The Right to Privacy - Essay Example

Being a celebrity exposes a person to scrutiny and interest of followers. The press plays the role of communication and may in its interest or the interest of the public or groups of followers investigate information about a celebrity and publish the information. Legal and moral provisions however regulate the role of the press and this paper discusses the provision with an argument that celebrities such as footballers, film stars, and politicians deserve a right without journalists constantly following them.

People further have a right to legal protection of their privacy that extends to their geographical space and information on a person or a person’s communication (Wellman 2005, p. 138). Even though the press has its freedom that is considered a right, as a human right to privacy, its misuse infringed the right to privacy and would therefore not only be immoral but would also be illegal. While the courts’ interpretation of freedom of the press and its conflict with the right to privacy has sometimes undermined the privacy right, it focuses on the informative role of the press and involved public interest in the breach of privacy.

These are then balanced with the right to privacy to determine whether a breach is legal or not. Only a reasonable breach of privacy of a celebrity who is not a public figure and breach of privacy of a public figure, if it is incidental to the public interest, would, therefore, be allowed (British Institute of International and Comparative Law 2013, p. 1).