18-year-old says she was secretly filmed in Ontario mall for viral TikTok video deemed as anti-woman
CBC
An 18-year-old is speaking out after she says she was secretly filmed in a London, Ont., shopping mall, and the exchange was posted to the social media feeds of a man whose viral videos seemingly celebrate men rejecting women.
The woman said she was eating a pretzel on a bench and was alone when she was approached by two men who asked if she had a boyfriend. She said she told them she did, to which one of the men said, "'That's surprising,'" then quickly walked away.
A few hours later, she said, she saw a video of their eight-second interaction on social media. She said her initial reaction was shock, in part because she didn't realize she was being filmed.
"I was on the phone with my mom telling her what happened when my boyfriend sent it to me. His friends saw it on TikTok and sent it to him," the woman said. "I was sent the video for probably a week straight after that."
CBC News has agreed not to identify her to protect her from further online scrutiny.
More than five million people watched this particular video on TikTok. Thousands left comments, including many supporting the alleged effort of "humbling these 304s," slang for promiscuous women.
Other comments referred to the poster as "king" and thanked him for his efforts.
"I was frustrated and off-put by all the comments," the 18-year-old said. "So many people were egging it on and saying, 'Yeah, keep humbling these girls,' or 'This is great, keep up the good work.'"
She said she wanted to speak about what happened to her because she worries young men may be influenced by what they see online and they'll see what happened to her as acceptable behaviour.
"It's disturbing knowing the number of boys who are learning this mentality, especially with the new generation being so online."
Dozens of videos posted to the same account showing other young women in the mall being taken by surprise when they're asked about their relationship status. They're mocked when they respond.
The account holder, @fiiivestar, has not responded to multiple requests for comment from CBC News, and the account has since been removed.
Women being approached by men in public and being made to feel uncomfortable is not new, said Kaitlynn Mendes, a sociology associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Inequality and Gender at Western University.
But when the exchange is filmed, with the potential of ending up online, Mendes said, women might feel limited in how they can respond.
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18-year-old says she was secretly filmed in Ontario mall for viral TikTok video deemed as anti-woman
An 18-year-old is speaking out after she says she was secretly filmed in a London, Ont., shopping mall, and the exchange was posted to the social media feeds of a man whose viral videos seemingly celebrate men rejecting women.
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