Facebook in 'breastfeeding ban' battle
Updated on 07 September 2007
Social networking site Facebook has found itself in a dispute with an unlikely group of people - breastfeeding mothers.
Facebook users can post their own pictures on the site, as long as they don't break the site's obscenity guidelines.
Naked or pornographic shots are obviously not acceptable, but Facebook's monitors have recently started taking off pictures of mothers breastfeeding their children.
Naked or pornographic shots are obviously not acceptable, but Facebook's monitors have recently started taking off pictures of mothers breastfeeding their children.
Users complain that pictures have been removed, even where no nipple is visible.
In traditional Facebook style, aggrieved mums have formed a group to protest the decision - and so far over 7,000 people have joined.
The group's petition to Facebook reads: "We're wondering: what about a baby breastfeeding is obscene? Especially in comparison to MANY other pictures posted all over Facebook that really are obscene."
"Facebook, we expect more from you, and we expect you to realize that nursing moms everywhere have a right to show pictures of their babies eating, just like bottle-fed babies have a right to be seen."
A Facebook spokeswoman told the Techcrunch weblog that the site did not ban pictures of breastfeeding per se, but that "Photos containing an exposed breast do violate our Terms and are removed".
