Paris set to join New York, Washington and Canberra in banning selfie sticks

Bad news for selfie-stick lovers. Museums in Paris, the world’s most-visited city, are moving towards banning the popular devices because of the hazard they pose for crowds and artworks. Inside the famed Palace of Versailles just outside the French capital, guards are telling visitors to put away the telescoping rods that allow users to take a smartphone picture of themselves at a distance. A formal rule change will soon prohibit the poles outright. The management of the Louvre - the world’s most visited museum - is watching with increasing wariness the burgeoning use of the selfie sticks being waved around within inches of priceless paintings.

There’s no ban there yet, but their use must respect the rules, which include not pointing objects at the paintings or sculptures.

A spokeswoman for the Louvre Museum

Already several other big museums in the world have this year started banning the extending rods, including the Smithsonian in Washington, the MOMA in New York, and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. The measures were taken as use of the cheap, telescoping rods, some of which can extend to five feet in length, becomes a ubiquitous and worldwide trend. It is not unusual to see tour groups waving a forest of the aluminium poles holding smartphones aloft in some high-density tourist sites.

I think that in shared spaces, outside, (a selfie stick) is fine. But in the museums I think it bothers people a little.

Juliana Lepoutre Garavini, a Brazilian tourist outside the Louvre.

World Selfie sticks