A petition has been launched calling on Newcastle City Council, Northumbria Police and social media platforms to do more to protect vulnerable people from being exploited by content creators in the city.
Petition calls out public humiliation for clicks
The petition explains:
Recently, content creators such as ‘Tin Tin’ and ‘Michael Ballymore’ have been repeatedly recording people who are homeless, struggling with addiction, or otherwise vulnerable (often without consent) for the purpose of online attention and engagement. This behaviour is harassing, dehumanising, and dangerous.
One look at these social media channels shows videos people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and homeless people being made fun of without their knowledge. In others, homeless and disabled people are accused of being frauds. Others show rough sleepers blamed for the “state” of the city centre.
Some of these videos have hundreds of thousands of views, and all are posted without the consent of the subject.
The petition continues:
No one should be filmed while in distress, intoxicated, sleeping rough, or experiencing a mental health crisis. These individuals deserve safeguarding, privacy, and dignity. Not public humiliation for entertainment.
Meta AI enabling harassment and exploitation
The videos appear to be filmed on AI glasses, meaning those involved don’t even know they’re being filmed. There have been concerns raised recently about how the rise in tech like Meta Glasses in enabling harassment and indecent filming without consent. This comes after Meta partnered with Kylie Jenner in an attempt to girlboss the glasses, ignoring the fact that they can be used to film women without their consent.
Last year, a Reform Councillor in Essex, Sam Journet was arrested for stalking and harassing other elected officials and council staff. This came after he used Meta Glasses to film all interactions with staff, councillors and members of the public. Journet also received backlash after he filmed a disabled man and alleged he was ‘dangerous’.
Campaigners replaced billboards near Meta’s London HQ with ‘honest ads’ of Jenner wearing the glasses, declaring:
Meta: We’re always watching
And it’s not just the glasses we have to worry about with Meta’s insidious use of AI. Just this week, 26 Meta employees filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that they used AI against those on sick leave to target them for redundancy.
How you can help
The petition asks for stronger enforcement of existing laws around harassment and non-consensual filming, as well as ‘clear public guidance’ from the council about filming vulnerable people in public.
It also wants Community Protection Notices assessments to be carried out on those who continue to film others in public to exploit them. The petition also suggests that there should be better collaboration with outreach teams to support those being exploited.
Lastly, it calls on social media platforms to remove content that encourages harassment, exploits vulnerable people or violates privacy.
As the petition concludes:
Newcastle is a city known for compassion, community, and solidarity. Exploitative filming does not represent us. We urge local authorities and online platforms to act now to protect those who cannot easily protect themselves.
You can sign the petition here.
Featured image via the Canary
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