Is it breastfeeding or is it porn? Some people fail to see the difference. Instagram is the latest social media site to pull the plug on photographs of moms breastfeeding their babies.
Toronto-based maternity photographer Heather Bays had some 2,000 photos on her Instagram, but this last one—of her breastfeeding her 20-month-old daughter—caused administrators to deactivate her account after another user posted a "Not cool" comment on her page.
"This is discrimination not only against mothers, but against women," Bays said in an article on CBC.
Bays has extra cause to be annoyed—with her Instagram account locked, she has lost access to thousands of photographs and a network crucial to her livelihood.
Not surprisingly, Instagram is owned by Facebook and operates by its code of conduct. The former site agreed to reinstate Bays' account, on the condition that certain offending images were deleted. Namely, those depicting her baby girl topless and those in which a breast is fully exposed.
"Every single day, women are shamed for just being women, for being mothers," said Bays. "That's not OK ... This has to stop."
However, the terms of use on Instagram (and Facebook) clearly state "nude [or] partially nude" content is prohibited.
Do breastfeeding photos belong on social media forums?
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