France is debating a law that would make it a criminal offence to broadcast images of police enforcement. Or, rather, making the broadcast obligations so onerous cops would easily be able to tell protesters "YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO FILM US!"

I find this utterly startling.

Police in modern France enjoy a monopoly of the use of force. That is how it should be. But with great power comes great responsibility, as they say. It absolutely must be the case people can film what is going on *in the street* and broadcast the images how they choose.

The interior minister says the aim is to prevent harassment of police officers off the job. So they cannot be identified from videos on social networks, then traced to their homes.

There are ways of doing this without depriving citizens of the right to hold police to account.

A well-meaning amendment from MPs within Macron's party would exempt journalists from the filming ban.

If anything that makes it *worse* (I say this as a card-carrying journalist).

Scrutinising police activity is a matter for all citizens, not some chosen professional body.

We live at a time when civil liberties are under great threat. The pandemic and the response to the terrorist threat have, justifiably, led to curbs on cherished liberties.

The onus should be on the government to restore these liberties, not to find new avenues to constrain them