GitHub is there so you can present your code to the world in an organised, documented, and personalised way. Part of that includes a short bio and profile pic. I don’t expect a professionally framed headshot with nice lighting, just upload something that’s not the default, to set yourself slightly apart from the crowd.
It’s not unreasonable to expect a candidate to groom their public profile before using it as part of a job application. If they have some bad, old code they’re not proud of, why not make it private temporarily?
We have extremely strict libel legislation, and an independent press ombudsman. State funding is not a factor in the finances of the major papers who pushed for the measures mentioned in this article