Chapter 33. Responsible Use of Photographs, Videos, and Social Media
Smartphones allow residents to photograph, record, livestream, and publish an emergency within seconds. Images can document damage, help families understand local conditions, and support accurate reporting. However, careless posting during a wildfire, evacuation, accident, earthquake, or other emergency can invade privacy, expose sensitive locations, spread misinformation, and interfere with emergency responders.
Residents of Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, San Ramon, Danville, Sunol, and surrounding Tri-Valley and Bay Area communities should treat emergency photographs, videos, and social-media posts as a public-safety responsibility. The ability to record something does not automatically mean it should be published.
Protect Injured and Distressed Residents
Do not photograph or record injured, deceased, frightened, grieving, or displaced people merely because they are visible in a public place. Someone receiving medical treatment, escaping a burning home, searching for a family member, or learning that property has been destroyed may be experiencing one of the most painful moments of their life.
Before posting an identifiable image, consider whether the person knowingly consented. A person who is injured, disoriented, unconscious, overwhelmed, or receiving emergency care may not be able to provide meaningful consent.
Avoid publishing:
- Close-up images of injuries or medical treatment
- Faces of people experiencing distress
- Names, addresses, vehicle license plates, or medical information
- Images of personal documents, medications, or accessibility equipment
- Conversations between residents and emergency personnel
- Photographs taken inside shelters without permission
If an image has genuine public value, crop or blur identifying details when possible. Never pressure someone to pose, describe a loss, or repeat an emotional experience for social-media content.
Give Children Additional Protection
Children deserve particularly careful protection during emergencies. Do not post identifiable photographs or videos of a child without permission from an appropriate parent or guardian. Even when a child appears comfortable, the image may disclose the child’s name, school, temporary location, medical condition, evacuation destination, or separation from family.
Do not interview children about frightening events for a personal social-media page. Never identify an unaccompanied child publicly. Report the situation immediately to emergency personnel, law enforcement, shelter staff, or another authorized organization.
Schools, childcare facilities, shelters, and reunification centers may have strict photography rules. Follow them without argument.
Stay Away from Responder Operations
Do not approach an active emergency scene to obtain a better photograph or video. Fire engines, ambulances, police vehicles, utility crews, aircraft, and evacuation traffic need room to operate.
Never:
- Cross a barricade or enter a restricted area
- Stand in a roadway or evacuation route
- Follow emergency vehicles
- Park near hydrants, fire lanes, command posts, or staging areas
- Distract responders with requests for photographs
- Enter damaged property or unstable terrain
- Fly a drone near a wildfire or emergency operation
A drone can interfere with firefighting aircraft and force aerial operations to stop. A photograph is never worth delaying a water drop, medical response, rescue, or evacuation.
If responders tell you to leave, move immediately. Do not debate whether you are on public property or claim that recording gives you permission to remain in an unsafe operational area.
Do Not Reveal Sensitive Locations or Tactics
Live video and location-tagged posts may disclose more than the person publishing them realizes. Avoid showing responder staging locations, command posts, temporary shelters, security checkpoints, evacuation-center entrances, or the precise location of vulnerable residents.
Do not publish a photograph of a roadblock together with directions for bypassing it. Barricades protect residents from hazards such as fire, downed power lines, unstable structures, flooding, hazardous materials, or active law-enforcement operations.
Similarly, avoid sharing information about responder movements, equipment placement, evacuation tactics, or areas that appear temporarily unattended. Sensitive details may change rapidly and could be misunderstood or misused.
Disable automatic location tagging when appropriate. Consider whether landmarks, street signs, house numbers, vehicle plates, or background conversations reveal a location even when the post does not name it.
Avoid Turning Images into Misinformation
A genuine photograph can still create a false impression. An image may be several hours old, taken in another city, or show a condition that has already changed. Smoke visible from one neighborhood does not prove that the neighborhood is burning. A fire engine parked on a street does not prove that an evacuation has been ordered.
When sharing relevant content, provide the date, approximate time, general location, and appropriate context. Clearly distinguish what you personally observed from what you assume.
Do not add unconfirmed statements such as:
- “The fire is out of control.”
- “This road is definitely open.”
- “Everyone can return home.”
- “Officials are hiding what happened.”
- “This person caused the emergency.”
Only authorized agencies should announce evacuation orders, road openings, shelter instructions, containment information, or permission to reenter. Monitor official emergency alerts and verified agency accounts through the systems described by Ready.gov.
Do Not Post Merely to Gain Attention
Emergency scenes can attract people seeking dramatic content, recognition, followers, or the appearance of special access. Posting repeated photographs with firefighters, emergency vehicles, elected officials, or damaged property can create a misleading impression that the person has an authorized role.
Do not stage photographs, interrupt responders, exaggerate personal involvement, or imply that you directed operations when you did not. Never use another person’s loss as a background for self-promotion.
Responsible community storytelling focuses on useful information, public safety, recovery resources, appreciation, and verified needs. Recognition should never become more important than the dignity of affected residents or the work of emergency personnel.
Before publishing, consider waiting until the immediate danger has passed. A thoughtful story shared later may inform the community without creating risks during active operations.
Helpful Hint
Before posting, ask whether the content helps public safety, invades someone’s privacy, reveals sensitive information, or interferes with responders. When uncertain, do not post—or wait until the emergency is over and obtain permission.
Important Safety Reminder
Never enter a restricted area, cross a roadblock, approach active operations, or delay evacuation to capture content. Call 911 for immediate danger, follow official instructions, and place human safety and dignity ahead of photographs, views, attention, or recognition.
Important Preparedness and Safety Notice
This chapter provides general preparedness education, not real-time emergency instructions. Conditions, evacuation zones, routes, shelters, road closures, and public-safety directions can change rapidly. During an emergency, consult current information from authorized public agencies and follow all instructions issued by emergency officials. Call 911 for an immediate threat to life, active fire, serious injury, crime in progress, or another urgent emergency.
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