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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

A Kentucky legislator is sponsoring a bill that would temporarily ban the upload of photos, videos, or other information [kentucky.com] about injury or accident victims:

Bystanders who post pictures on social media from the scene of a wreck could face fines under a proposal before the Kentucky General Assembly. A bill assigned to the House Judiciary Committee would prohibit anyone who witnesses "an event that could reasonably result in a serious physical injury" from publishing information about that event on the Internet for at least an hour if their posting could identify potential victims.

Violators could be fined $20 to $100 per incident. Exceptions are made for the news media, victims of the event and emergency responders at the event.

The sponsor of House Bill 170, Republican state Rep. John "Bam" Carney of Campbellsville, said Monday that he wouldn't push the bill this session. "It's purely my intent to get a discussion going out there, asking people to be more respectful about what they put on social media," Carney said. "We've had some incidents, including one in my community, and I'd hate for anyone to learn about the loss of a loved one through social media."

One local official who has spoken to Carney about the bill said police are troubled by real-time Internet posts about car crashes and other life-threatening incidents.

Exceptions for the news media? Carney obviously didn't get the fax that anybody with a camera and ability to upload videos and photos online can be considered a member of the "news media". This unconstitutional bill was spotted at The Register [theregister.co.uk].

Kentucky House Bill 170: AN ACT relating to the use of electronic media. [legiscan.com]

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