You're coming at it from a legal perspective where the platforms do not have their own rules on what is allowed or not allowed.
In the example I gave in this thread, yes the man was in public, nude, however the platform (reddit) has a rule against posting this type of content. That reddit itself doesn't follow.
> I recently had someone give me a hard time because I had posted a selfie where someone else was in the background smoking a cigarette.
Why didn't you blur/crop/etc. them out, instead?
While you're not legally nor technically in the wrong and you're welcome to argue until you're blue in the face of 'public!', (the royal) you can ask those who are in the picture if you can post it, being a kind, thoughtful, and respectful human being, or you can go "it's in public! the law says I can!". And then the rest of us can make comments about morality and respect.
And if you don't know the people in the picture, ask yourself, do I really need to post this? (hint: no)
> Why didn't you blur/crop/etc. them out, instead?
Because they weren't the focus of the photo and I really didn't even notice them there. And I don't believe that it matters one bit if someone is caught doing something embarrassing in public on camera. They could have been the focus of the photo and I still think it would have been morally acceptable to post it. Whether it is acceptable according to the rules of the platform it's posted on, or according to social etiquette, is a completely different question.
> They could have been the focus of the photo and I still think it would have been morally acceptable to post it.
No. No it wouldn't have been.
You have absolutely zero need to post any picture online. It is a choice; a choice to further humliate the individual, possibly even causing them greater distress.
People who post pictures with justification like yours have caused those who are the target of the cruelty to commit suicide.
You do not need to post anything on social media. You choose to do so. And by choosing to post an embarrassing moment, you are the problem and you are morally in the wrong.
What if I catch an off duty cop on camera assaulting a person of color? Is it immoral to post that online? Where do you draw the line about which public acts should be moral to show in public?
Where in Western society do we consider an embarrassing act the same as an illegal act that may also be embarrassing?
My reaction to someone smoking is going to be "gross". My reaction to someone getting a DUI is going far, far beyond that, despite how embarrassing it is for the individual who received the DUI.
"And if you personally cannot draw a perfectly sharp line assigning every event to one of two groups, then no line exists and everything must be in one or the other!"
In the example I gave in this thread, yes the man was in public, nude, however the platform (reddit) has a rule against posting this type of content. That reddit itself doesn't follow.
> I recently had someone give me a hard time because I had posted a selfie where someone else was in the background smoking a cigarette.
Why didn't you blur/crop/etc. them out, instead?
While you're not legally nor technically in the wrong and you're welcome to argue until you're blue in the face of 'public!', (the royal) you can ask those who are in the picture if you can post it, being a kind, thoughtful, and respectful human being, or you can go "it's in public! the law says I can!". And then the rest of us can make comments about morality and respect.
And if you don't know the people in the picture, ask yourself, do I really need to post this? (hint: no)