Breastfeeding 'social experiment' reveals hero

Commuters on a London Underground train defended a mother's right to breastfeed after she was abused by a mother in a viral video.

The woman and her abuser were both actors in a "social experiment" to see if people would defend the breastfeeding woman.

Fellow passengers stepped in after the man accused the mum of "exposing herself" and demanded she move to another carriage.

• WARNING: Abusive language

He told the woman: "I'm not trying to be argumentative or anything but I feel a little bit uncomfortable about it. It's just a thing that's been passed down in my family," he said.

"There should be a designated carriage on here for it. I just don't want you to do it in front of me. Could you not express or something before you came on here? I just feel uncomfortable."

"My baby needs to eat," the woman responded firmly.

The man's aggression was challenged by other commuters as one woman told him to move on to the next carriage instead.

He refused the idea: "No, I pay my ticket, I pay a yearly subscription. Why should she be allowed to expose herself on the bloody train like this? Look, she's half-naked, what the hell?"

A young man sitting opposite the mother spoke up saying, "she has every right to do this if she wants to," before moving to sit between the woman and the abusive man.

As the confrontation continued, the woman told her accuser he was the one sexualizing the situation.

To which he responded: "Who made it legal to expose yourself in public? You've got your t*t out!"

As more passengers rallied in support of the woman, she revealed the set up behind the confrontation.

Her position as a breastfeeding mother and her abuser's reactions were in fact part of a social experiment by YouTube pranksters Trollstation.

The man who had moved seats to diffuse the argument was told he was "the hero" in their movie.

Admitting he found the experience "a bit tense" the hero explained to the crew that he worked in the mental health sector so it was his job to take action in such a setting.

- nzherald.co.nz