Disclaimer: This piece reflects the opinions of readers on the subject matter who have given consent and the opinion of the writer. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of WORLD OF BUZZ.
Recently, World of Buzz received a video who was submitted by a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. This video, that has since been deleted, was posted on TikTok by a young girl that has since garnered attention on social media.
In the video, the girl could be seen travelling in the LRT while recording herself. She pens the camera towards a man who was standing a few feet away from her. In the caption of the video writes “So I decided to disturb this bangla and see his reaction, hahahaha”.
She then proceeds to follow the man out of the train and walks alongside him all the while pointing the camera towards him. In the end, she takes a photo with him but when he supposedly asks for her number, she ran away.
Reactions to the video
Although her intentions for the video was rather unclear and probably not bad, many found it rather inappropriate for various reasons. Many netizens took to social media to share their thoughts about the video and addressed the issues that came with it.
TikTok user, @_joshylemon, ‘dueted’ the video and highlighted the issues with the video.
Firstly, he addressed how she intentionally wanted to disturb a guy who she referred to as ‘Bangla,’
“Addressing someone by their nationality or race is not cool. Imagine if someone addresses you as ‘India’, ‘Cina’ or even ‘Melayu’. It is definitely not cool and you would have gotten mad,” he said in his video.
“When he asked for your phone number, you should’ve given it to him because you’re the one who kacau him.”
“Furthermore, if you want to talk to someone, just go straight up to them and talk. Don’t be doing all this nonsense. If it was the other way around, you would’ve launched a police report,” he said.
Another TikTok user, @azalea.maritza, also dueted the video and gave her opinion on it as well.
“How do you think this is okay? This is considered sexual harassment. How would you feel if this happened to you?” she stated in her video.
Is it appropriate?
After seeing the full video, I do feel that this girl does not realise that what she’s doing could actually be a form of harassment.
If this were to be a male filming a video of himself playfully ‘disturbing’ a girl, without a doubt that would have been classified as harassment. What’s more, the case would’ve been viewed very seriously by authorities and citizens.
Following someone and filming them as content for social media should not be deemed appropriate. In fact, it is wrong. And we have to remember, harassment is not only restricted to women. Men get harassed too for various reasons.
I truly hope that something is learnt from this incident. Before we decide something is ‘content’, perhaps take a moment to see if it’s appropriate.
World of Buzz has reached out to the girl involved to get her side of the story but she has yet to respond.
Also Read: Syed Saddiq’s TikTok Video To Spread Awareness About Racism Gets Mixed Reactions From Malaysians
