Women are being covertly filmed in Liverpool city centre, with videos posted online attracting millions of views and thousands of misogynistic comments, an ECHO investigation has found.
The investigation identified accounts on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram that post secretly filmed videos of women on nights out, shopping and socialising. The videos almost exclusively focus on women in tight or short dresses and gymwear, sometimes capturing the moment they readjust their clothes. Many are filmed from behind or at low angles, at times revealing intimate parts of the body.
Thumbnails, titles and captions make clear that viewers will see women in the footage. Some accounts had tens of millions of views and were accompanied by sexually aggressive comments about the women's appearances.
Investigation findings
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.
When presented with the 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."
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 85 million 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 130 million 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.
It appears the person posting the videos was not necessarily the one filming, because captions often falsely said they were filmed in Manchester, even though obvious local markers such as a Merseyrail station sign proved otherwise.
Content and comments
The videos often show groups of women wearing revealing dresses or in fancy dress for events including Halloween and Christmas. Other videos show women at 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 accompanied with highly sexualised, misogynistic and offensive comments. One comment on a video showing two women walking said: "Future role models? Like f*** they are," while another said "'Beauty' is a strong word". On a different video someone said: "Apparently no fitness centres in Liverpool" and another went on to say: "If this is the beauty of Liverpool I'd hate to see the ruff (sic) side."
The voyeuristic videos are found under titles such as "Liverpool nightlife" or "Liverpool nightlife women" and almost all of the women featured clearly do not know they are being filmed.
Platform responses
The ECHO approached Google, which operates YouTube, for comment, but received no response. However, one of the accounts flagged was taken down.
The ECHO found similar content on TikTok, including videos of women walking down the street, smoking and making gestures that were part of personal conversations. One account, which also showed videos of women out shopping and socialising in the day, was particularly concerning because the perpetrator followed his target down the road and into shops, moving the camera up and down to show their bodies.
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 and other videos to TikTok, they were removed within hours.
The ECHO also found evidence of the nightlife content on Instagram under hashtags promoting "night walks", including 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. Another account published videos with AI-written captions about "polished classic combos," "sleek evening fits" and "edgy streetwear" in an attempt to legitimise them as fashion content, but the comment sections focused on women's appearances and weight.
Official reactions
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."
Ms Spurrell, who has made tackling violence against women and girls one of her key priorities, added that there needed to be stronger measures taken when content was reported and videos needed to be taken down much quicker. She said technology was being used in a "really unpleasant way to further target and cause harm and distress to women", adding: "I think we need to have some really honest conversations with the technology and social media companies who have a duty to safeguard and make sure they're not just releasing technology that is going to lead to more harm for women and girls."
Meta smart glasses
The BBC reported this week how there had been multiple reports of Meta's AI-powered smart glasses being used to harass women and girls by filming them without consent. Some national newspapers, including the Financial Times, have referred to them as "pervert glasses". The glasses have been banned in some work spaces, pubs and theatres. The latest version of the glasses unveiled this week do not have a camera at all, although Meta denied this was because of public pushback.
Meta, which operates Instagram, confirmed it was investigating the content brought to its attention by the ECHO. It said secretly taken videos that focused on a sexualised body part breached its adult nudity policies. Regarding AI glasses, Meta said its privacy and safety features were informed by women's safety organisations, and that when the glasses are used, an LED light pulses to show it is capturing content.
Ms Spurrell said because some social media accounts, and the companies themselves, will be based overseas, the issue goes beyond one police force. "There is a lot of work being done nationally and there's focus on how we talk to international security partners to make sure we're sharing information to hold people to account by law enforcement in other countries," she added. The ECHO approached the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for comment.
Police response and advice
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."
Merseyside Police, the police and crime commissioner's office and the council have initiatives in place to make the city centre economy safer, including a 24/7 security and CCTV network, designated "Halo" safe space locations, "champions" trained under the scheme including door staff and taxi marshals, and education for young people around abusive and misogynistic behaviours.
Ms Spurrell told the ECHO that victims should always report incidents. "Sometimes as a society we minimise it and think it's just a part of life, but I want victims to know they don't have to put up with this," she said. "They should feel confident to report it...so we get a really clear picture as to what the problem is."
A spokesperson for the police added: "Please report any city centre incidents or concerns directly to police or licensed premises, and we will respond accordingly. We will continue to do everything we can to make Merseyside a safer place for women and girls."
You can also report crime via Merseyside Police social media desk via X or Facebook @MerPolCC, the force's website, or by calling 101.
