I was walking through the breezeway when a guy approached me with a microphone, asking if I wanted to be interviewed. Already in a rush to class, I responded, “No,” to which he instantly turned around and screamed, “Cut the cameras!”
This is a common occurrence for UM students, except that they usually keep the cameras rolling.
Ever since student-influencer Alix Earle rose to stardom in Coral Gables, the University has seen a surge in social media engagement. Many students aim to follow in her footsteps, flocking to TikTok to share everything from daily school routines to frat tailgates.
There is nothing wrong with UM students showcasing their creativity on social media, but YouTubers and TikTokers not associated with the University have also flocked to campus to capitalize on the school’s sudden clout.
While some of this content is harmless, other outside influencers use sneaky tactics to hide that they are recording, staging conversations as authentic, then publishing these interactions without student approval.
This has repeatedly invaded students’ privacy and, sometimes, even left them worrying for their safety. UM has specific policies that prohibit outside media to film on campus, but UM needs to enforce these policies and defend its students stronger.
Last year, one of my friends sent me a video she saw on TikTok. To my surprise, it featured a conversation another one of my friends and I had with a random man when he stopped us during our walk to class. The man, known by the tag “itspolokid,” gains fame by visiting college campuses and recording his interactions with female students as he uses pick-up lines on them.
He records these conversations through Snapchat Spectacles, which are smart sunglasses with hidden cameras embedded in the frames. As a result, he records his victims without their knowledge and later shares the footage, some of which he did not receive consent for, to his 884,000 TikTok followers.
According to the University, “As a private university, any request for filming on campus must be made in writing and in advance.” Therefore, if none of these outside influencers have received permission, which I highly doubt, “itspolokid” and those like him are clearly violating university policy.
This is not just a violation of university policy, but also a violation of Florida law. Florida is considered a ‘two-party consent state.’ Under law, anyone wishing to record a private conversation must first obtain consent from all parties involved, as outlined in Florida Statutes 934.03 and 943.04.
Situations like this make campus feel unsafe. Also, speaking from personal experience, the fear of being trapped in embarrassing interactions or forced to share personal information, such as my relationship status, provokes serious social anxiety.
Sometimes, even worse than in-person interactions are the conversations that follow the online posting of videos. Publishing videos of students on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube subject them to online predators, damaged reputations, and cyberbullying. In the example provided above, almost every single comment under the video of my friend and me was negative, criticizing our personalities and communication skills. The most alarming comment read, “Follow her home bro.”
Comments like these are alarming because trespassing of this nature does, in fact, occur at UM. While living in the Stanford dorms, a girl on my floor warned us not to open our doors for anyone. She explained that two men had repeatedly banged on her door and began shaking and tugging the doorknob when she did not answer. Moments later, another girl reported seeing them in the hallway with a camera.
It turned out the men owned a YouTube channel and were attempting to get female students to give them dorm tours. My residential assistant, Alexandra Medrano, recalled having to text an RA who was on duty, who then called UMPD to have the men escorted off campus.
“This was really concerning for me as an RA because of safety,” Medrano said. “This is a girls’ floor and there were two guys with cameras knocking on our doors … we have communal showers. We didn’t know where the recording was going to end up.”
There should be no need for an RA to remind students to “check your peepholes before you open your doors” or to “be vigilant.” It’s even more concerning that male content creators were able to get on a female floor because influencers frequently target females with pick-up lines, catcalling, and invasive questions about their relationship status.
To remedy this issue, the University has a couple of policies.
“If an individual or group is found to be filming without prior permission, they will be asked to stop filming and leave campus property.” Said the University in a statement. “Any student who feels that their safety has been compromised is urged to contact UMPD. The Dean of Students Office is also available to support students who feel that filming by others on campus violates their student rights.”
This isn’t enough. UM’s campus is easily accessible to anyone, making it nearly impossible to keep track of every individual who enters with a camera. That makes it simple for students to be filmed without them knowing it.
Ideally, UM could take measures to prevent these situations from happening in the first place, but that is much easier said than done. Instead, UM may be able to start by deterring creators who have already recorded content without permission.
To do this, the University should first establish and publicize a hotline for complaints about outside influencers filming on campus, and UMPD should have a rapid-response team.
UM could also monitor social media more closely, reaching out to accounts and creators who are filming on campus and informing them that they are violating University policy. They could then threaten legal action against these creators and work to get content filmed without permission on campus demonetized or taken down.
While these solutions will not completely remedy the issue, it’s clear that something must be done to protect the safety and privacy of students. No students should fear walking to class because they don’t know if they will be recorded without their consent or forced into an uncomfortable situation. What may seem like a harmless social media post can spiral into serious safety concerns both on the platform and on campus.
If we are to build a safer campus, it’s crucial that UM takes stronger measures to safeguard student privacy by enforcing filming guidelines and monitoring campus activity more effectively before students get hurt.