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"The FAA, in a series of threats of administrative sanction, and in derogation of the First Amendment rights of the public to receive news and information, has flatly banned the use of UAS for newsgathering purposes," reads the brief. "The FAA will not approve licenses for UAS use for news operations. It has threatened fines against university-conducted student experimentation with drone journalism. And it has even suggested that a newspaper ‘err on the side of caution’—a chilling warning of impending punishment—and refrain from lawfully publishing photographs taken independently by a UAS hobbyist and provided after the fact to the newspaper.""In each case, the FAA has averred to its restrictions on the use of UAS for 'business purposes,'” the brief continues. “The FAA has failed entirely to take [the] First Amendment into account in regulating the use of UAS.”The brief argues that the use of drones for news gathering purposes is a public service, not a commercial use, and so journalists should be exempt from its “commercial” ban, regardless of whether the agency went through the proper channels in making the ban (it didn’t).Meanwhile, some journalists have started using drones to document the news—in Connecticut, a TV-station producer flew a drone over the aftermath of a car accident. The FAA has said it’s looking into the issue. Last week, a storm chaser in Arkansas used a drone to document a tornado in the state—the FAA similarly said that it’s “looking into” the issue. The FAA has also grounded drone journalism programs at the University of Missouri and the University of Nebraska.“The FAA has failed entirely to take the First Amendment into account in regulating the use of UAS.”
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