Google has been accused of profiting from misleading adverts that direct pregnant women to anti-abortion groups that offer false medical advice and pressure them to keep their pregnancies.
The Guardian reports that according to an investigation by the Observer, Google UK has been displaying adverts for crisis pregnancy centres (CPCs) run by anti-abortion organisations when users search for terms such as “NHS abortion advice”, “confidential abortion support” and “pregnant options”.
CPCs are unregulated clinics that often pose as neutral sources of information and counselling, but in reality, have a hidden agenda to dissuade women from accessing legal abortion services. Some of them have been found to use scare tactics, misinformation and emotional manipulation to influence women’s decisions.
The Guardian analysed 251 adverts shown by Google UK to a user searching 40 key phrases related to abortion in February 2023. Out of these, 117 adverts (47%) were for CPCs run by anti-abortion groups such as Life Charity in the country.
The report quotes Lisa Hallgarten, head of policy at young people’s sexual health charity Brook, who described the marketing approach as “clearly immoral” and said adverts provided to those searching terms such as “NHS abortion advice” could delay women’s access to healthcare.
“We are really concerned that people looking for impartial support are being directed to organisations and websites where they could experience the complete opposite,” she said. Pam Lowe, an expert on anti-abortion activism in the United Kingdom, said: “Anyone who puts ‘NHS abortion’ into Google should be shown a link to the NHS website as the first result. There’s a risk that people could end up with biased information.”
Google’s advertising policy states that it does not allow ads for products or services that are “deceptive” or “misleading”. It also states that it does not allow ads for healthcare services that are “unlawful” or “harmful”. However, Google has failed to enforce its own policy and remove these ads from its platform.
The report also points out that Google has a history of allowing anti-abortion groups to target pregnant women with misleading ads in other countries such as the United States, where CPCs are more widespread and influential in the conservative community.
Google’s failure to act on these ads has been criticised by pro-choice campaigners, medical experts and politicians who say that it is putting women’s health and rights at risk. They argue that Google is profiting from exploiting vulnerable women who are seeking reliable information on this sensitive issue.
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(Via)
