I’m not an expert on this, but I agree with Rockwell; my impression was that EA animal orgs try pretty hard to make sure their undercover investigations are done legally, so I don’t know if that’s a good comparison case. I’d be curious to hear the others that you reference.
As for why I think EA orgs shouldn’t beak minor laws: I think following the rules of society — even the inefficent ones — is a really good heuristic to avoid accidentally causing harm, incurring unexpected penalties, or damaging your reputation. In the context of this article, an EA org admitting to knowingly breaking a low-income jurisdiction’s laws on driver licenses because the fines are correspondingly low makes it seem like they don’t care about the spirit of the law (which is to protect Puerto Ricans on the road) or the general principle that it’s good to follow the rules of the society in which you are a visitor.
It’s kind of a caricature of the meme that wealthy people are above the law because they can just pay the fines. I don’t think playing into that is a great way to build a reputatiuon as an altruist.
I’m not an expert on this, but I agree with Rockwell; my impression was that EA animal orgs try pretty hard to make sure their undercover investigations are done legally, so I don’t know if that’s a good comparison case. I’d be curious to hear the others that you reference.
As for why I think EA orgs shouldn’t beak minor laws: I think following the rules of society — even the inefficent ones — is a really good heuristic to avoid accidentally causing harm, incurring unexpected penalties, or damaging your reputation. In the context of this article, an EA org admitting to knowingly breaking a low-income jurisdiction’s laws on driver licenses because the fines are correspondingly low makes it seem like they don’t care about the spirit of the law (which is to protect Puerto Ricans on the road) or the general principle that it’s good to follow the rules of the society in which you are a visitor.
It’s kind of a caricature of the meme that wealthy people are above the law because they can just pay the fines. I don’t think playing into that is a great way to build a reputatiuon as an altruist.