Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Good For Dictatorships But Illegal Here?

With the emergence of cheap videotaping capability (read: cell phones) and their popularity even in repressed countries like Iran, there's been this sort of smug assumption by many of us in the "democratic world" that totalitarian regimes may ultimately be brought down by civilians who record human rights violations and then post them where the rest of the world can see them (read: YouTube). It all sounds very uplifting and promising until you read this story about attempts by the police in the U.S. to bully and even prosecute citizens who videotape nasty encounters with cops.

I have a lot of respect for police forces in general, but if anything bugs me about them it's their tendency to protect their own, even when there's clearly been wrongdoing on their part. I have no problem with the idea that they stick together against adversity, but covering up the truth always ends badly for everyone involved. If they're not doing anything wrong, they should have nothing to hide. This is a disappointing development that I hope gets nipped in the bud.

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