Most of us have attended sex-ed classes in school. If we’re lucky, we’ll learn about consent and how to roll a condom onto a banana. But the classroom rarely goes into the specifics of sexual health and wellbeing – including what to do when a condom breaks.

Where can you get the morning-after pill in your local area? What about post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV? When do you need testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)? And where to find support if the test comes back positive?

Governments, community health organisations, peer-led health networks and commercial services use social media to share essential sexual health information with young people and adults alike. This includes up-to-date, evidence-based information on HIV and STI testing and treatment, and the latest on reproductive health care.

Online outreach of this kind has been widely recognised as a low-cost, accessible means of providing sexual and reproductive health content to those whose needs aren’t always met by traditional school-based education or legacy media outlets.

Current online safety rules are focused on removing harmful content, not on supporting health promotion. Unfortunately, sexual health content is often flagged as “against community standards” and suppressed by platforms – a practice known as shadowbanning.

But Australia’s promised new “digital duty of care” provides........

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