We need to have a talk about influencers and consent
We need to have a serious conversation about influencers and consent.
I want to start by saying I don't have an issue with people taking my photo. In fact, if you ask first, I'm usually overenthusiastic about it. Phones aren't the problem. Cameras have been on the playa for decades. The technology didn't change. People did.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons to have a phone at Burning Man. Some people use them for blood sugar monitoring or other medical devices. Others use Meshtastic for on playa communication, and plenty of people want to take pictures of their own camp, friends, and the amazing art.
The real problem is people recording others without their consent and posting those videos online for likes and clout. Burning Man has always been about participation, self expression, and, most importantly, consent. That includes respecting people's privacy.
Burning Man is a private event, not a public park. Participants agree to media policies that emphasize getting permission before photographing people and respecting their privacy. Those rules should be enforced much more aggressively. That includes unauthorized drones and people using them to film participants without permission.
Just because nudity is common on the playa doesn't mean people are consenting to have those images posted online. Being comfortable being nude at Burning Man is not the same as agreeing to become someone else's social media content. In some cases, especially with nonconsensual intimate images, posting those photos can also have legal consequences, not just violate Burning Man's rules.
As a community, we need to be much more proactive about calling out and reporting nonconsensual filming and photography. Consent shouldn't stop at physical interactions. It needs apply to cameras, too.
There needs to be a cultural change.
Here is burning man rules for capturing media
Here is NV law against intimate pictures
Possibility of NV's revenge porn law may apply too
Edit: Someone mentioned that consent should be the 11th Principle. Honestly, I've always felt that way.
The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Consent is already woven into a lot of the existing principles like Civic Responsibility, Participation, Immediacy, Leave No Trace, and Radical Self expression. But with social media and influencer culture changing things so much, I think it's worth calling it out as a core value on its own. We need the 11th principle:Consent