Spain offers a unique gagging law that is now being used in strange ways where people can be fined for posting images of security agencies on social media.
In the US, people have started filming the police without permission and resultantly policemen have started wearing body cams to capture everything first hand.
However, in Spain the scenario is completely different as a new gagging law called the Citizens’ Security Law has recently been enacted. From the outlook and the name, it is apparent that the security of the citizens might not be the main objective behind this law.
The facebook picture uploaded by the Spanish woman | Image credit: CNET
That is because this law restricts the content that can be posted by people on the social network. For example, people cannot post pictures of protests. Moreover, this law also prevents “the unauthorized use of images of police officers that might jeopardize their or their family’s safety or that of protected facilities or police operations.”
Strangely, a woman was fined soon after under this law for taking photos of a police car, particularly because the car was parked in a disabled spot. Parking cars in a disabled spot are illegal in Spain.
The woman is a resident of Petrer, Alicante in Southern Spain. She posted the photo on Facebook with the caption:
“Park where you bloody well please and you won’t even be fined.”
As soon as the Police got wind of it the woman was fined 800 euros/$889.
Police department defended this action and stated that the car was parked there only because the officers had to rush to respond to an event of vandalism nearby.
We would like to know how the unnamed female’s post on Facebook hindered the police department in their duties of keeping citizens safe? The police state that the department felt that its honor had been impugned.
The town administration’s spokesman, however, admitted that public was not happy with the way police had handled the issue and wished the situation was resolved differently. Apparently, the new law entitled them to take action if their honor has been questioned.
This is not the first time when a Facebook past has put people in trouble. In the past, a wanted U.S. citizen ended up in prison for liking his own picture posted by the police on their Facebook page.
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