That’s right. Facebook found this picture taken by Seana Berglund (of Ruthie’s placenta) to be in violation of their ethics. How? I don’t know. It is awesome!
I honestly am laughing. I’m not surprised. I have seen this happen to many pages. While I have been careful what pictures I post on Facebook, posting the rest on my blog instead, it still happened. The picture was removed, I was banned from posting for 24 hours and told if I ‘violate’ again, my whole profile/page can be deleted. Two years of work in the page and supporting women. Gone, just like that, if they want.
On one hand, I find it frustrating, but on the other hand, I get it. Facebook owns Facebook. Just as I can ban someone on my page, Facebook can ban who they want. We are using it for free, as guests, and can be kicked out at anytime. I can respect that. Do I like it? No. But I get it.
This has actually been on my mind lately, as I watch other natural and birth pages put in time out or detention and even scolded or deleted. I’m not surprised it is my turn. The thing is, this is MY blog and it is not going anywhere. BWF is now a strong community of women that inform and support each other in TTC, pregnancy, labor, birth, post partum, breastfeeding, parenting, womanhood and more!
I have asked myself what to do to ensure Facebook does not have control over our community of women (and some dads) and Birth Without Fear. There have been many ideas thrown around and this slap on the hand has made us (myself and my husband) decide.
I will continue to blog, but Facebook will not, can not, be the main source of our community. Women supporting women can not happen freely there. We propose a private BWF Forum. Not only can we share openly and safely, but with less drama. Only those that really want to be part of the BWF Family will be there. Also, you can post your own questions for support. I can’t tell you the anxiety I can let go of knowing my emails will significantly decrease (I currently receive 20-100/day)! We have had a forum sitting there for months, time to get it up and going. Give us a few days and we will launch it!
Will this change the dynamics of BWF a bit? Yes, but I say, let’s do this! Let’s take this lemon and make some kick ass lemonade!!!!
*What can you do? Other than everyone deleting Facebook, which won’t happen, you can sign this petition. See you on the BWF Forums soon!
UPDATE
Well, apparently FB doesn’t like the thumbnail version either as I got this notice:
I’ve been suspended…
The photographer also had the picture removed and a warning…
Ridiculous much?
Recommended Reading
The Tree of Life aka the Naked Placenta
The Harshe Podcast – Episode #27: Facebook is NOT Life
Tree of Life, Vernix, and a Bubble of Support
Birth Of Elsie {Homebirth Story With Siblings}- The Birth of Sicily Rose {Postpartum Hemorrhage, Vanishing Twin Syndrome}
- An Inspiring Natural {Hospital} Birth
The Birth Story {PART 2} 
An Open Letter to Birth Without Fear
“We did it baby! It was hard, but we did it!” {Natural Birth Center Birth}
A Mother’s Day Birth Story
85 Comments
annemarie (@YLMBreadless)
cant have a placenta but this photo is juuuust fine..ughhh
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2711571943287&set=a.1130582739545.2020663.1076542091&type=1&theater
Bethany
I KNOW RIGHT! They’ve got some odd standards
Nicole
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=348046898547027&set=o.246150170917&type=1
OR this one of a supposedly aborted fetus!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!
Nicole
happy to report facebook blocked the abortion picture that was totally inappropriate.
Jael
HA. I reported that one.
Nicole
I reported it also, lol.
Keith Mendoza
There is a “Report this photo” button. I’m sure someone used that on the picture first.
annemarie (@YLMBreadless)
it has been reported over 20 times. a friend reported it and got an email back from facebook saying that they cannot confirm that the naked picture violates facebooks rules
Amber R
WTF?! I just reported that nude photo that was linked — they said to others that nudity could not be confirmed?!?!
laura
Im reporting each and everyone one of this chicks photos. Lets see how many get taken down….
Rachel Emrath
LOL, That perfectly detached organ is definately more offensive that that practically pornagraphic photo. Will I get suspended if I post pics of the raw livers I use?
