The removal of a breast-feeding photo from the social networking site Facebook has triggered off massive protest.

According to Barry Schnitt, spokesman for the popular Facebook, the Web site doesn’t take measures when most breast-feeding photos are posted for the reason that they agree to the site’s terms and conditions. However, there are pictures which must be removed in order to guarantee safety and security for all Facebook users, including children, Schnitt added.

"Photos containing a fully exposed breast do violate those terms and may be removed," he said in a press release. The terms he refers to involve obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit material.

Heather Farley, who now has the support of Facebook critics and lactation advocates, is a 34-year-old Facebook user who posted photos in October of herself feeding her newborn baby. Facebook said the image was obscene and removed it without prior notice. Afterward, she uploaded another photo and received right away a letter threatening to delete her account, thus causing great controversy.

But Schnitt explained it was a question of safety, and not obscenity since many Facebookers are children and the pictures posted on the website shouldn’t inspire their basic instincts.

"We agree that breast-feeding is natural and beautiful, and we're very glad to know that it is so important to some mothers to share this experience with others on Facebook," the spokesman said, adding that the photos that have been removed were only the ones which showed the aureola, the dark skin around the nipple. The others were left intact.