By Didi Rankovic – Reclaim The Net
The police in Ireland (Garda) are looking for ways to make it harder for civilians, in particular citizen journalists, to film officers at work in public places – which is currently allowed to anyone.
But the argument in favor of changing the rules is that the police need to be given “protection,” in particular from potential “harassment” and “abuse” on social media.
The motion, which is being discussed this week during the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) conference, came from this organization gathering thousands of officers and is addressed to Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan.
Those behind the push also cite a recent report published by the Policing Authority which stated that, if they thought their or their family members’ information were to be revealed alongside those videos – police officers get “reluctant to use force in riots.”
While this is not an attempt to outright ban filming of officers in action, AGSI wants the national police to focus its rules regarding social media on “balancing the public’s right to transparency” with the need to protect the police from what is broadly defined as “potential harassment and operational challenges.”
Citizen journalism is treated as “a growing issue” by AGSI, one that is now allegedly impacting – enough for the motion to be presented at the conference – anything from public safety in general, policing, integrity of investigations, and “member safety and well-being.”
A new policy would be accompanied by “appropriate and adequate training” to implement it, the initiative states.
The justice minister’s job would be to come up with solutions that at once “protect” police officers from content on social networks, and while limiting the public’s right to document their professional actions – preserve people’s trust in the justice system.
AGSI made sure to improve the chances of its motion getting accepted by singling out citizen journalists who are “associated” with the far-right, but also, with “disinformation” – as examples of why their ability to film the police should be regulated, i.e., restricted.
The conference heard that citizen journalists often “target” events involving potentially controversial police interventions with the sole intent of “antagonizing” the officers, and “eliciting their response.”