Toronto (ECN) - In the United States according to the Right to Breastfeed Act, H.R. 1848 which was made into law in 1999, women are allowed to breastfeed on federal property. More than half of the States in the US have laws on their books that grant women permission to breastfeed in public areas, but nursing over the internet is still a murky area.
Facebook a social networking site that creates a virtual world where friends and acquaintances can come together and update each other on their lives regularly has found itself in the middle of a controversy.
Facebook has become a gathering place for protestors too.
On Christmas Eve 2008, Facebook revoked Kelli Roman privileges from using their site. She was accused of “misusing certain features on the site.” The crime: Roman posted a photo of herself nursing her baby. The picture was deemed “obscene” and removed from the sight. Roman is not alone, over the past year Facebook has been removing similar photos, citing violations to their Terms of Use. Last year in protest a social network group called “Hey Facebook, Breastfeeding is Not Obscene” was started. Since its inception in 2007, the group already has 10,000 members is planning their first ever virtual protest December 27th, 2008.
In response to the photo removals, Facebook’s spokesman Barry Schnitt defined the photos that violate the sites Term of Use as “photos containing a fully exposed breast” and are subject to removal from the site. He also added that photos that are removed are brought to their attention by users who complain. Schnitt also added that Facebook is not against breastfeeding as “Breastfeeding is natural and beautiful,” as long as the photos meet their standards they are considered appropriate and will not be removed from the site. The other social networking site MySpace has a similar policy and also removes what it deems as inappropriate photos.
Breastfeeding in public is not without debate either. In 2007 a group of women protested in front Applebee’s to show support to breastfeeding in public when a mother was asked to cover up while she nursed by a waitress. Stephanie Muir, the creator of the Mothers International Lactation Campaign (MILC) protest group argues that since women are allowed to nurse in public, the internet shouldn’t be any different. For the protest, the group has asked supporters to change their profile photo to a breastfeeding photo on December 27th and to also show up at Facebook’s headquarters in Palo Alto for a “nurse in.”
The group feels that removing the pictures is sending the wrong message to mothers everywhere. The lobbyists of the law felt it was a necessary step even though breastfeeding is considered a natural act.
