Tennessee outlaws any picture “causing emotional distress”

Always on Watch finds this gem. This comes from of all places, Tennessee. Why are we taking this ride? Political correctness gone off the rails. It is like so many intentions that are rooted in believing that one is “right” but the hidden consequences are enormous. For a vid and  a keen analysis, stroll on over to her place.  Earlier, Tennessee passed a new law that has been approved by the legislature in Tennessee at the urging of the RIAA, which will make it a criminal offense to share your “entertainment subscription” login info with anyone else.

Tech Dirt: Now: 

Post A Picture That ‘Causes Emotional Distress’ And You Could Face Jailtime In Tennessee

The specific law outlaws posting a photo online that causes “emotional distress” to someone and has no “legitimate purpose.” While the law does state that there needs to be “malicious intent,” it also includes a massive loophole, in that it says that you can still be liable if the person “reasonably should know” that the actions would “frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress.”

The specific law outlaws posting a photo online that causes “emotional distress” to someone and has no “legitimate purpose.” While the law does state that there needs to be “malicious intent,” it also includes a massive loophole, in that it says that you can still be liable if the person “reasonably should know” that the actions would “frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress.” Eugene Volokh notes all sorts of problems with this:

1. If you’re posting a picture of someone in an embarrassing situation — not at all limited to, say, sexually themed pictures or illegally taken pictures — you’re likely a criminal unless the prosecutor, judge, or jury concludes that you had a “legitimate purpose.”

2. Likewise, if you post an image intended to distress some religious, political, ethnic, racial, etc. group, you too can be sent to jail if governments decisionmaker thinks your purpose wasn’t “legitimate.” Nothing in the law requires that the picture be of the “victim,” only that it be distressing to the “victim.”

3. The same is true even if you didn’t intend to distress those people, but reasonably should have known that the material — say, pictures of Mohammed, or blasphemous jokes about Jesus Christ, or harsh cartoon insults of some political group — would “cause emotional distress to a similarly situated person of reasonable sensibilities.”

4. And of course the same would apply if a newspaper or TV station posts embarrassing pictures or blasphemous images on its site.

Full story here at Always on Watch