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Category Archives: Press Freedom
UK Photographers – Have You Got Your Photography License?
No? You haven’t got your photography license?
Oh dear.
Then Middlesborough police want a word with you …
You May Not be Labeled a Terrorist After All
I’m sure at least some of you remember the crazy “anti terror” campaign posters around the UK a while back (pictured below). Well the backlash from that bizarre, and more than a little creepy, event has finally starting catching up with them it seems.
According to ‘Amateur Photographer‘, the UK government is set to release a set of specific guidelines and reminders for police policy in regards to photography, which will, among other things, contain the following…
’There is no power under the Terrorism Act to prohibit people from taking photographs or digital images in an area where an authority under section 44 is in place.
If officers reasonably suspect that photographs are being taken as part of hostile terrorist reconnaissance then they should act appropriately, by searching the person under Section 43 of the Terrorism Act or making an arrest. Cameras, film and memory cards may be seized as evidence but there is no power for images to be deleted or film destroyed by officers.’
At least, that’s in the draft version. It’s yet to be determined what exactly will make the final cut.
It’s interesting to see the UK government attempting a bit of a proactive aproach with this, though it would be nice if the police could be expected to know how to deal with such things without a written reminder not to abuse their power. If only the US (and to a slightly smaller degree Canada) would at least attempt to deal with the legal issues surrounding the police harassing photographers (and other such people whom they consider a good target for undue harassment).
I once had a run-in with a police officer regarding my taking photos near where he was walking around in Ottawa, and thankfully it didn’t amount to anything other than a few choice words and explaining that I knew my rights and such (which sadly is the case for far too few people these days), and that was that. It could have been far worse.
Anyone have any stories about undue police harassment because of your photography? I’ve heard too many to count, but it’s always interesting to hear just how crazy the world can be sometimes….even if it tends to be high on the “Orwell, 1984″ meter from time to time.
Bus Spotter = Terrorist
Boing Boing reports of another unfortunate photographer having to give up because of the war on public photography:
A Gloucester bus-spotter (“omnibologist”) is being forced to abandon his 40-year-old hobby of snapping pictures of busses and trams because security kooks keep calling him a terrorist and even a pedophile.
The sad thing is none of us should be surprised any longer. More from Yahoo! News UK
His love affair with buses has seen him touring former Eastern Bloc countries – but only in the UK has he been accused of doing anything dubious.
Last September in Pontypridd, Wales, a bus driver took exception to being caught in shot and called the police, who demanded to see what Mr McCaffrey had on film.
Later, in Monmouth, a Police Community Support Officers approached him and ran his name and address through the police database, after a member of the public became suspicious.
…
You Can’t Film Here, Give Me Your ID
Regardless of the law, it seems more and more photographers and film makers are going to get stopped and hassled for photography in public places. Check out this excellent video.
You Can’t Picture This // Current
More on Photographers as Terror Suspects
Damian might want to swap his Sigma 500mm for something more inconspicuous. It seems law enforcement around the world are on the lookout for anyone taking photographs.
Many would assume the men are tourists taking in the city’s sights, but law enforcement officials say they could be terrorists staking out possible targets.The scenarios were described at an anti-terrorism town hall meeting last week hosted by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. The meeting, held at Cordova’s First Assembly of God Church, was one of four public meetings that occurred in conjunction with Operation Sudden Impact, a new local anti-terrorism initiative.
“You may think a guy is just shooting pictures, but if you report it to us, we’ll send it on to the FBI and they may have four or five other reports of the same thing,” said Richard Pillsbury with the Tennessee Fusion Center, a collaboration between the Department of Safety and the Department of Homeland Security.
Is it just me or is this asking for trouble? Rather than working on reports of actual suspicious activity (setting off alarms is mentioned later, surely that is a bigger sign?), they will be inundated with calls about families snapping vacation shots?
More worrying, with the “war on fluids”, can you imagine what might happen if you are spotted with a DSLR and are supping from a liquid container greater than 20ml? 
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Photographer Sentenced to Two Years in Burmese Prison
From Reporters Without Borders…
This is an insane story. Hot on the heels of the UK cracking down on cops harassing photographers for doing nothing wrong, there are countries which take this stuff to the extreme. And it just keeps getting worse too.
Not only does this sort of thing show a complete lack of respect for humans rights (among other things), there really isn’t much that can be done from the outside beyond pushing for political pressure.
There have been so many such arrests in Burma that there has been a website created to be a central source of information about the victims of these arrests, protests, petitions, etc. You can find that at www.fbppn.net.