Regulating the smartlessness of smart gadgets user

STHE EDITOR, Madam:

INCE THE advent of smart gadgets, including but not limited to smartphones and tablets, more and more Jamaicans are bridging the communication divide, having a greater access to a much wider and diverse community. This new dispensation has fuelled greater cross-border interaction and has provided a stage, as well as opportunities, for some folks to display their artistic ability, without which their creativity, perhaps, would have been buried in the homes of origin.

But while these liberating platforms provide a constant sensation to many users, the comments and videos posted thereon are increasingly disrupting, and in some cases, have ruined the reputation of many Jamaicans.

It is arguably the culture to video every occasion, whether good or bad, making privacy redundant as smartphones dominate, invade, and capture round-table talks and in-camera actions.

At the very least, one would expect an iota of moral aptness to guide the actions and doings of some smartphone videographers, but this discretion is far too absent in so far as it is lacking. And when morals by themselves fail to guide, then legislation is necessary to preserve the social fabric and discourage repugnant conduct.

It is not surprising that in many countries, including ours, laws regulating the capturing, sharing, tweaking, and posting of smartgadget videos are still in the conceptual and/or embryonic stage. And this is due largely to the fact that the proliferation of these video-recording technologies is fairly new, and the challenges posed are not easily policed. An important legislative concern rests on the implementation of checks on the usage and posting of these smartphone videos while still balancing our rights (i) to seek, receive, distribute, or disseminate information, opinions, and (ii) ideas through any media; and the rights of freedom of expression and freedom of speech. However, these rights should in no way be seen as superior to the right to have respect for the protection of private and family life and privacy of the home.

PRIVACY OF THE CONTEXT

While much of what emerges in these videos may occur in public spaces, this does not diminish the privacy of the context. Unless those persons being video recorded were aware at the time of the recording, and consented thereto, or had a reasonable expectation that based on the nature of the gathering their actions were likely to be recorded, preserved, and shared in various media.

Not all video recordings are worthy of sharing with the public, especially those that seek only to exploit, ridicule, or tarnish the vulnerable and innocent.

Though I can agree that some of these videos have played a pivotal role in highlighting lawlessness and disorder in public spaces, the act of videoing everything should not go unchecked.

I, therefore, urge the minister of justice, along with the minister of science and technology, to begin the conversation of regulating the capturing, tweaking, sharing, and posting of some videos that only aim to destroy lives, just for a laugh and nine days of fame. ALEXANDER L. SHAW Attorney-at-Law