Geen, a start-up developing a digital platform dedicated to sexual and reproductive health, has announced its decision to actively participate in the international CensHERship initiative, with the aim of combating systemic censorship affecting online content on women’s health, from social media platforms to digital marketplaces. A campaign and an open letter signed by a broad network of European organisations committed to women’s empowerment and health, including founders of femtech start-ups, non-profit organisations, health professionals, researchers, educators, activists and healthcare industry professionals.
CensHERship was launched by the campaign of the same name, in partnership with The Case For Her, a global mixed finance investment portfolio aimed at addressing key issues related to women’s health, menstruation and sexuality. Geen is the only Italian start-up to have filed a formal complaint with both AGCOM (the Italian Communications Authority) and the European Commission, in the context of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The measure aims to hold big tech accountable for the arbitrary removal of non-sexual educational content about the female body, gender equality and gynaecological well-being.
Geen was created with the aim of offering reliable resources, personalised services and practical support to anyone who wants to take care of their sexual and reproductive health in an informed, safe and taboo-free way. The start-up brings AI and data science to gender health, building algorithms to optimise triage in the sexual and reproductive sphere.
Two incidents in particular prompted Geen to take this action, according to a statement: a sponsored post on accepting vulvar diversity was blocked without explanation, preventing an awareness campaign aimed at combating body shaming and intimate stigma, and an advertising campaign for an event on gender gap and technology was labelled as a ‘political ad’, forcing Geen to remove references to gender equality in order to obtain approval for publication on Meta’s social media platforms.
“Treating medical and informational content as inappropriate material compromises the efficiency of healthcare systems and limits access to essential preventive solutions,” says Giulia Marchese, CEO and co-founder of Geen (pictured). “It’s not just about visibility: women’s sexual and reproductive health is one of the most undervalued sectors in terms of innovation and economic return.” The absence of a gender-specific approach to health generates an estimated cost of over €40 billion per year for the national health system, including misdiagnoses, delays in treatment and lack of preventive measures. At the same time, companies lose opportunities for savings and organisational well-being, with estimated costs of around €4 billion per year in absenteeism, underutilisation of insurance coverage and ineffective general welfare. Educating and representing diversity in healthcare pathways is not just an ethical issue: it is an economic urgency and a strategic opportunity for those who innovate in healthcare and work’.
Data from the Censorship Revealed report by CensHERship and The Case For Her shows that 95% of content creators dealing with women’s health issues say they have experienced at least one episode of censorship on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, Google, Amazon, YouTube, Pinterest and LinkedIn in the last year. In 38% of cases, there have been ten or more episodes of censorship in the last twelve months. Fifty-three per cent have adopted forms of self-censorship as a defensive strategy, with a direct impact on the quality and effectiveness of health communication. In addition to direct post removals and rejections, there are practices of shadowbanning, suppression of femtech products for advertising purposes, and restrictions related to keywords and hashtags, often in educational and medical contexts. These figures highlight how digital censorship is not a marginal phenomenon, but has structural effects on the social, economic and health well-being of communities. The consequences range from loss of visibility and credibility, to economic and reputational damage for start-ups, associations and health professionals, to limiting public access to vital information for prevention, early diagnosis and stigma reduction.
Geen joined CensHERship to call for fairness and transparency in algorithmic moderation and appeal processes; protection of scientific content on female anatomy and health; and an end to double standards in relation to female content compared to male content, as is the case, for example, with communication relating to erectile dysfunction.
The CensHERship initiative will continue in the coming months with further institutional lobbying and awareness-raising actions to create a digital ecosystem where women’s health is no longer a taboo subject. Women’s health is not only a matter of equity, but also a strategic opportunity for society and the economy, representing a market with an estimated value of between $42.5 and $49.3 billion, according to Geen’s note, on a global scale, with significant growth potential and substantial inefficiencies that currently weigh on national healthcare systems and companies.
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