Knitted in the Womb
She isn’t showing nipples or butt crack…so apparently it isn’t really “nudity.” If her nipples were obscured by being pixelated or having a “black bar” over them the picture would be inappropriate, but using her arm and scarf to cover them makes the picture appropriate, don’t you see it?
Now if a woman were breastfeeding in that same pose with the same amount of clothing, the picture would be inappropriate because “Mothers breastfeeding without clothes on” are considered nudity.
http://www.facebook.com/notalone2live#!/photo.php?fbid=10150683841570734&set=p.10150683841570734&type=1&theater
Head, desk…
tatyana
so true! totally agree with u!!!!!!
Katharine
Don’t let them keep you down. I love your attitude towards this minor set-back. Can’t wait to see you in the forum!
Joy
I for one am excited about the new changes coming to BWF. I like the idea of posting our own qusetions and receiving answers from others.
I also signed the petition. BWF has been a huge help to me in pursuing my goal of a VBA3Cs. I am truly grateful to have this group of women in my life and for the encouraging and supportive posts.
Thanks BWF!! 🙂
Michelle
I hope you will still keep the fb bwf. That is how many of us found you. Be great if it could direct us to the new place so we can keep liking and sharing BWF.
Mrs. BWF
It will be there until FB deletes it. 🙂
Lisa
I look forward to your new forum being up. I refer you to my August birthday group at Baby Center at least once a week, often more. 🙂
Kelly Graham
I love this idea…
Summer
Thank you for taking a pro-active approach to silly policies and also being grown-up enough to recognize that Facebook is a FREE service we utilize….making it their choice to do ridiculous and infuriating things, such as deleting pages that actually help people.
Deb
Has the whole world gone crazy? This is beyond ridiculous!
Vanessa Jubis
I hate when FB messes with our passions. They’ve done this to me as well. It’s unfortunate…
I’m with you on the private forum. Go for it!
Jen@PlusSizeBirth
I hate why you’ve come to the conclusion that a BWF forum is needed but I LOVE the idea of a BWF forum!! I’ve signed the petition and I’ll support you in any way I can.
Amanda
I am excited about a forum! I feel more at ease posting in a private manner, especially with the sidebar on facebook making your posts visible.
Bethany
Signed the petition & can’t wait for the new forum. Fight The Man! 😉
Tina
So- if facebook deletes your page before the forum is up, how will we know where your forum is? I suppose posting it on your blog here (der der)
Guess I better bookmark this page!
Courtney
Great idea!
I’d be happy to help with a forum, I’ve done it in the past! I think it’s a great option for helping keep the drama low and the support high! 😉
Email me if you want any help setting up a forum.
courtney
Kellan
Looking forward to the new forum!
I signed the petition…looks like we’re almost to 300 signatures! 🙂
MamaBee
that is just crazy! the craziest part is that someone reported it! i think its beautiful, just as i think bf’ing and birthing pics are. what fb should find offensive is the 13 year olds that look like strippers or the pic i saw on my friend’s page of some chick getting her crotch tattooed (and overly enjoying it) or (for awareness) the pic of the 2 teenage boys who are hanging a puppy? idk wtf id wrong with people. how can you be so offended…by LIFE?
kat
I do find it EXTREMELY bizarre that the Mindy girl can post pornographic photos of herself but this placenta is banned. I would have never known this was a pic of a placenta (just looks like colorful lettuce to me, lol) unless someone told me. I know a pornographic picture when I see it. On top if this so many bf-ing pics are banned too. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But this is allowed?????
Misha
I will definitely be following the blog now (I followed it more then the fb page anyways)
Samantha Bice
Not going to lie…I reported that pic that was posted above by “mindy”. THAT does not belong on FB…
I don’t understand what was so horrible about the placenta pic…especially since if you have never seen one you wouldn’t even know what it was. Facebook says they have “rules” and “guidelines” but it seems like it is just down to whoever is reviewing the report. A friend of mine was banned for a BF pic, and when FB replied back they sent her their guidelines…under which her photo was not violating any of the stated guidelines. They gave her back her facebook…but come one FB…stop being stupid.
