Spain blocking a website that provides women with information on reproductive rights was in violation of women’s digital rights as well as right to information.
In early 2020, Spain blocked the website of Women on Web, an organisation that provides information on sexual health and reproductive rights and access to safe abortion through online and email services.
The blocking of the website in Spain in the middle of the pandemic when more people were accessing online services, left many unable to attain information on how to access a safe abortion in Spain, especially poor, rural and migrant women who turned to Women on Web in search of information they could not find elsewhere.
On behalf of Women on Web, and with support from the Digital Freedom Fund, Women’s Link filed a lawsuit to defend people’s right to access vital information related to their health. In October, Spain’s Supreme Court recognised for the first time that information on the internet is constitutionally protected by the right to information, so the website cannot be blocked without judicial authorisation, and ordered that most of the website be unblocked.
The court’s decision set an important legal precedent for protecting information and freedom of expression on the internet globally and, especially, access to accurate, evidence-based information about abortion and sexual and reproductive health.
by Aintzane Márquez, Thomson Reuters Foundation
03/01/2023