Don’t expect to see a lot of Snapchats, Vines or Instagrams from inside the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Journalists who use smartphones to take photos or videos of the Games will be kicked out and lose their accreditation, according to a report from BuzzFeed Sports.
Vasily Konov, the state-run RIA’s top sports journalist, reportedly told a seminar for sports journalists on Friday that reporters using any sort of multimedia or social networks would be “considered a serious violation and lead to their accreditation being canceled.”
Officials will be on the lookout for any journalist not using professional SLR photography or video equipment and those without a specific badge allowing them to snap photos and videos of the events.
“Organizers won’t be able to have any effect on normal spectators, but supporters will be banned from bringing reflex cameras and nonprofessional equipment to the competitions,” Konov said.
Konov later denied that he made the statements, even though more than one news outlet reported him as saying the same thing.
The 2012 London games had similar press guidelines, as Capital New York’s Alex Weprin points out. The London press kit guidelines read, in part:
“Participants and other accredited persons cannot post any video and/or audio of the events, competitions or any other activities which occur at Olympic Venues. Such video and/or audio must only be for personal use and must not be uploaded and/or shared to a posting, blog or tweet on any social media platforms, or to a website. “
Weprin said that the rules weren’t widely enforced in London.
Update:
USA Today’s For the Win reached out to the International Olympic Committee who dispelled the notion that journalists wouldn’t be able to take photos and post them to social media during the Winter Olympics.
“Please take as many photos as you like!” the organization wrote. “Sharing pix on social media positively [is] encouraged.”
Strict rules remain in place for capturing video, though, with the IOC citing TV rights issues.
Photo via Instagram/xxchawiixx
