An ECHO investigation has revealed that women are being secretly filmed in Liverpool city centre, with videos racking up millions of views and thousands of misogynistic comments. The reporting discovered accounts on social media channels including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram which post secretly-filmed videos of women on nights out, shopping and socialising.
A number of women commenting on the story said they had been filmed themselves or had seen the filming of others on nights out in the city. Many others called for more criminal sanctions for those involved in this practice.
Videos focus on women in revealing clothing
The published videos almost exclusively focus on women in tight or short dresses and gymwear, sometimes capturing the moment they readjust their clothes. The videos are often filmed from behind or at low angles which at times reveal intimate parts of the body. The video thumbnails and accompanying titles and captions make it clear for viewers that they will see women in the footage. The ECHO found some accounts had tens of millions of views and were accompanied by sexually aggressive and misogynistic comments about the women's appearances.
While filming people in a public street is not illegal, and is regularly done by mainstream media regulated by press regulators, it becomes a crime when it constitutes harassment or a sexual offence like upskirting.
Reactions from officials and readers
When presented with the ECHO's evidence, Merseyside's police and crime commissioner, Emily Spurrell, said: "It's really horrible behaviour that I think adds to the culture that a lot of women and girls are facing around misogyny and feeling targeted in public spaces."
While a worrying number of people commenting on the investigation missed the point entirely and others chose to denigrate the women being filmed with misogynistic comments, many others condemned the behaviour of men secretly filming women on nights out in the city.
One person said: "I've always thought this whole thing is really odd and the fact it's legal is wild. They clearly film for hours (including men), yet they only post the absolute worst, most unflattering moments of the women, right at the end of the night when the shoes are off and people are tired. It's not a real reflection of Liverpool or the women who go out there."
They added: "It's telling that none of the men ever appear in these videos, even though they also get drunk, fight, and look rough at times. It really makes you wonder who's behind it. It's predatory behaviour and it's happening in more places than just Liverpool."
Another reader said: "It should absolutely be a criminal offence to film people or photo people without their knowledge or share on social media." One person added: "This is done to exploit and make fun of them, without their knowledge. It's a kind of voyeurism surely there are laws against it?"
A number of women shared how they too had been filmed without their permission. One said: "I was at an absolute low point in my life once and had severe tension in my face. I noticed some man filming me. No idea where that ended up. But it was so humiliating. Whatever is going on with my body is MY business."
Accounts with millions of views
The ECHO found thousands of videos on YouTube showing young women in Liverpool city centre's nightlife hotspots including Concert Square, Bold Street and Mathew Street. One account, with 76,000 subscribers and over 85m views, describes itself as a "gateway to the vibrant world of street nightlife...[capturing] the true spirit of the night: music, lights, street flavours, and unforgettable moments". Another calls itself "your front-row seat to nightlife in Liverpool and Manchester", adding: "We capture real energy, real streets and real UK nightlife...no filters, no fakes - just raw moments from the heart of the city." The account had nearly 130m views across 265 videos.
Like a number of accounts depicting this type of content, the poster's location was listed outside the UK. In this instance, the account's location was listed in Pakistan. The videos often show groups of women wearing revealing dresses or in fancy dress for events including Halloween and Christmas. But other videos also show women at particularly vulnerable moments, such as alone, visually intoxicated, sitting on the floor and crying on the phone. The videos are often titled with captions like "the beauty of Liverpool girls at night...the view is unbelievable" and are often accompanied with highly sexualised, misogynistic, deeply unpleasant and offensive comments.
The ECHO approached Google, which operates YouTube for comment, but received no response. However, one of the accounts which was flagged was taken down. The ECHO did not have to look hard for videos fitting the same descriptions on short-form platform TikTok. A number of videos showed oblivious women walking down the street, smoking and making gestures that were part of personal conversations.
Platforms and officials respond
TikTok said its community guidelines did not allow content that shows or promotes sexual abuse or exploitation, including non-consensual sexual imagery. When the ECHO flagged the account in question and a number of other videos to TikTok, they were removed within a matter of hours. The ECHO also found evidence of the nightlife content on Instagram under hashtags promoting "night walks". The ECHO found videos described as "Liverpool after dark, where the streets come alive," with queues of people outside venues including Baa Bar, LA'GO and McCooley's.
Cllr Laura Robertson-Collins, Liverpool City Council cabinet member for community safety, told the ECHO: "The covert and unconsented filming of women and girls in our night-time economy is just one example of how there is no longer a clear distinction between 'real' and 'online' abuse. Sadly, this is not just an isolated issue to one city and is something that is experienced across most other major UK cities. Covert filming is just one example of how technology is being misused to enable violence against women and girls and fuelling misogyny, and threatening women and girls' bodily autonomy and their freedom of movement."
"We need legislation which holds online platforms more accountable for the content they allow to be published and the resulting misogynistic comments which anyone in the world can post to these videos. We need to stop these content creators from making money, by reporting their videos to the platforms. We need people to stop watching and sharing these videos, and we need people to stand up and say this is wrong and hateful towards women and girls."
Merseyside Police Chief Superintendent Natalie Perischine, area commander for Liverpool, told the ECHO: "Keeping our city centre and night-time economy as a safe place is a priority and there is a wealth of work ongoing alongside Liverpool City Council, the police and crime commissioner's office, and other vital organisations across Merseyside. Specially trained uniformed and plain-clothed officers carry out regular and proactive patrols in key areas of the night-time economy and the wider city centre area, throughout both the day and night. These officers look to identify suspicious and harmful behaviours, including harassment and other concerning or predatory behaviours spotted on our streets."
