Call for ‘creepy’ TikTok account filming women on Manchester nights out to be banned

A user on TikTok has called for the platform to ban an account that films people walking the streets of Manchester centre while on nights out in the city.

TikTok videos featured on the account show footage of Manchester nightlife and are often of women walking alone or in groups of other women.

One TikTok user, who has claimed to have unknowingly been featured twice in the footage, has since shared her dislike of the account’s premise and labelled the account as “disgusting” and “so creepy”.

Ran by TikTok user @dinamimi59, the account named Walking in China posts multiple high-definition videos of people walking, as well as crossing roads and taking pictures in the city, with most footage being of younger women.

The account has come under criticism from TikTok user @amyadaams, who claims she was filmed without her consent and had twice been featured in TikTok videos posted by Walking in China.

In a video Amy uploaded to TikTok, stitching the footage she appeared in, she branded the account “disgusting” and suggested it was creating a “community of misogynistic men.”

Amy said: “I have to talk about this account because it is so creepy […] I think the whole premise of this account is disgusting because he brands it as ‘nightlife in Manchester’, when in reality it’s just some guy recording young girls on a night out.”

She continued by commenting on the content of the replies to the TikTok’s, which she claims regularly “objectify” and “sexualise” those who have been videoed, adding that the both the profile and the commenters “need to be held accountable.”

The account has over 240,000 followers and has been liked over 3.1 million times. Most videos on the account have thousands of views, with highest watched video having over 7.9 million views.

Multiple videos under the page have received comments, including “this must be Manchester’s red light district”, “how much”, “are there no mirrors there?” and “these girls have no self respect.”

Speaking about the legalities about filming in public, Amy explained that “Just because it isn’t wrong, it doesn’t make it right” and “It doesn’t take away from the fact he’s still a guy recording random women in public without their consent”.

She further explained that she dislikes being filmed on a night out when trying to enjoy herself, and that others in the video likely share the same opinion: “I don’t want to be videos when I’m on a night out having fun with my friends and I’m pretty sure none of these girls do either”.

There are currently no laws in the UK preventing people from being filmed in public. Legally, there are no expectations of privacy in a public place, such as a street, where Walking in China’s TikTok’s are filmed, with the only powers of police at the time of the filming being if they believe it to be terror-related.

Another similar TikTok account that filmed multiple women, often on nights out in the Spinningfields area of Manchester, was previously removed by the platform after an inquiry by Manchester Evening News.

Their report detailed how another woman, Jessica, had felt “scared” and “really unsafe” after featuring in a similar video while on a night out, which was uploaded by a different account. Jessica told Manchester Evening News how she had woken up to “hundreds of messages”, both from friends and men she did not know, but that had managed to identify her from the video.

Amy’s TikTok video has since received over half a million views and over 27,000 likes, with a mix of support and criticism by viewers in the comments.

Walking in China has been contacted for comment.

Featured image via @amyadaams on TikTok.

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