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Animal cruelty videos protected free expression, says US Supreme Court
File this one under “interesting”.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that a ban on videos portraying animal cruelty contravene’s the country’s First Amendment, which guarantees free speech.
Laws were introduced in 1999 to prevent the distribution of “crush” videos, showing small animals being stepped on by stiletto heels (yes, really).
But Supreme Court judges voted 8-1 in declaring the laws on depictions of animal cruelty too broad. While there are laws against animal cruelty itself in place, the Supreme Court was unwilling to draw up a new category of prohibited expression. Campaigners had warned that the law was too broad, and could incriminate depictions of bullfights, and even hunting magazines.