btw, i am deleting my facebook account. i don't use it often and their censorship is offputting.
please read this cut and paste below for more info. sorry this is so long. it is from the ABM list-serv
Mon Jan 5, 2009 2:55 pm (PST)
Forwarded with Author's permission
Please forward this message on to all your relevant contacts ! I am
desperate to get my research back, so I am going public with my story.
Hello,
My name is Emma Kwasnica. I am a 30-year-old Canadian tandem-nursing
mother living in Montréal, whose Facebook account has now been
entirely disabled over the breastfeeding photos controversy. The
official petition group on Facebook is called Hey Facebook,
breastfeeding is NOT obscene! . I am reaching out because I think you
might be interested in the Facebook fiasco over breastfeeding images,
and them being classed as "obscene, sexually explicit and
pornographic". Yes, I said breastfeeding. The most loving, selfless
act on Earth.
For the record, my entire Facebook account has now been deleted, with
no explanation from the administrators of Facebook. While they have
not confirmed the reason for disabling my account, I can only suspect
it stems from the fact that, in the days leading up to the disabling
of my account, I had photos of me breastfeeding my daughters deleted,
and was given a "warning" for having had uploaded "obscene" content
that renders Facebook "unsafe for children".
Given the amount of obscene, pornographic, and truly disturbing
photos, applications and groups that proliferate across Facebook, I
am stunned that this has happened to me. I am an aspiring
midwife/Childbirth Educator/ Breastfeeding Counselor; I run a lively
discussion group on Facebook called Informed Choice : Birth and
Beyond, and have been sharing all of my summarised research, studies,
links regarding pregnancy, birth and motherhood with a group of
nearly three hundred people, since July 2008. And now, everything
that I ever wrote, all my photos, all of my midwifery-related
research, has been deleted --right off the face of Facebook.
Furthermore, this does not concern me alone, as many (over a
hundred ?) other Facebook users had their posts deleted, too, since
whole discussion threads were deleted into oblivion, if it was indeed
me who began the thread (which, 80% of the time, I had started the
threads, since this was my group/me sharing the most recent research
relevant to the childbearing/-rearing woman).
Facebook has not responded to my e-mails politely enquiring why my
account has been disabled. They remain faceless. Hence the reason
why I am now reaching out and going public with my situation. I am
desperate to get my words back, and most importantly, the general
North American public needs to be made aware of Facebook's disgusting
double-standards regarding "decency". I am revolted to report that
Facebook allows the likes of a group called "Dead Babies Make Me
Laugh", and yet, someone such as myself, who wants nothing but to
inspire and help women on their journey to birthing healthy, vibrant
babies, has her whole account deleted.
I have now done radio station interviews (a Sakatoon one, as well as
Montréal's 98.5 FM), and was interviewed for 'La Presse' newspaper
here in Montréal, the article for which appeared in yesterday's
edition of 'La Presse' (the English translation for which you will
find below). I may be doing another one-hour long segment on the
same Saskatoon radio station at some point this week.
There is a Canadian slant to this whole Facebook fiasco, in that the
tireless organisor of the original online protest is from Ottawa
(Stephanie Muir), the site that is currently the "safe haven" for
breastfeeding photos which have been deleted by Facebook is a
Canadian one (TERA), is coordinated by Paul Rapoport of Hamilton,
Ontario, and now, the only (known) person so far to have had their
Facebook acount fully disabled over this issue --me, a Montreal
mother.
Please help me by spreading the word of Facebook's appalling actions
(such as by posting this to your blog), and consider this an official
plea to get the word out ! For the sake of the next generation of
babies, people everywhere need to understand that the larger issue of
normalising breastfeeding is deeply important here. In 2009, it is
unacceptable that women feel shamed, or are sexualised, while
providing the most normal, the most physiologically appropriate food
for their babies : breastmilk.
Sincerely yours,
-Emma Kwasnica, Montréal
(514) 656-1560
PS You will aslo find attached the scanned, full-page image from Le
Journal de Montréal, in which I am breastfeeding my daughters. This
is particularly relevant as Facebook has said that no major newspaper
in North America would publish the type of breastfeeding photos that
they have deleted. This simply isn't true - this newspaper image
(from October 2008) is living proof ! If Montreal, a city of over
3.5 million, can handle seeing this image in a daily newspaper, they
why can't Facebook ?
picasaweb.google.ca/emma.kwasnica/20081011BreastfeedingChallenge#5261616556288520402
*
MOTHERS CRUSADING AGAINST FACEBOOK
Daphné Cameron, La Presse
January 04, 2009
"Cover up this breast that I do not want to see."
Even though it was written in the 17th century, Molière's famous
refrain is still à la mode for those who run Facebook's networking
site.
For several months now, photographs of mothers breastfeeding their
children have been being deleted. The restriction has provoked anger
in women all over the globe. In protest, 11,000 women replaced their
profile picture with the image of a breastfeeding mother.
This online protest was organized for December 27th by Stephanie
Muir, an Ottawa mother outraged by the website policy, that says that
no "pornographic or sexually explicit" material may be uploaded to
the site.
"It is unthinkable that in 2008, such a loving image, one of a mother
breastfeeding her baby, can be perceived as sexual or offensive," she
said. "It's because we stigmatise women in this way, that mothers
make the choice not to breastfeed, or breastfeed for a shorter length
of time."
In additon to the web protest, a few dozen women assembled in front
of the Facebook headquarters in California, and nursed their babies
there.
The response by Facebook administrators was immediate. According to
Stephanie Muir, accounts of several protestors were disabled.
This is the case of Montrealer Emma Kwasnica, who no longer has
access to her personal account, since January 1st.
"Facebook began deleting photos of me breastfeeding my daughters on
December 28th", stated the 30-year-old who is studying to become a
midwife. "A few days later, the administrators disabled my account
with the only explanation being that I had uploaded obscene content.
Breastfeeding is the most beautiful thing in the world. How does one
automatically associate that with sex ?"
The protest organised by Stephanie Muir has provoked a media frenzy
in the United States. Facebook reacted by publishing a press release
that specified that only photos showing nipple or areola are banned.
Facebook reiterated that it is a private company which has the right
to decide which content it hosts on its site.
[email protected]
Katie