‘Delete Facebook’ Trends After Nebraska Cops Use Messages to Prosecute Teen for an Abortion

This story was updated on August 11, 2022, with a statement from Meta.

“Delete Facebook” began trending on Tuesday, August 9, after Forbes reported that private messages on the platform were used to prosecute a then-17-year-old girl for allegedly having an abortion.

According to Forbes, the teen, who is being tried as an adult, and her mother, 41, were charged in July “with allegedly removing, concealing, or abandoning a dead human body,” which is a felony, as well as with two misdemeanors: concealing the death of another person and false reporting. The mother was later additionally charged with “performing or attempting an abortion on a pregnancy at more than 20 weeks and performing an abortion as a non-licensed doctor.”

Per Forbes, the Norfolk Police Department “received a tip claiming [the teen] had miscarried in April at 23 weeks of pregnancy and secretly buried the fetus with her mother’s help.” The teen told police that she miscarried; however, Nebraska authorities continued to investigate, eventually serving Facebook a search warrant for the private messages between mother and daughter. Their conversation revealed that the teen had undergone a self-managed abortion with her mother’s help.

Both mom and daughter have pleaded not guilty to all charges. Facebook issued a statement to Glamour on August 11, in which the company said they want “to take the opportunity to set the record straight.”

“We received valid legal warrants from local law enforcement on June 7, before the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,” reads the statement. “The warrants did not mention abortion at all. Court documents indicate that police were at that time investigating the alleged illegal burning and burial of a stillborn infant. The warrants were accompanied by non-disclosure orders, which prevented us from sharing information about them. The orders have now been lifted.”

Nebraska outlaws abortions after 20 weeks. Earlier this week, a Republican-led proposal to ban abortion after 12 weeks failed to secure enough votes.

The Lincoln Journal Star, a local Nebraska paper, adds that a 22-year-old man pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor after being accused of helping bury the fetus. He will be sentenced later this month.

Pro-choice activist Olivia Julianna, who went viral last month for her takedown of Matt Gaetz, reposted the Forbes headline on Twitter with a caption urging women to delete their Facebook accounts.