Cyndi
I tried to report that Mindy photo, but what I don’t like is that FB basically forces me to call myself out by either 1. blocking her or 2. actually telling her that I personally don’t like her photo in a message. WTF? I should just be able to report and then FB makes the judgement without me having to show who I am. Needless to say I chickened out.
Jenny
You don’t have to check either of those boxes. I didn’t. I just pushed the “report to facebook” one and left those other two unchecked. It went through. She has a ton on there that I reported. So take that FB! 😉
Seana Berglund
I took this photo to capture the essence of our beginning. For every last one of us.. It was our food, our air, our comfort.
It was the sounds of it’s giving, like waves crashing to shore, that lulled us into deep and perfect sleep.
Our roots lie in the placenta..can you see them? How can we fear and loathe the very thing that breathed our mother’s life into us?
This is the tree of life!
Ruthie
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
P.S. I have an 18 x 20 inch laminated copy for you…
Lauren Wilkinson
So excited about the forum! Is it possible that you would be able to make it iPhone and android friendly through tapatalk please? It’s a free plugin for the board administrator, and for those without computers it makes forum browsing through a smartphone a million times easier. Once again, so excited!!
Mrs. BWF
We will look into that! Thank you. We are excited too. 🙂
Shan
We are not just passive guests – we are consumers of a product. That is how this company’s IPO value reached $100B. They have a responsibility to us, to stop violating the law and their own policy.
Marlene
Exactly!!!!!!!!
Stephanie
<3 <3 <3
Andrea
A forum is a great idea. I know I will participate more. I hold back because Facebook shares all our comments in the ticker when they’re made on public pages.
jamie
It kinda looks like a tree to me. And its crazy how they allow my UNDERAGE sisters pics of her and her friends binge drinking and her”modeling” (her in just ruffle panties with her back to the camera and her winking), but have taken off pics of women very modestly feeding their babies.
LisaR
Please consider setting the BWF community up over at theblogfrog.com . This recommendation is partially out of selfish motivation, since I am already involved in a community over there, but it is just such an awesome (and free) community forum!
Anne
I really don’t understand on what grounds they took down a picture of a placenta. Would they take down a pic of a heart? I doubt it. And I don’t believe placentas would be seen as “dirty” if men grew them, too. This is a feminist issue.
Knitted in the Womb
Apparently their guidelines on “graphic content” do not allow for any internal organs to be visible.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2104424/Facebooks-bizarre-secretive-graphic-content-policy-revealed-leaked-document.html
And
http://www.facebook.com/notalone2live#!/photo.php?fbid=10150683841570734&set=p.10150683841570734&type=1&theater
couponjanet1
Did they not know it was a placenta? Like did they think it was a brain of a dead person? Weird
Samantha Bice
I just got an email back from Facebook. The Mindy photo (first link in the comments) is OKAY TO BE ON FACEBOOK. Needless to say, I sent a nasty-gram email.
Jan Bay
Ideas of what’s offensive these day are SO off-kilter! It’s ok to show people being gunned down in the street and people partying in their underwear but it’s NOT ok to share pictures that are natural and/or educational?
There are more who appreciate this information than not … ignore the ones who don’t as much as possible and keep up the good work. JB
BeckyJ
Facebook has it all ass backwards. They seem to be anti-woman or anti-mom or something. As long as the figure doesn’t have stretchmarks and are under 120 lbs, and have 2 inches of clothing on, it’s not offensive to them.
Landrie
I’m in!!
tania
i heard about hte picture been removed. i dont know what i was expecting but that picture is not horible, or i dont know but nothing horrific
Paala
I just heard you were blocked so I decided to come directly to your site and show some support. I do not approve! I look forward to your return.
