MrsMo
8th March 2007, 07:20
A new law in France makes it a crime -- punishable by up to five years in prison -- for anyone who is not a professional journalist to film real-world violence and distribute the images on the Internet.It seems that in an attempt to stop violent teens from assaulting people (often strangers) and then posting videos of the attack, the French government has decided to make it illegal for anyone except professional journalists to film acts of violence.
There is a phrase in the news article that I find particularly chilling: Experts said the law is the first of its kind in Europe.Does this mean that Europeans can expect other countries to enact laws like this one? This is the kind of heavy-handed, draconian law I would expect to see coming out of totalitarian governments like China - and I would be surprised to see it even then.
The date the French parliament passed this law is especially ironic too because it was passed on the anniversary of the Rodney King beating, which was caught on amateur video. I remember government officals around the world weighing in on how terrible the US was and what a good thing there was someone around to catch the police in this act of brutality - especially the French government official, who seemed particularly smug about how much better France was than the US.
Here's the link to the whole story: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/08/france.violence.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
What do you think? Have the French lost their minds; will this law be repealed or revised; will other governments try to follow suit and pass equally draconian laws? Will the French people take this laying down or will the regular person finally raise up and demand some common sense from their government officials? (I don't have much hope for that last one.) And finally, will YOU be visiting France in the near future?
There is a phrase in the news article that I find particularly chilling: Experts said the law is the first of its kind in Europe.Does this mean that Europeans can expect other countries to enact laws like this one? This is the kind of heavy-handed, draconian law I would expect to see coming out of totalitarian governments like China - and I would be surprised to see it even then.
The date the French parliament passed this law is especially ironic too because it was passed on the anniversary of the Rodney King beating, which was caught on amateur video. I remember government officals around the world weighing in on how terrible the US was and what a good thing there was someone around to catch the police in this act of brutality - especially the French government official, who seemed particularly smug about how much better France was than the US.
Here's the link to the whole story: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/08/france.violence.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
What do you think? Have the French lost their minds; will this law be repealed or revised; will other governments try to follow suit and pass equally draconian laws? Will the French people take this laying down or will the regular person finally raise up and demand some common sense from their government officials? (I don't have much hope for that last one.) And finally, will YOU be visiting France in the near future?