Woman covertly filmed for 'humiliating' social media content - then told to pay

Alice - not her real name - says she was covertly filmed by a man wearing smart glasses, who then requested money to remove the video from social media.

She contacted the man who posted the video, telling him it made her feel "humiliated". But when she asked for it to be taken down, was told he would only remove it as a "paid service".

Alice is one of many women who have spoken to the BBC about the distress they have endured after being recorded and posted online without their knowledge or consent.

The BBC contacted the man who filmed and posted the video of Alice. He refused to be interviewed, but in an email said he "does not seek to cause distress or harm".

Alice was walking into a London shopping centre when she was approached by a man wearing smart glasses. She says she had no idea she was being filmed.

"In the moment I just thought 'OK this guy is just trying to talk to me, to chat me up'," she said.

"I was hoping that he would leave me alone eventually but he did actually follow me."

The video was posted on social media and viewed about 40,000 times, though Alice only found out about it after a friend sent it to her.

"My initial reaction was complete shock," she said. "He had no phone, he did not have a camera directly in my face."

The videos are often posted on social media under the guise of giving dating advice to other men online.

'It made me feel exploited'

Alice contacted the account that posted the video of her, asking for it to be taken down. She told the man who posted it that it made her feel "humiliated".

In the email she received back, he said he would remove it as a "paid service".

Alice says she was shocked by this response.

"It made me feel exploited, powerless," she said.

But she added she never considered paying the money, and reported the incident to the police.

The Metropolitan Police said that an investigation was opened, but "despite initial enquiries, officers were unable to progress the investigation due to limited information".

The BBC contacted the man that filmed Alice. He refused to give an interview or reveal his identity.

Via email, he said that his "intention has always been to create light-hearted, respectful interactions".

"I do not engage in harassment or deliberately seek to make anyone uncomfortable," he added.

Asked why he did not remove the video of Alice after she contacted him, he said: "Where individuals have expressed genuine discomfort, I have reviewed content on a case-by-case basis and made adjustments where appropriate."

He also re-posted the video of Alice on to a different social media site, after TikTok removed it.

TikTok has since banned his account for breaching its rules on bullying and harassment.

When asked about his attempts to charge her money, he initially said he did not require payment in exchange for removing content and was open to reviewing any situations where there had been "any misunderstanding or miscommunication in specific instances".

When asked further, he said the reference to "removal as a paid service" was intended in the context of separate content-related requests, such as editing or usage arrangements, and "not as a condition for removing content in response to personal concerns".

"I understand how that wording may have been interpreted differently, and I regret that it was not clearer," he added.

However, Alice never asked for these services - she only asked for the video to be taken down. He refused to give further clarification.

"He's got the file, which still makes me feel uneasy, still constantly having to check back and see if he is uploading the video again. I just feel powerless," Alice said.

"If you don't consent to content being out there of yourself, it can actually be very dangerous. It's just a complete breach of privacy and data."

The BBC knows of another woman that contacted this man to ask for their videos to be taken down.

We cannot know how many of the women he has filmed were aware of what was happening to them.

The BBC found multiple accounts run by the same man across YouTube, Instagram, and Threads, which post similar content.

Meta, the company that owns Instagram and Threads, as well as making smart glasses, has not given the BBC a comment but has taken down the video of Alice which was reposted.

The YouTube account posting similar videos is no longer active.

Law researcher Prof Clare McGlynn, of Durham University, says this behaviour "is not your standard blackmail", where someone takes an intimate image and threatens to post it online.

The video of Alice had already been posted.

She said in this case the man was "refusing to take something down, unless the victim pays him money, and that is a threat to that victim".

"It's extremely worrying," said Dr Beatriz Kira, an assistant professor from the University of Sussex law school.

People posting content on social media can make money from doing so. For example, TikTok offers a Creators Rewards Programme which rewards influencers for posting popular videos.

Kira says more needs to be done to stop social media platforms and influencers making money from content that is harmful.

There need to be "solutions not only focused on taking down the content but really cutting incentives at the root", she said.

A government spokesperson said that "women and girls deserve to feel safe" and that "filming and sharing content online without their consent is vile and will not be tolerated".

They added that the new Violence Against Women and Girls strategy, published in 2025, set out "measures to tackle abuse enabled by technology, to help protect victims and hold perpetrators to account".