Facebook updates its breastfeeding photo policy, removes reference to "fully exposed breast"

Policy until mid-May, 2014

About 3 weeks ago Facebook quietly changed its breastfeeding photo policy removing any reference to a fully exposed breast.

Facebook has removed the phrase: "photos that show a fully exposed breast where the child is not actively engaged in nursing do violate the Facebook Terms." This phrase was updated several years ago from the variations on a ban on breastfeeding images "containing a fully exposed breast (as defined by showing the nipple or areola)."

The new policy doesn't have any restrictions and simply says Facebook allows photos of mothers breastfeeding. It does mention the vast majority of breastfeeding photos are compliant with its policies.

New policy as of mid-May, 2014

However there are two places where Facebook specifically addresses breastfeeding photos - in its FAQ or Help pages as above, and in its Community Standards document, where it has this to say under the Nudity and Pornagrphy section:

Current Facebook Community Standards policy on nudity and pornography

I think Facebook still needs to improve how it articulates its nudity policy - it seems to be ok with full frontal nudity when it's a picture of Michelangelo's David, but it's murky when it comes to the female body - women and infant health educators have been asking Facebook to update its Community Standards nudity policy to reflect public statements made recently on the issue of mastectomy photos, where it told ABC News:

 "We have long allowed... educational and scientific photos of the human body..."  

Facebook also needs to put in place a team of staffers who can quickly respond and work with users to resolve issues when their accounts are banned or when education or peer support pages or groups are taken down in error.

Overall, I see slow, but definite progress!
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Update 2 p.m. June 9: Facebook has also removed another sentence from its guidance on breastfeeding photos - it used to say:

"These policies are based on the same standards which apply to television and print media."

Thanks to Unlatched for the Mr. Rogers episode.

The change is wise - print media outlets have long allowed breastfeeding images that Facebook has specifically censored, creating much embarrassment for the social media network. And television standards vary widely around the globe. Even in the US, PBS's Mr. Rogers has aired a fully exposed, lactating breast as part of an educational segment since the 70s, and CBS's $550,000 fine from the FCC in the Janet Jackson nipple exposure incident at the Superbowl was overturned in 2012.

And, it appears that Facebook updated its policy on mastectomy photos as well. Until about three weeks ago the policy had the condition:

"photos with fully exposed breasts, particularly if they're unaffected by surgery, don't follow Facebook's Community Guidelines"”

Now it reads simply:

Facebook's new policy on mastectomy photos

And it appears Instagram has also made changes. Recently it took to repeating Facebook's wording on breastfeeding and mastectomy images and I'm hearing reports it has also updated its policies on breastfeeding and mastectomy images to match the new wording, above.

I've been asked a lot of questions about what this means for the sharing of breastfeeding photos, and the bans that can occur when they are reported by other users. As of today I'm still seeing reports of photo bans that clearly should be allowed according to Facebook's guidelines, and a breastfeeding in public support page was unpublished briefly before being restored overnight. Facebook has not yet made an announcement on its policy changes and it's not clear if or how they will change their procedures. However, I think do think procedures changes are in the works. I'll report here when I know more.

Update #2 8:30 p.m. June 9: Soraya Chemaly, who has been instrumental in getting Facebook to shift on its policies, has detailed article tonight on these changes in the context of the #freethenipple campaign. She writes:

"Facebook's policy statement remains brief and, undoubtedly for legal reasons, open to interpretation.  Steinfeld was clear, however, that people will be able to share breastfeeding photos, where women are actively breastfeeding, even if the mother's breasts are fully exposed.  There may be other things going on in a photograph that violate community standards and result in removal, but it won't be the pornification of nursing women.  So much effort, by so many people, over so many years, for this one small thing."

Read and share the full article: #FreeTheNipple: Facebook Changes Breast-feeding Mothers Photo Policy

Update #3 noon, June 10: Monica Beyer writes on SheKnows about the ban on Abby Theuring's lovely tandem breastfeeding photo. Abby runs The Badass Breastfeeder where she shares with her 150,000 Facebook followers her family transition from mainstream to attachment parenting. Some have suggested that the waist-up toddler nudity in is why the image was removed. This is the same reason given by Facebook and Instagram when Canadian photographer Heather Bays had her Instagram account taken down a few weeks ago. I received a call from CBC Radio saying the suggestion was made by the social media giant that it wasn't the breastfeeding image Bays had shared, but rather it was images of her toddlers dressed only in diapers that caused the account to come down. Bays was unimpressed with the implication that her photos were somehow akin to child porn, noting they are similar to the Facebook ads placed by Huggies to sell their product. (See my post Instagram is the new Facebook, May 15.) Monica Beyer's article is here: Facebook is still policing breastfeeding photos: New policy, same censorship?

Removed from Breastfeeding, which
has 80,000 fans. Facebook says it was not
removed because of the breastfeeding.

Update #4, June 18: Facebook has returned Abby Theuring's tandem breastfeeding photo and said it was removed in error. This seems to indicate the waist-up toddler nudity was not why it was removed. They have, however, removed several other breastfeeding with infant or child nudity - the one on the right was removed and it was confirmed it wasn't because of the breastfeeding, but that is the only information I was able to obtain from Facebook. It could have been deemed an intellectual property violation as the page doesn't own the photo, but it is hard to say without specific information from the social network.

This is the last photo removed from the page
Nursing in Public is Here to Stay before the page was taken down. 

The Nursing in Public is Here to Stay page was also removed by Facebook without notice. The last photo removal they had was this one:

There is little in Facebook's Community Standards clarifying what Facebook allows when it comes to infant or child nudity. They say:

Huggies used this as their cover photo on their Facebook page last month.

"Facebook has a strict policy against the sharing of pornographic content and any explicitly sexual content where a minor is involved."

The photo above is not pornographic or sexually explicit, and Facebook has no problem allowing major advertiser Huggies to display similar images.