Editorial: What is considered obscene on Facebook?

As much as we all love Facebook, it’s very clear that some shady stuff goes down on the social… As much as we all love Facebook, it’s very clear that some shady stuff goes down on the social networking site. From photos of underage drinking to ever-so-disturbing promiscuous photos of 14-year-old girls and cyber bullying, the website has its fair share of drama.

But recently, Facebook took action against a seemingly innocent group called “The Leaky B@@b” — an online breastfeeding support group with about 5,000 members. According to Parenting.com, Facebook deleted and reinstated the group multiple times, in addition to deleting a group formed in the response to the group’s removal. “Facebook claimed that it had violated their Terms of Service, insinuating that breastfeeding photos posted on the group’s page were obscene,” Parenting.com reported.

Though we don’t think Facebook is against breastfeeding like the article suggests, we feel like the website appears to be trying to improve its image through removing content that might be considered explicit.

The familiar debate of whether or not it’s okay to breastfeed in public has moved online.

Is it okay to consider providing nourishment to an infant obscene? Especially with so many other inappropriate and law-breaking things one can find on the website?

Although we acknowledge that some do not think breastfeeding in public is acceptable, these individuals would not randomly stumble across the content unless they specifically searched for it.

In addition, the group did not exist merely to display raunchy images, but instead to provide important information and support to nursing mothers. According to Parenting.com, “The Leaky B@@b” is important because it offers “support for nursing moms around the clock, wherever they are” and is useful when one cannot contact a pediatrician.

Although students might not agree that our mothers should be on Facebook to begin with, we must keep in mind that even people our age and younger are becoming mothers now. Our generation is becoming more and more accustomed to getting news and other information from social media sources, so is it really a surprise that users now expect and demand lactation support via social media as well?

Though it seems reasonable that Facebook should be allowed to delete what it wants, the fact that it reinstated the group after its removal caused such a strong reaction — including support groups with more than 10,000 fans — shows that the site cares at least somewhat about the content its users wish to access.

We hope in the future that the social media giant chooses to moderate actual explicit content and not an act of infant nourishment that is specifically allowed in any public or private location in 44 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. After all, we’ve got bigger problems than leaky boobs.