Yes, Facebook can make their own rules, and their rules state that “obscene” images are not permitted. The problem we have is that breastfeeding is being labeled as “obscene”. It’s not obscene to feed your child. It’s NOT obscene to feed your child. I’ve traveled a bit and it’s not like this in other countries -they get it. That mother is not being sexual she’s being a mother. Breastfeeding is already not always easy but it is the best, and as a society we should be supporting mothers in their efforts to give them what was created for them, not call it obscene and shove them into bathroom stalls and password-protected photo areas.

I have reported offensive things on facebook before and they are not automatically deleted. They are first reviewed by someone from facebook. So you are right that facebook does not monitor all pictures put up on the site and that it is probably often someone’s own friend reporting their images. However, when facebook reviews those reports it should be clear to them that those pictures are not obscene and should not be removed from the site. They are the ones that take the action to remove pictures and/or freeze people’s accounts.

As for “Well, it’s their rules,” the only “rule” I agreed to that they’re citing for this is: “You will not post content that is hateful, threatening, pornographic, or that contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.” I live in California (where Facebook is also based), and our laws here specifically EXEMPT breastfeeding from being restricted as “nudity” or “obscenity.” I did not agree to any modification of that rule when I signed up. So instead, Facebook is imposing rules on me without disclosing them in advance (and possibly in violation of state law). If they want to categorize breastfeeding as “nudity”, they have to make that explicit; otherwise, a reasonable person would assume that it is not included.

If a site has clearly-stated rules that I object to, I don’t sign up. If they have unofficial policies that are NOT stated, and discriminate against certain users, I’ll complain like hell. That is NOT how you do business. I was already hooked into Facebook before I knew they did this; they didn’t tell me up-front.

Great post.