Man secretly filming women sunbathing in Amsterdam, posting it on YouTube
Another voyeur is active in Amsterdam, the Telegraaf discovered. Since last year, the YouTube account Yeni Travel has been posting recordings of women sunbathing on the Marineterrein or enjoying the nightlife in the Dutch capital. The videos seem to be recorded with a hidden camera and without the women being aware of it.
The most popular video is a compilation of women in bikinis on the Marineterrein. It has 3.3 million views. The nightlife videos all focus on skirts and cleavage. In total, Yeni Travel has posted 92 videos in one year, getting almost 15 million views. 77,000 follow the channel.
In 2023, YouTube removed a similar account that posted videos of secretly filmed women sunbathing in Amsterdam, specifically focusing on their breasts and buttocks. The social media platform removed the channel due to “unwanted sexualization.”
Amsterdam city council member Elise Moeskops (D66) called it “ridiculous” that this is happening again. “You’re lying there quietly enjoying the sun, and unsuspectingly you’re on YouTube without permission. It is really humiliating.” The fact that the content can remain online for so long shows that YouTube still takes very little responsibility for its content, she said.
Moeskops has reported the incident to various authorities and urges social media users to report such content when coming across it. Secretly filming people is legally not allowed, but that is just part of the problem, the D66 city councilor told the newspaper. “It is also sexist, which makes it even worse. What does this do to the sense of security of these women? It falls into the category of ‘exposing,’ like that man who started filming Muslim girls at festivals. You single out a certain group.”
Moeskops wants Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema to push for updated legislation to make it easier to prosecute this type of perpetrator. She also thinks the municipality should approach YouTube to get the content removed. “It happens on our streets, in our public spaces. We have a responsibility here.”
