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Video Follow-up to Facebook Nurse-ins

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 04:42:46 +0000

Today at the Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California, a relatively small group of dedicated lactivists showed up while nearly 2,000 people were there with them in spirit at the virtual nurse-in on Facebook itself. Jill Asher of the Silicon Valley Moms Blog headed over to Palo Alto to film the following video of the nurse-in. My favorites are the interview with the organizer’s mother-in-law, Sheri Farley, mother of eight breastfed children and grandmother to 19 breastfed grandchildren out of 20 total, and the interview with one of the fathers in attendance.

Local newspaper The Mercury News also reported on the event. Because today is a Saturday there was no comment from Facebook headquarters, but Andi of Mama Knows Breast found this previous statement quoted in the New York Times:

Breastfeeding is a natural and beautiful act and we’re very glad to know that it is so important to some mothers to share this experience with others on Facebook. We take no action on the vast majority of breastfeeding photos because they follow the site’s Terms of Use. Photos containing a fully exposed breast do violate those Terms and may be removed. These policies are designed to ensure Facebook remains a safe, secure and trusted environment for all users, including the many children (over the age of 13) who use the site. The photos we act upon are almost exclusively brought to our attention by other users who complain.

I changed my profile photo! Did you? I have yet to see any reports of breastfeeding pictures being removed by Facebook so far and the virtual nurse-in is nearly over.

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So, Is This Obscene?

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:51:47 +0000

I remembered to change my Facebook profile picture to attend the virtual nurse-in at Facebook today. I chose this photo. What do you think? Is it obscene? Obscene by Facebook’s standards? I guess we’ll see whether I get asked to remove it or not….

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Virtual and Live Nurse-Ins Planned over Breastfeeding Pictures on Facebook

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:05:17 +0000

It has been over a year since Facebook began removing breastfeeding pictures and threatening users with being banned from the site. At last check, the Facebook group “Hey, Facebook, Breastfeeding is not obscene!” had over 57,000 members (including me). Now organizers of that group have planned an event for Saturday, December 27, 2008, the M.I.L.C. Mothers International Lactation Campaign.

Virtual Nurse-In

Organizers explain:

Facebook continues to classify breastfeeding photos as obscene content. They continue to arbitrarily remove these photos from member albums and profiles, accompanied by warnings of account termination. This is highly discriminatory and an affront to nursing mothers everywhere. In protest of this, Mothers International Lactation Campaign (M.I.L.C.) has planned a virtual day of protest.

Not only is human lactation responsible for the very survival of our species, it is in no way a sexually explicit, lewd or despicable act. It is also protected by law in most countries, including specifically the state where Facebook is headquartered in the USA.

In protest to the discriminatory and unjust policy of Facebook administration classifying breastfeeding images as obscene content, on December 27th, 2008 M.I.L.C. is asking all of you to change your profile picture for one day, to one which includes an image of a nursing mom.

This could be a picture of you or someone you know nursing a child, it could be a painting or image of a sculpture of a breastfeeding woman, it could also be a photo or image of any nursing mammal….We ask that you include the status line of “Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!”

In addition to this ‘virtual nurse-in’, there will be other events planned around the globe. Please check this page often for regular updates and added information. We will also be including images that you can use for your profile picture on December 27th.

Live Nurse-In

If you are in the Palo Alto, California area, consider attending the live nurse-in at the Facebook headquarters!

When: Saturday, December 27, 2008, at 11 a.m.
Where: Outside the Facebook office at 156 University Ave., Palo Alto, California

MSNBC Media Coverage

Coverage of the planned events has hit mainstream media with this video story from MSNBC.

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