Harnett mom banned from Facebook over her child breastfeeding photo
A Harnett County mother of five is speaking out after she was banned from Facebook three days ago for posting a picture of her breastfeeding her youngest child.
Teresa Grandy told WRAL News Thursday that her page is set to private and she believes Facebook acted improperly because administrators at the social media giant failed to understand the photo.
"I just posted a picture on my Facebook page and woke up the next morning," she said. "I had a notification on my Facebook saying I was banned for sexual exploitation of a minor."
She said she is a proud mother who often posts her family photos on Facebook.
She said she posted the photo that was flagged Sunday evening. The ban extends for seven days, she said.
The photo is of her and her two youngest children, including her 3-year old son, Logan, who is pictured on the left, and Grandy, who is breastfeeding Fredrick, her 1-year-old son.
Grandy is a staunch advocate for breastfeeding, and says she has posted other pictures in the past of her and her friends breast feeding.
She said none of them have ever been flagged.
She said she believes one of her Facebook friends must have reported her.
The notice from Facebook read:
"It looks like something you've posted doesn't follow our community standards," and goes on to say Facebook doesn't allow "sexual material," "depictions of sexual violence" or "sexual content involving minors."
Grandy was outraged about the insinuation that a photo of her breastfeeding her child was considered sexual material.
"My child was put into a sexual abuse label and I was just feeding my son," she said. "That's what really bothers me about all of this, because breastfeeding is very natural and it's just part of our life.They've never said anything to me about it, and if they had, I would have filtered the pictures."
Despite being banned on Facebook, Grandy said she is not ashamed by the photo, adding that she is proud to breastfeed her child.
"It's breastfeeding and it's natural," she said. "It's normal and no one should be ashamed of it."
Grandy emailed Facebook, but has only received an automated confirmation of her email inquiry.
The website's help center has a policy that permits breastfeeding photos.
"It's important for mothers to share their experiences with others on Facebook," the statement says.
Grandy has had posts created in her honor to view one of them visit https://www.facebook.com/katiemain/posts.
