Do museums need to crack down on selfies?

""Ban selfie-takers from museums-these people don't deserve to see great art," read a headline on The Telegraph's website earlier this year."

""Ban selfies and you encourage people to take in their cultural heritage-perhaps even develop a little respect for it," Waldon concluded."

"Though the Uffizi could not share an update on its plans, the museum's director previously described the move as intended to prevent "behaviour that is not compatible with the sense of our institutions and respect for cultural heritage"."

""There are 1,700 accredited museums in the UK, and what we might always benefit from doing is noticing the sheer variety of those spaces and where they are on their journeys of digital maturity.""

Calls to restrict or ban selfie-taking have emerged after incidents of visitors blocking views of artworks and one visitor damaging a portrait while photographing themselves. Some voices contend that banning selfies would encourage visitors to engage more respectfully with cultural heritage. Museums are adopting differing approaches based on operational factors such as staffing levels, available space, and the fragility or types of objects on display. Institutional leaders frame limits as measures to protect cultural heritage and institutional integrity. Experts note that museums differ in digital maturity, so policy changes can address practical management and preservation of visitor trust.

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