Beverly Hills, CA — An activist has accused the Beverly Hills Police Department of playing copyrighted music whenever activists try to record officers on video–videos that contain copyrighted music cannot be shared on social media without running afoul of copyright and anti-piracy laws.

Activist Sennett Devermont, who often shares his encounters with law enforcement to his 300,000 followers, tells CBS 2 that “each time he has an encounter with officers and his most recent encounter with Beverly Hills police officers, which ended in a sergeant turning on music, caused free speech concerns about if that is a tactic to stop people from filming police encounters.”

Citing Instagram’s anti-piracy rules on music, Devermont says that the tactic “is a form of assaulting free speech.” In one incident, Devermont said that an officer was playing music on his phone as he was filming.”

Blaming Law Enforcement for Everything Else–So Why Not Copyright Censorship?

The Beverly Hills Police Department say they are investigating the officer and they “do not condone any of their officers playing music on their phones while talking with the public or taking police reports.”

Law Officer continues to sound the alarm about censorship–especially since we increasingly experience censorship ourselves–so we can understand Devermont’s frustration.

But notice once again how law enforcement is being scapegoated: when social media censors others, of course law enforcement is to blame.

Law Officer

Law Officer is the only major law enforcement publication and website owned and operated by law enforcement. This unique facet makes Law Officer much more than just a publishing company but is a true advocate for the profession.

Read More