Facebook decided to remove the ban on pictures of breastfeeding mothers where nipples are shown after the #FreeTheNipple garnered international support.
The lift on the ban on such pictures was first reported by the feminist Soraya Chemaly on her blog. Facebook did change their restrictions on this kind of content. The ban was initially imposed on the pictures as they were categorized as nude or obscene.
Chrissy Chittenden, founder of the Attachment Feminism, told Huffington UK, "Breastfeeding is a natural, animal, beautiful act and to see it celebrated in photographs, even just normalised in photographs, is powerful."
She also explained that the policy was nonsense, since breastfeeding could be legally done public places like coffee shops and malls.
Paala Secor, a breastfeeding activist, immediately posted a picture of herself breastfeeding her child when she heard about the ban as a sign of protest.
"I didn't share it before because I didn't want to be banned for having a female nipple exposed. I do not consider myself an extremist in any way. I am not a nudist in my real life, walking around in the buff all day long, just at home, but I don't shame people who do feel more comfortable that way," Secor shared to the Huffington UK.
The social networking giant removed her pictures twice but screen shots showed that the picture did not violate any community standards; yet, it was reported for containing nudity or pornography.
The #FreeTheNipple gathered international response with many women questioning Facebook's rules. While breastfeeders were allowed to post their pictures on the social media, pictures of women going topless for art's sake or for a political protest remained to be prohibited.
Just last month, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Scout Willis made her own protest against Instagram's policy on female nudity. To get her message across, Scout walked through Manhattan's East Village topless. She tweeted pictures of her protest using the hashtag, #FreeTheNipple. Actress and filmmaker Lina Esco created the hashtag and planned to release a film with the same title.
