No Photos, Please

Hundreds of British photographers flocked to Scotland Yard yesterday to protest a new law that they say could take away their right to snap photos of police. According to the BBC, the law “makes it an offence to ‘elicit, publish or communicate information’ relating to members of the Armed Forces, intelligence services and police, which is ‘likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism’.”

Photographers say the law is too broad and that it means they could be arrested for taking legitimate photos of police officers during news events. The new rule has caused outrage among journalists in Britain, a country well-known for keeping tabs on its citizens using millions of closed-circuit television cameras.

Law enforcement officials say taking photos of police officers would only be considered unlawful in "very exceptional circumstances".

Yesterday on the CBC program As it Happens, hosts Carol Off and Barbara Budd talked about the new law with the vice president of the National Union of Journalists and the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation. Click here to listen.

(Photos by Boing Boing editor Cory Doctorow via Flickr/Creative Commons. Click here, here and here for originals.)