A man has been arrested for filming women on nights out without their consent and sharing the footage in viral TikTok videos.
A 27-year-old man was arrested in connection with several reports of women being followed, filmed, and harassed in Manchester, U.K.
The man secretly filmed women on nights out in the U.K. and posted the footage on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
The clips — often titled “Manchester nightlife” or “Liverpool nightlife” regularly amassed millions of views and attracted scores of misogynistic comments on social media.
According to a press release by Greater Manchester Police, the man from Bradford, Yorkshire, was arrested on suspicion of voyeurism and harassment last week and is being questioned.
The police launched an investigation into the content creator after many women who had been impacted by his videos came forward following a public appeal.
During the investigation, Greater Manchester Police says it uncovered content shared by the man, that was accessible through a paywall, containing upskirting and non-consensual nudity.
‘A New and Complex Issue’
The arrest is thought to be the first in the U.K. linked to videos on social media that appear to film women on nights out, some while they are in vulnerable positions or alone in the street.
Many women had contacted the police to explain the “fear” that the viral videos had created for them, and the impact on their feeling of being safe whilst out at night. In some cases, the women in the clips were later identified and harassed online.
“We took the concerns of the public really seriously on this issue, and have worked hard with partners to assess the full circumstances and what courses of action were available to us,” Chief Inspector Stephen Wiggins says in a statement.
“It is a very new and complex issue, but this is a significant development.
“Everyone has the right to feel safe as they enjoy a night out, and these videos have made people, particularly women, not feel like that, which we can’t tolerate.
“Filming in public is legal, however where this filming crosses the line into offenses such as upskirting, stalking or harassment, it’s important that we don’t allow that behavior.”
Upskirting — which the content creator has been accused of — means the act of taking photographs beneath a woman’s skirt without their consent. But the term has also come to generally define the act of taking a sexually intrusive photograph of someone without their permission.
In the U.S., laws against upskirting vary by state. At the federal level, the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act of 2004 prohibits “knowingly videotaping, photographing, filming, recording by any means, or broadcasting an image of a private area of an individual, without that individual’s consent, under circumstances in which that individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
Last month, Taylor Swift’s security team was filmed yelling at photographers to “stand up” to seemingly protect the singer from pictures being taken up her skirt.
Meanwhile, singer Shakira was forced to leave the stage during a performance after she reportedly spotted an audience member trying to film up her skirt.