For Immediate Release 12/11/07
Contact Information:
Julie Marsh
email/IM: mothergoosemouse@gmail.com
www.mothergoosemouse.com
League of Maternal Justice: Kristen Chase
skype: motherhooduncensored
email/IM: leagueofmaternaljustice@gmail.com
www.leagueofmaternaljustice.com
Apologizes for banning
In an email received on December 5, 2007, YouTube apologized for their mistake and reinstated the video in its original form. The email letter stated that the video had been "removed in error."
The banned video seemed to be yet another setback for breastfeeding mothers after a slew of pictures were banned from MySpace and Facebook this summer. But unlike those two popular social networking sites, YouTube followed up quickly after Julie Marsh, the creator of the video, reloaded the adapted video on December 3.
"We are extremely pleased that YouTube reviewed the video and deemed it appropriate" stated Marsh. "It's a small victory for breastfeeding mothers who are continually scrutinized for doing something natural and clinically proven as best for their babies."
The League of Maternal Justice, a group of mothers poised as online activists for causes specific to parents, is now hoping that Facebook will follow suit.
Add the banning of breastfeeding photos to the long list of Facebook's problems, with everything from its new controversial news feed feature that caused a huge stir back in September to online predators using it to find and proposition minors.
"Facebook needs to get with program" says Kristen Chase, co-founder of League of Maternal Justice, who along with her co-founder Catherine Connors, led an anti-Facebook campaign early this fall. "If YouTube can differentiate between sexually explicit material and breastfeeding, then what is Facebook's problem?"
Chase is not alone in her questioning of Facebook's ethics and decision making processes. Even major advertisers, while emphatically reassured by Facebook, are still wary of the company's decision making processes.
The League of Maternal Justice plans on continuing to press Facebook for an official response, with the hopes that the positive response from YouTube will set a precedent for other social media sites.
Photos:
Links/Sources:
The Wall Street Journal: Facebook Rethinks Tracking
The New York Times: New Scrutiny for Facebook Over Predators
Macworld: Facebook doesn't budge of Beacon's broad user tracking
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For Immediate Release 11/27/07
Contact Information:
Julie Marsh
email/IM: mothergoosemouse@gmail.com
www.mothergoosemouse.com
League of Maternal Justice: Kristen Chase
skype: motherhooduncensored
email/IM: leagueofmaternaljustice@gmail.com
www.leagueofmaternaljustice.com
Video Depicted Breastfeeding Moms
A mom-produced internet protest video attacking Facebook's banning of breastfeeding pictures was itself banned by the popular video sharing service Youtube after gaining recognition as the top-five most discussed of its day. The email from Youtube stated that it was due to the video's inappropriate content/inappropriate nature. A group of moms called Youtube's action hypocritical and harmful, and pointed to dozens of sexually explicit and harmful videos currently allowed on the service. The moms also pointed to a number of state laws specifically stating that public breastfeeding was not inappropriate.
Photos:
Video:
The Great Breast Fest Montage from mothergoosemouse on Vimeo
Even though breastfeeding is clinically proven as being best for baby, breastfeeding mothers are continually scrutinized in public settings. Thus is the case with YouTube's current actions of banning a breastfeeding video.
"I'm not so surprised that the video was banned, considering the response that visuals of breastfeeding mothers have received from other popular social networking sites" said Chase, a breastfeeding mother of two, and co-founder of League of Maternal Justice, a group of mothers poised as online activists for causes specific to parents. "However, I am surprised that YouTube continues to allow explicit videos of women stripping, physically hurting themselves, and starving themselves, all of which are easy to find using simple search terms."
YouTube is not the first social media site to ban breastfeeding pictures. This past summer, Facebook and MySpace banned pictures of women breastfeeding their babies, but freely allowed women to post pictures of anorexic figures and "advice" promoting anorexic behavior called "Pro-Ana" groups. Since then, a 20,000 member strong protest group on Facebook has posted numerous breastfeeding pictures without comment from Facebook. While YouTube has enabled a feature where viewers must enter their birthdate in order to view sexually explicit or violent material, it's obvious that this practice is inconsistent.
"So why not flag it as explicit instead of banning it altogether?" asks Catherine Connors, co-founder of League of Maternal Justice, referring to the video which contains still pictures of various women breastfeeding their babies and toddlers to music. "Our video is no different than several of the breastfeeding videos on YouTube. It obviously hit a nerve with someone over there because it's not explicit. There's no reasonable justification for designating it as such."
Julie Marsh, a Denver-based political columnist and creator of the video states "Clearly there is a disconnect between what's being told to mothers and what they are experiencing." Marsh is referring to the National Breastfeeding Campaign print and TV spots that were created and run by the Department of Health and Human Services, in cooperation with the Ad Council strongly encouraging mothers to breastfeed their babies at least until six month of age. The HHS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) are on record as staunch advocates of breastfeeding. "This is definitely a matter of public health," Marsh adds.
But it's obvious that the public has yet to get it, as made apparent by the continual bannings and comments on the video itself and by comedian Bill Maher who have compared breastfeeding to public masturbation and urination. "Breastfeeding mothers aren't purposely exposing themselves for attention" says Chase, who breastfeeds her 10-month-old son in public on a frequent basis. "We're not asking for special rights. We just want to be able to nurse our children when they're hungry no matter where we are."
Legally speaking, they can. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, thirty-nine of fifty states have laws with language specifically allowing women to breastfeed in any public or private location. Eight others have laws with varying language. Only three states - Massachusetts, North Dakota, and West Virginia - have no legislative protection for breastfeeding mothers.
The League of Maternal Justice ran a successful protest against Facebook, including a virtual-nurse in and account deactivation campaign. Their YouTube video received over 90,000 views and several honors, including the top 5 discussed news and politics video three days in a row. They have yet to receive a response from YouTube who deemed the video "inappropriate" and removed it on November 20.
"It's apparent to us that YouTube, Facebook, and other similar organizations don't care about public health or the law - or even a consistent application of their own policies," states Marsh. "If they did, they'd realize that breastfeeding photos and videos are neither inappropriate nor explicit, but healthy and protected by law and would adjust their terms of use accordingly."
The League of Maternal Justice created the video as a means to raise awareness of breastfeeding as a legally-protected matter of public health. "We will continue to work with members of the medical and legal communities, as well as government agencies, to call attention to actions of entities like Facebook and YouTube that run contrary to public health policy."
Links/Sources:
The League of Maternal Justice
National Conference of State Legislatures
womenshealth.gov
American Academy of Pediatrics
Relevant Press:
Toronto Star
ParentDish
The Age
Times Colonist
The Province
League of Maternal Justice Press:
Parentdish
Toledo Free Press
mobuzz.tv The Daily Buzz
The Huffington Post
Parental is Political
