Mums storm Facebook over ban on breast-feeding pics

NEW YORK: Angry mothers are planning to bombard Facebook with images of breast feeding after photographs showing some women nursing their newborns were removed from their profile pages. More than 58,000 people have rallied together on a Facebook group called “Hey, Facebook, breast feeding is not obscene!” in protest of the censorship, the New York Daily News reported.

Organisers are calling for a cyber protest this Sunday and asking everyone to change their profile picture to one showing breast feeding. “Whether there’s a nipple exposed or not, female breasts — specifically in the context of breast-feeding — should not be considered obscene,” group administrator Stephanie Muir was quoted as saying.

The group was set up more than one year ago after a woman received a message from Facebook saying her breast feeding picture violated the site’s rules and that she’d be banned if she reposted it. Since then, over 2600 snaps have been posted by the group’s members.

Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said images would only be removed if the entire breast was shown. “These policies are designed to ensure Facebook remains a safe, secure and trusted environment for all users, including the many children who use the site,” he said.