Re:How to Safely and Ethically Film Police Misconduct
by eyelidlessness on Sunday May 31, 2020 @11:37AM
(#23370196)
> It's always ethical to film police misconduct
It is. What's not always ethical is to film and share identifiable features of people who are opposing it. The article discusses this. It should be discussed in much more detail. The history of police and vigilantes targeting people for harassment and retribution following mere involvement in protest against police brutality or abuse, especially targeting people of color who are already targeted for harassment and abuse by police, is as old as the force itself. The history of using video to identify targets is as old as access to film police brutality itself.
There are dozens of videos from the last several days of obvious, criminal abuse by police around the US. Some of it is obviously responsive to nothing the victims are doing, obviously retaliation for the mere fact that people are standing up against the murder that sparked this set of protests. If that's what they're doing on film, what are they willing to do after the fact, when eyes are on other problems, with carelessly published videos of the faces of organizers?
It is. What's not always ethical is to film and share identifiable features of people who are opposing it. The article discusses this. It should be discussed in much more detail. The history of police and vigilantes targeting people for harassment and retribution following mere involvement in protest against police brutality or abuse, especially targeting people of color who are already targeted for harassment and abuse by police, is as old as the force itself. The history of using video to identify targets is as old as access to film police brutality itself.
There are dozens of videos from the last several days of obvious, criminal abuse by police around the US. Some of it is obviously responsive to nothing the victims are doing, obviously retaliation for the mere fact that people are standing up against the murder that sparked this set of protests. If that's what they're doing on film, what are they willing to do after the fact, when eyes are on other problems, with carelessly published videos of the faces of organizers?