Also, if anyone is looking for news or photos from a person actually at the Menlo Park nurse-in, here’s my blog on it: http://doublethink.us.com/paala/2012/02/06/press-and-photos-of-the-facebook-nurse-in-menlo-park/
Liz
I don’t get why they keep deleting it…do they tell you how it doesn’t follow ToS??
Linda
The placenta is an organ of the human female body, like the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs . . . I don’t see images of any other organ removed for “violation of ethics”. One of my favorite quotes for times people behave irrationally is, “Let’s all sit fown and eat a piece of fruit.” Can we send the persons in charge of FB ethics violation assessments a fruit basket? LOL
Ann Siegle
When Mark Zuckerberg has his first child and his wife breastfeeds and wants to post it on Facebook, THEN the policies will change. But right now it’s being run by 20-something young men (for the most part, there are women, of course, but they’re also young). In the mean time, FB is a private space owned by (at least for now) a privately held corporation. As content developers and marketers, we are beholden to them; that’s why space like this is so critical. You need something you own.
Nev
Yay for the Forum! Booo for FB 🙁 Can’t believe them.
That photo truly is beautiful. 🙂
Nev
Diamond
I’ve been temporarily banned, but logged on right away and without issue-it said it was for content that was inappropriate…the ONLY thing I can think of is the placenta pic I posted when I read you were banned for it-I made the pic of my daughter’s placenta my profile pic. However that wasn’t removed, the link to your site or group wasn’t removed and nothing else is missing. They gave me NO clue as to WHY I was banned! If it’s because of the placenta, they can get over themselves or ban me forever, I could care less! : P
Venus
I’ve complained to them both times, the only way I could find was to leave feedback about pictures. I took a screenshot of your post & wrote how ridiculous it is and how your page has helped thousands of women and is educational, not pornographic or inappropriate in any way. I haven’t heard anything, but I think everyone should try to contact them in some way, if you have a more direct way, let me know & I’ll do that too.
Kelly
The human body is amazing and birthing pictures (including placentas) are glorious! I would rather face book block people from posting pictures of disfigured and abused animals. THAT disgusts me and people post those photos all the time!
Kathryn
I signed the petition, good luck!
woman in the moon
ridiculous! fb is becoming less and less human, more and more like a machine…
they’d love this one, a homebirth film that features a father creating placenta prints, at home in winthrop (from the series “at home in maine”, about homebirth and midwifery care):
http://wp.me/PYwwl-gs
keep it real! should we rally by posting a flurry of placentas!
lauren
I have photos of mine on my page and photos of it being planted under a tree had heaps of people say its gross lol but its been up for bout a month u must have some sad sad people on ur page hun xo
Becka Gahan
They haven’t found or deleted the pic of my placenta. Haha! Suck it Facebook!!
Kim peck
I don’t see why it’s offensive it’s a Childs home for 9 months it’s not offensive maybe if people can’t look at it then it’s simple don’t come on people I think it’s great to see coz I never got to see mine
Alicia
Exactly! I had pictures of my placenta deleted a couple of months ago but I reported this page:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Total-Sexy-Women-18/345344538847268?sk=photos
and not only is it still there but now it is FULL of pornographic photos and disgusting lewd comments! None of the photos I reported have been deleted.
Leave it to men in corporate power to pull the plug on something as natural and beautiful as a placenta but promote the objectifying of women and their bodies.
Jussy
For it to be deleted doesn’t someone need to report it first?
Chris Cawthon
But Facebook can’t seem to rid us of the “watch the biggest pimple” video. Ugh.
Brandy D.Ramos
I would rather see a placenta than all the animal and human abuses I see everyday as an animal and human rights advocate. Facebook is a hypocrite when it comes to what pictures and videos it allows. It allows child porn and animal torture pics, but doesn’t allow anything that has to do with giving birth.