I have never once caught myself in anybody video at least not that I know of but let's be honest, in this Lagos, you can never be too sure, Somebody could be filming street style content for their TikTok and I just happen to be passing, looking like I am rushing somewhere important when I am actually just going to buy bread, that is just how things are now, cameras are everywhere in pockets, on wrists, mounted on car dashboards, the moment you step outside, you have basically signed an invisible agreement that says, you might end up in somebodys footage, whether you like it or not.
And to be sincere, I am not against that one bit, I think it is asking too much to expect total invisibility once you are in public, public is public, if I am walking on the road, standing at a bus stop, or just minding my business at the market, I don't think I have the right to demand that every phone around me points elsewhere, that is not how shared spaces work, people have always watched each other in public cameras just made the watching permanent.
What I would actually have a problem with is becoming somebody's punchline without my consent, there is a big difference between appearing in the background of someones video and being made the subject of it especially if the subject treatment is mockery, you know the type, Somebody filming a stranger's outfit and captioning it see as person dress for 2026 like this, somebody catching a person mid sneeze or stumbling on the road and turning it into a meme that gathers a million views, somebody filming a private moment an argument, somebody crying, somebody having a bad day and posting it for entertainment, that stranger never agreed to star in anybody's storyline, they just wanted to cross the road in peace, and now they are a screenshot with jokes underneath.
So if you ask me should there be a law criminalizing this, my honest answer is not all of it, but some parts definitely need boundaries If it is accidental, harmless, just background presence leave it alone, no wahala, the man crossing the road in the back of your vlog isn't being harmed by that. But the moment somebody films specifically to expose, mock, or embarrass a stranger who never agreed to be filmed, that has crossed from public life into public shaming, and shaming somebody for content, without their consent, should carry some kind of consequence maybe not full criminal law, but at least proper platform accountability, or some civil route for people who get dragged online for laughs they never signed up for.
At the same time, I understand the concern from the creator's side, tighten the rules too much and you kill the realness out of street photography, documentaries, journalism, even casual everyday content,some of the best photography that exists happened because somebody caught a real, unplanned human moment in public, If creators now need permission from every single face in every single frame, a whole chunk of authentic storytelling just dies, lagos traffic, market women haggling, children playing football on sandy streets that is culture, and capturing it shouldn't require paperwork.
So my real stance sits somewhere in the middle, film me if I happen to be there, I genuinely don't mind being scenery in your story Just don't turn me into the joke of it, Let me know if you want the tone adjusted further, or I can format it nicely like the last piece for posting.
