I was able to stop by the physical (as opposed to virtual) nurse-in at Facebook's headquarters on Saturday, and I met Heather (pictured at left) who organized the protest, and her mother-in-law Sheri (pictured at right).
As the press reported, the crowd was sparse, but the online nurse-in has attracted a lot of attention, with a huge increase in the number of members of the Facebook group devoted to this issue (now up to 70,000 members), and thousands of pictures and videos of nursing mothers posted. There has also been a lot of press on this topic.
Heather said that when reporters came to film her nursing at home, as soon as the bright lights were turned on her daughter popped off to check out the action. That's a 9 month old for you!
So far Facebook's only response has been this one, to the New York Times last week:
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.
On the way back to the car from the protest, my son said, "So, did we win?" I told him that we'd have to wait and see.
So, did you participate? Have your pictures been removed?
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