By IRNA,
London: A protest was being held in central London Tuesday against the growing restrictions against anyone taking photographs in public places under the guise of being so-called terrorist threats.
I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist! (PHNAT) was organising a flashmob at London’s City Hall, one of the sites facing restrictions, to coincide with World Press Freedom Day.
PHNAT, which campaigns against the police powers of stop and search under terror laws, said it was also concerned about the role of private security guards in the prevention of terrorism.
Their role has been promoted by police, with the result that many privately employed guards are illegally preventing citizens from taking any photographs at all, it said.
‘Areas designated as public realm are often privately managed spaces that are subject to rules laid down by the private management companies. Most insidious of these is the outright banning of photography in some of our most widely enjoyed public spaces,” a spokesman said.
The protest was being supported by the London Photographers’ Branch of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), British Press Photographers Association and the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom.