Tennessee Bans Frightening Photos
Friday, July 8, 2011 at 9:00AM
Last month, the governor of Tennessee signed into law a ban on posting distressing images on the Internet. The law states that it is a crime to "transmit or display an image" online that is likely to "frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress" to someone who sees it. Violators can get a year in jail and/or up to $2500 fine.
Among the many, many flaws with this bill (like freedom of speech) the one that bothers me the most is it's interpretation. How do you decide what is "emotionally distressing?"
Now, in Tennessee, if you post a photo that intimidates someone, you can go to jail, based on how this law is written. There are people out there who feel "intimidated" by pictures of food or just about anything you can imagine. There's nothing in the bill about what constitutes intimidation, so where do you draw the line?
Personally, I believe photography should evoke some sort of emotional response from the viewer. But if someone has a response they view as "distressing" or "frightening," the person who posted it can go to jail. How exactly does one identify a photo as emotionally distressful and who gets to decide?
I don't think I'd agree that any photo of anything should be perfectly okay to post on line. There are certainly some circumstances, especially when it involves children, where posting a photo may cause harm to someone. But with the way this law is worded, if I take a photo of someone dressed up like Dracula on Halloween, and someone is "frightened" by it, I can go to jail?
What about Darth Vader on a swing? Frightening? Emotionally distressful?
Reader Comments (2)
Where would the boundaries and demarcation line be on such a case? Each individual has a different way of looking at things. What we might find disturbing might not be for others. Please don't get me wrong, I am also against the horrible graphical being posted on the internet for everyone's viewing pleasure, but there should be a clear and precise rules and guidelines on this.
Exactly. There are no boundaries. The law isn't clear at all. It'll probably take some court cases to set precedent. The way it is written now, if I don't like broccoli and the sight of it makes me ill, I can have you arrested for uploading a photo of it.