Daily BrewFacebook breastfeeding photo ban stirs impassioned debate
New mothers are demanding the right to bare breasts on Facebook — provided there's a baby attached to the end of one.
As the Vancouver Sun reports, breastfeeding activists want the social media site make an exception on its strict no-nudity policy to allow for photos of mothers feeding their babies.
Vancouver mother of two, Emma Kwasnica, has gone public with her frustration after claiming that Facebook has removed more than 20 photos in which she can be seen breastfeeding her daughters.
On Saturday, she received a written warning stating that an image showing Kwasnica breastfeeding her daughter, Chloe, had been deleted because it was considered "sexually explicit."
Later that day, the site removed another photo, this one a two-year-old snapshot of Kwasnica feeding her now four-year-old daughter, Sophie. Her Facebook account was also suspended for three days.
"Facebook should just leave breastfeeding photos alone. (Breastfeeding is) not pornographic. It's not obscene. It's a normal human function," she said, adding that the popular networking site should be held accountable to the same standards that permit women to breastfeed in public.
Site administrators have not yet responded to Kwasnica's request to discuss the issue, but the company's Canadian publicist, Reena Dacdo, told the paper that Facebook maintains its own set of community standards, and those standards include no nudity, no exceptions.
"I recognize breastfeeding is a natural thing to do, but many users want to foster diverse respect so we have come up with a set of community standards," Dacdo said.
"It's a tough battle for (Kwasnica)," she continued, "but with 18 million active Canadian users, Facebook is trying to find that balance with respecting everyone's values."
Although Facebook doesn't have a specific breastfeeding policy, at present, the images still fall under the no-nudity umbrella.
Dacdo also pointed out that Facebook is largely a "self-regulating" community, so the images could have easily been flagged by another user.
Not to be deterred, activists have decided to fight back by using the site against itself. More than 3200 members have joined a Facebook group to support Kwasnica's cause, many by posting their own breastfeeding photos in solidarity.
The page has also stirred an impassioned debate between those who support the right to bare breasts, and others who feel the images are inappropriate on a public site.
