News

MET Police Confirm Journalists Data No longer Retained

PHNAT welcomes the conclusion of the long-running National Union of Journalists (NUJ) “Domestic Extremist” legal case. The case that spanned some 12 years involved six NUJ members comprising of journalists, photographers, videographers and data that was being held on them on a police database.

Between 2013 and 2014 they discovered surveillance logs of themselves and their professional work was being retained on the Metropolitan Police Domestic Extremist database, along with thousands of political activists, lawyers and politicians.

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The Home Office Needs To Get Photographic Law Right

The Home Office has misinformed asylum seekers and the public by claiming they need permission to take photographs or video in a public place and they should correct it immediately.

In a nine-page online booklet the Home Office states: “In the UK, you should not take pictures or videos of someone without their permission.”

It then goes on to say this includes photographs and videos taken in public places such as streets and parks.

This is misleading and wrong. There is no general UK law requiring anyone to obtain a stranger’s permission before photographing them in a public place, a basic right that even the BBC article on the Home Office online booklet missed despite publishing the page in question.

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Larry Herman – Photographer

It is with great sadness that we have received the news of the death of Larry Herman. He was a great photographer and his images held compassion for the peoples’ stories he was telling, travelling the world with his trusty Leica’s.

He was a stalwart of the NUJ Freelance Branch, the London Photographers Branch and the press freedom campaign, “I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist” where he was joint treasurer.

Larry always had a contribution to make, he was forthright with his opinions and always tried to link the struggles for truth and justice.

His legacy will live on.

RIP Larry

Police Threaten Press With Arrest Under Public Order Act

Photographers rights campaign group I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist (PHNAT) is shocked to learn the Metropolitan police were repeatedly caught attempting to use Section 14 (S14) of the Public Order Act to obstruct UKPCA press card carrying photographers and broadcast news cameras from covering arrests at the recent Extinction Rebellion protests in London.

The alarm was first raised by photographer Mark Kerrison, who was covering arrests at a peaceful lock-on protest in Oxford Circus on Saturday 20 April, in scenes not witnessed since the 2009 G20 London summit.

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Protestor Extremist Database Win Reignites Journalists Legal Action

Campaign group I’m a Photographer Not a Terrorist (PHNAT) welcomes the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling on the case of a peace campaigner to have his details removed from a police Domestic Extremist database.

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