- BY Colin Yeo
The power of connection
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Update: The Daily Record has carried a story about the whole affair.
Update 2: And it’s on Buzzfeed now as well.
Busy creating some of the new online courses for the new training project, I was looking for something on the unnavigable gov.uk website and came across the Home Office announcement of their appeal against the High Court judgment in MM. Unimpressed by the tasteless choice of accompanying image, I fired off a Tweet:
Bit sickened by image used by Home Office for news item on appeal against MM judgment: https://t.co/ekoOCP7FvQ pic.twitter.com/IDa293rHx1
— Colin Yeo (@ColinYeo1) April 3, 2014
Astonishingly, I received this reply from one of my followers the next day:
@ColinYeo1 I'm fuming for this picture is of my daughter!! How can I complain? I will phone my MP. @beagrie316 any thoughts.
— Fran Nicol (@PanxaUrra) April 4, 2014
I’ll let the Tweets do the talking from here:
@PanxaUrra if they've bought the rights from an agency there's not a lot you can do, I imagine. If not, see the Go Home plane crash font guy
— Colin Yeo (@ColinYeo1) April 4, 2014
@ColinYeo1 the rights belonged to the news paper that published our story. Who is the go home guy? Twitter account?
— Fran Nicol (@PanxaUrra) April 4, 2014
@PanxaUrra Was thinking of this possible parallel: http://t.co/MM04FfA950
— Colin Yeo (@ColinYeo1) April 4, 2014
@PanxaUrra Have you got a link to the original story with the picture?
— Colin Yeo (@ColinYeo1) April 4, 2014
@ColinYeo1 http://t.co/gfwyz6gl7e
— Fran Nicol (@PanxaUrra) April 4, 2014
@ColinYeo1 we are ever so distressed. How can we get in touch with the gov.UK website?
— Fran Nicol (@PanxaUrra) April 4, 2014
@gerardhearne @HarleyM65 @ColinYeo1 there was not release/consent form signed. I have contacted daily record, mp, solicitor and snp directly
— Fran Nicol (@PanxaUrra) April 4, 2014
@PanxaUrra I’ve highlighted on Free Movement, hope it helps: http://t.co/LgMOsesH2s
— Colin Yeo (@ColinYeo1) April 4, 2014
The photo in the original credited the photographer with copyright. The version on the Home Office website did not. The photographer then left a comment on my blog post, as did one of the other mothers of the children. Next thing, the Home a Office changed the picture, then later took down the whole page.
So, following an idle tweet about poor image choice on the Home Office website, it turns out that one of the children was the daughter of one of my followers and the Home Office had lifted the photo without consent and in breach of copyright.
What were the chances of that happening?
Poor image choice seems to be a bit of a Thing on the immigration pages of gov.uk:
Refreshingly honest image to accompany Home Office story on immigration fees (via @adampipe): https://t.co/ZFZqFYQsHN pic.twitter.com/7PixtYlZ2m
— Colin Yeo (@ColinYeo1) April 6, 2014
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