Section 58A makes it an offence to publish, communicate, elicit or attempt to elicit information about any of such persons which is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

Which has been mis-used by many police officers to ban members of the public from taking innocent pictures (which I’ve talked about before here: Photography presents a unique problem for law enforcement because it is not illegal).

The response is as useful as the law:

An officer making an arrest under section 58A must reasonably suspect that the information is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

While also stating that:

It is a statutory defence for a person to prove that they had a reasonable excuse for eliciting, publishing or communicating the relevant information.

I’m so glad that’s all cleared up.

This issue was raised earlier in the year by The Online Photographer who shows a great clip about restrictions on film and photography, including a film maker being stopped at Oxford Circus by two community support officers and questioned aggressively with no reason what so ever.

And it’s not just in the UK. DCist and The Online photographer both picked up a comical story of the Head of Cumminications of Union Station being stopped from conducting a TV interview. An interview where he was trying to report that there was nothing wrong with filming or taking pictures in the station.