Feb 23 2012
Utah Considers Law Criminalizing Photography of Farms, Aimed at Animal Rights Activism
The Utah state House may soon consider a law that would make it a crime to take a picture of a farm, while on the property, without consent from the farmer. The legislation is aimed at animal right activists who covertly film and photograph animals that live in conditions the activists find objectionable, and who make these images available to the public as part of policy campaigns. Hidden camera footage of situations like cows being dragged to slaughter and chickens packed into cages so tightly they cannot sit down have become a common educational tool of animal rights groups. Even mainstream news channels use the shocking footage when covering debates around animal cruelty and farming practices. A spokesman for PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told the Utah Desert News that criminalizing undercover photography and filming would prevent vital information from reaching the public. A backer of the Utah bill, State Representative John Mathis, believes farmers need protection from the activists he labels “animal rights terrorists.” Mathis drafted the legislation, HB187 to criminalize videos and photos taken without a farmer’s permission as “agricultural operation interference.” A first offense would bring a misdemeanor charge, and the second would become a third-degree felony, which journalist and author Will Potter says puts it on par with assaulting a police officer. Will Potter is the author of Green is the New Red: An Insider’s Account of a Social Movement Under Siege, in which he chronicles the ways in which environmental activists and others are increasingly being branded as domestic terrorists. We had interviewed Will when his book first came out and he now joins us once more. Welcome back to Uprising.
GUEST: Will Potter is an award-winning independent journalist based in Washington, D.C. He is the author of Green Is the New Red: An Insider’s Account of a Social Movement Under Siege.
Visit www.GreenIsTheNewRed.com for more information.
3 Responses to “Utah Considers Law Criminalizing Photography of Farms, Aimed at Animal Rights Activism”
America the land of the free wanting to gag people. Wow very soon you could be as bad as the Russians and Chinese or North Koreans. Is your freedom going to the dogs?
So the Americans wants to uphold animal cruelty by keeping it a secret? What about a gag bill for child abuse?
The law already provides processes for people and organizations who feel that their privacy has been invaded or that they are victims of slander. So this additional law doesn’t provide any new protection – it is only about the state obtaining money.