SHOULD WOMEN BREASTFEED IN PUBLIC?

MBABANE – Uproar ensued after popular social networking site Facebook removed a picture of a breastfeeding mother citing a complaint of offensive nudity by another user.

The picture had been posted by 24-year-old Emma Bond who wanted to share an exciting moment when she breastfed her premature baby for the first time a few weeks ago.

She uploaded it to a pro-breastfeeding website, where it attracted 166 000 likes.
However users who then tried to share it on their own Facebook profiles found the link was deleted following a complaint from an anonymous user who reported it as ‘offensive’.

Administrators of the popular social networking site told Bond that the image was removed after it was reported to be offensive.
“The image that you shared was removed in error - it has now been republished. The policy has been updated, Facebook modified the way it reviews reports of nudity to better examine the context of the photo or image.

“As a result of this, photos that show a nursing mothers’ other breast will be allowed even if it is fully exposed, as will mastectomy photos showing a fully exposed other breast,” facebook wrote to Bond.
This was after Bond had lodged a complaint on the removal of her picture.
Reports carried by an online publication stated that Bond had been told her daughter was unlikely to survive more than three days when she was born prematurely on October 3.

“But she defied expectations and Miss Bond was able to breastfeed her for the first time on Sunday, prompting her to share the image with family and friends, who had followed her progress,” reads the report in part.

Bond was upset by Facebook’s decision to remove the photo. “It is something very natural and special and should be promoted,” she said. “Carene was born by emergency Caesarean section.

“We were told to get the priest in, she wasn’t meant to last past her third day.  It was the first time she had breastfed so there was a reason for me posting that particular picture. It was a magical moment and to have it removed the same day for breaching nudity policies was really rubbing salt in the wound.

“The picture represents more than just me breastfeeding my newborn baby. Carene is very poorly developed and we fought very hard to get to this point,” she was quoted as having said.
The whole scenario attracted comments from users, most of whom felt there were really offensive pictures that went into the site without attracting complaints.

In response Facebook said breastfeeding photos have never been against the firm’s Community Standards, but nipples had to be covered or concealed.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: