Monday, June 13, 2011

New Tennessee Law Bans Posting Images That Cause Emotional Distress

The new Tennessee law that bans posting images that cause emotional distress has caused a lot of stir in the media. Specifically, it outlaws posting photos on the web that cause "emotional distress" to someone and have no "legitimate purpose." The punishment amounts to a year in prison and nearly $2,500 in fines. It is stated that there needs to be "malicious intent," so dimwits with poor judgement can be off the hook, but the law nails down the persons who "reasonably should know" that the actions would "frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress."

Unfortunately the wording of the law motivated by good intentions is too broad not to get into a conflict with the Freedom of Speech. For starters, it doesn't require that the picture be of the “victim,” only that it be distressing to the “victim.” This leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

With all the criticism the law has received, we should appreciate the attempt of the Tennessee law-makers at curbing the actions of bullies and bitter jerks who, thanks to the Internet, now enjoy the access to worldwide audiences.

When the news came, we remembered a rather creepy call to our studio asking if we could place a new face on a totally naked body in another photo. We do photo montage but our company policy precludes us from handling images that feature frontal nudity and we quickly turned down the order. The caller lamented that no studio would take his order. We were glad to hear that though most probably the guy eventually found someone to do the job.

Women, and we know this as our staff and clients are primarily female, are very sensitive about their photos and often feel like executing their friends for posting lousy photos of them on Facebook - not the malicious ones but just bad photos taken from an unfavorable angle at the wrong moment. Now if these are really embarrassing shots taken by creeps for whom propriety and civility have no value, we seriously want them to be brought to court.

So, no matter how imperfect the Tennessee Law is in defining the "emotional distress", it's a good start for a movement to protect the dignity of ordinary persons as well as celebrities.



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