background

Beginning in 2018, CIJ founder Jackie Rotman interviewed women’s health entrepreneurs and employees about their experiences with advertising. In 2021, CIJ further partnered with pelvic floor health startup Origin to distribute a survey gathering more data.

The Report

On January 11, 2022, CIJ released released a report titled Meta’s Censorship of Health Ads for Women and People of Diverse Genders documenting the experiences of 60 companies focused on women’s sexual health. All but one of the companies were founded and led by women. One company was led by a nonbinary individual.

CIJ’s report revealed a stark bias against ads about women’s sexual and reproductive health issues. In contrast, ads related to men’s sexual health—erectile dysfunction and sexual lubricant, for example—appeared to remain, despite their overt conflict with Facebook’s advertising standards policy for adult products or services. The women’s sexual health ads targeted by Meta for rejection were for product categories including menopause, pelvic pain, pregnancy, menstrual health, fertility, sexual wellness, and sexual education.

Findings in the report revealed that:

• 100% of the companies—all 60—had ads rejected by Facebook
• 50% of the companies had their entire ad account suspended by Facebook/Instagram
• Algorithms and processes carried out by Meta to enforce their ad policies were not being applied in accordance with those stated policies.

Response to the Report

Following release of the report, CIJ received responses from women’s health companies around the world stating that they had experienced similar issues with the advertising on Meta.

In a March 7, 2022 interview with Cheddar News, Rotman noted an example in which any ad with the word “vagina” would be automatically taken down and flagged for review or rejection. In contrast, she noted, ads for male erectile dysfunction were allowed, enabling those companies to grow in value to millions of dollars.

As Rotman and others put it, these policies were putting women’s sexual health businesses at a disadvantage and reducing opportunities for funding. By extension, the censorship was putting other innovations in the women’s sexual health segment at a detriment.

Letter to Meta from US Senate Committee

CIJ met with 11 Congressional offices to share the findings in their report with Senators and Congress members. In response, the report was used in a hearing and a public letter calling on Meta to change.

The January 25, 2022 letter signed by Senator Patty Murray, Chair of the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) calls on Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Meta, to provide answers to a number of questions regarding policies, procedures, and review processes for the exception or rejection of ads on Meta platforms. Senator Murray summarized the HELP Committee’s concern with Meta’s policies, stating

“Social media is often a critical tool for learning and sharing information, including health information. By preventing access to women’s health content, I am concerned Meta is actively preventing many of its users, especially women, from getting access to information that could support their health and well-being.”

Response from Meta

In late 2022, Meta released a statement it had updated its policies to allow ads for “women’s health and reproductive sexual wellness products and services” though it would continue to prohibit nudity and would have specific rules about how related products can be marketed on the platform. The policy included clarification on allowed products and services related to “ addressing the effects of menopause,” “pain relief during sex,” and “sex education.”

However, multiple reports noted instances where this policy is still not being applied correctly, resulting in continued censorship of ads related to women’s sexual health and wellness.

2023 Legal Action and FTC Filing

In March 2023, CIJ filed a legal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (titled Request to Investigate and Provide Relief for Meta’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Relating to the Advertisement of Sexual Health and Wellness Products and Services Marketed to Women and People of Underrepresented Genders) asking the FTC to take action to change Meta's discriminatory blocking of women's health advertisements.

Senator Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) cited the CIJ report in her testimony during the Senate Judiciary Hearing on the Competition in the Digital Advertising Ecosystem, May 3, 2023.

In July of that year, the Washington Post reported that Sen. Hirono, along with Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Peter Welch (Vt.) and Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.) had submitted a letter to the FTC on Wednesday July 12, 2023 asking for a review of how Meta handles sexual health ads for women. The letter called for an investigation into the “algorithmic bias” in Meta’s ads review process that was discriminating against women’s intimate and sexual health products.

According to the Washington Post report, the FTC confirmed receipt of the letter but declined to comment. The FTC filing generated a lot of coverage with CNN, The NY Times, PR Week, KQED, Adweek, The Daily Dot, and numerous other publications covering the story between July and August of 2023.

See Also

U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights. Subcommittee Meeting May 3, 2023 on Competition in the Digital Advertising Ecosystem.

Meta Health and Wellness Policy (2024)