Tuesday 11 November 2014

Shocked beyond belief

***This post contains some sensitive material that people may find disturbing so please use your discretion before reading. There are no images but even the thought is disturbing in my opinion***

A cheery pic for you before you start reading...

So this is a completely unplanned blog post but I have been so shocked and disgusted by something this afternoon that I had to vent...

You often read about Facebook banning photos of mums breastfeeding or cuddling their newborns after birth when a bit of flesh is on display. Today one of my Facebook friends commented on a photo that someone else had posted, meaning it appeared in my timeline. I am deliberately NOT going to say who the post was by, post a link to it it put up a screen grab as that would just give them the attention they want.

A "Facebook appropriate" breastfeeding photo...

Instead I will very briefly describe it, only so you understand. It was a collection of 4 photos. Each contained a dead baby. Abandoned in a field/by a river/somewhere out in the open. I do not know if it was repeated photos of the same baby, or 4 different ones. I did not look at the images long enough to tell. But each was bloodied and broken, all on their own and looked like they had just been thrown away. All looked like newborns.

In my line of work I have seen lots of dead bodies. Sad but true, it's a fact of the job. And that has included dead babies. But I was truly shocked by these photos. Who posts them? Who likes to see them appear in their timeline? When you look back at the poster's homepage they repeatedly post things like that to receive lots of comments (for example, "you have to say amen for these babies" - cue 10k+ likes (WTF??!!) and the same number of comments). Do people really find it so exciting to receive Facebook comments that they would post this sort of material?

Anyway so that was shocking. But it gets worse. As any normal person would do I reported it to Facebook. Surely posting pictures like that breaches one of their guidelines? Well, no. They wrote back saying the photos were not inappropriate. I couldn't believe it, surely they had maybe looked at the wrong photo? So I reported it again. But no, they were serious. This is their exact reply:

We reviewed the photo you reported for annoying and distasteful humor and found it doesn't violate our Community Standards." (click to see their definition of community standards).

I am speechless. How do these photos not fall into the "Graphic content" section? Or the "Nudity" section? How on earth do these not violate everyone's "community standards"?!

I have never been tempted to start any sort of campaign/speak out about anything before but this has completely appalled me. How can this be right? What sort of society are we living in that it is deemed not acceptable to see a mother breastfeeding but is to post photos of dead abandoned babies to garner "likes"? What makes me even more sad is that my children will grow up in such a society.

So have a think. What do you think? Should you be allowed to say anything to anyone? Be aware - on Facebook you don't have to actively "like" things yourself or follow people directly to see such material. It can come via a friend, or even a friend of a friend, liking or commenting on a post.

It could appear in your kid's timeline next time.

Or the timeline of your friend who just lost their baby.

Or just an average person like me who still thinks this is shockingly disturbing.

I don't know about you but I would much rather see a newborn suckling on their mother's breasts (even with an exposed nipple...) a hundred times a day for the rest of my life than see anything like that again.

I think Facebook need to wake up and accept more social responsibility, and act accordingly.

******


14 comments:

  1. I find this utterly shocking. What the hell is Facebook on that it considers this acceptable but deems a photo of a breastfeeding mother inappropriate. I would be distressed beyond belief if I happened upon those pictures and I've never suffered the heartache of losing a baby. I can't even imagine how devastating these pictures could be to someone who has lost a child. I agree that something needs to be done. Shame on you, Facebook.

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    1. It's just crazy. I can't get my head around them thinking those pictures were ok and breastfeeding ones aren't. Just crazy.

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  2. I came off FB for reasons like this. So sorry you had to see disturbing images and I hope they fade from your memory soon. Thanks for flagging this up - there are times I feel like going to live in a cave somewhere but there'd probably be some weirdo in there already. Jo

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    1. Thank you - it makes me so worried about the world I've brought my children into and what society will be like in 10 or 20 years time as things like this get more and more "acceptable". And haha re cave - know exactly what you mean!! :)

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  3. I'm speechless! I often skim over things on FB that I wish I hadn't seen. I can't believe you got that reaction. Incredible.

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    1. Yep, I was initially shocked but thought it would be quite simple to report it to FB. Never at all expected them to say that those pics were acceptable and not too graphic or upsetting! I am going to perfect my "skimming over" technique for the future :)

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  4. Gosh - awful - I have no words. Can't get my head round how/why anyone would do this :( And you are right - double standards from FB. X

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    1. I was pretty speechless initially. And even more so after FB replied. It's a rather baffling and sorry reflection on today's society :(

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  5. This is awful, and I thought the dead/tortured animal pictures were bad enough. But this is horrendous, I think it would have made me ill

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    1. It definitely put a downer on my relaxed afternoon facebook session! And made me think carefully about who I'm friends with (and so what I'm exposed to indirectly through them...)

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  6. If you create a petition via a link through Change.org or something similar, and circulate it on Facebook and other social networks, I think you will get a lot of signatures. I know I will sign it.

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    1. Thanks, that's a really interesting idea. I'm not sure what to ask for though - Facebook to have a social conscience? Or some basic standards of what society finds acceptable? Sadly I suspect if it doesn't come naturally to them it will never come to them whatever we do :( and its their mindset that needs to change - this week it is dead babies - if they get banned people will just find something else shocking and distasteful to post next...

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  7. Totally agree with everything you've written.

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    1. Thank you! I did wonder if I'd over-reacted by being that shocked but I'm happy that I didn't and glad others feel the same

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