Brits turned out yesterday in Trafalgar Square taking photos in defiance of the repeated Orwellian detentions and arrests of those, gasp, taking photographs in public places.
Trafalgar Square in central London was lit up by flash bulbs as part of the demonstration against photographers being unfairly targeted by police after taking photos. They are usually questioned under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows officers to stop and search without the need for “suspicion” within designated areas in the UK.
We’ve reached a very bad place if a bunch of people getting together to take pictures is considered a protest.
This is true of America as well. Don’t believe me? Try taking several pictures of a large bridge or buildings in down town NYC. There were people arrested for taking pictures of things right here in the US not long after 9-11, as police susspected they were doing so to find key spots to plant explosives or what not. In each case it turned out to be shutter-happy tourists or students studying architecture.
It’s also made life difficult for railfans, as taking pictures of trains and railroad facilities is now looked on with deep suspicion (and sometimes intervention).