Sunday, February 1, 2009

M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Deleting Digitals (digital photos that is!)

I was watching the news the other night, and a report about Facebook caught my attention. Apparently, Facebook has been deleting some pictures of mothers breastfeeding their infants. Any pictures that were deemed "obscene" were taken off without permission. Now, there is a huge petition group, "Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not Obscene," and there was even a protest held at Facebook headquarters.

Both sides bring up good arguments about whether certain pictures should or should not have been taken off the site (TimesOnline), but I can't help but think: Why is this such a big deal? First, I don't understand why mothers would want to post breastfeeding pictures on such a public site. I understand that it is natural and legal to breastfeed in public places, but I feel that Facebook is beyond public. Literally anyone can access these pictures, and they probably only got taken off because someone complained. If I was a mother, I wouldn't want my boss or some creepy person to stumble upon these photos. I think Facebook had every right to take the pictures off because they are in charge of the site and are allowed to control what is presented. Facebook did not even erase every single picture, so I think these mothers are overreacting. In fact, Facebook will probably be looking for "obscene" breastfeeding photos now, rather than just deleting the ones that people complain about.

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