Comment from Anonymous
Anonymous AnonymousOpposeIndividual
Summary: The commenter opposes the proposed rule, arguing that it restricts public airspace access and shields industrial agriculture from accountability. They contend that drones are necessary for monitoring environmental and animal welfare impacts and that the rule would infringe upon First Amendment rights.
This rule would restrict public airspace access in order to shield industrial agriculture operations from accountability. Responsible drone usage is necessary for the public to known when the environment, public health, and animal welfare are negatively impacted, and when industrial animal ag facilities engage in deceptive marketing. Examples include dairies claiming to follow organic standards when cows are never seen on pasture, and mass culling of chickens and pigs during disease outbreaks. Drones do not pose a credible, documented threat to industrial animal farms, and prohibiting them would only curtail the journalists' First Amendment rights and the public's right to know.