Syrian Rights Monitor Raises Alarm Over Hidden Camera Campaigns Targeting Syrian Transport Workers
SOHR says covert recordings and edited social media videos are being used to shame and incite against transport workers, urging authorities to protect privacy
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has warned of an escalating campaign targeting taxi drivers and other transport workers in Syria, saying hidden recordings and selectively edited videos shared on social media are being used to publicly shame and incite against drivers after they are drawn into political or social conversations.
The rights monitor said on Tuesday, the campaigns involve individuals engaging drivers in discussions on sensitive political or social issues while they are carrying out their work.
The drivers' responses are then secretly recorded without their knowledge before excerpts of the conversations are published online out of context.
According to SOHR, the recordings are subsequently used to defame drivers or encourage incitement against them, raising concerns that such material could also be used as a pretext for taking action against those targeted.
SOHR said videos circulated in recent weeks show a pattern in which some individuals deliberately initiate conversations with drivers before covertly recording their responses.
According to the organization, some of those recording the videos appear to use the footage to gain attention and popularity on social media platforms, while others act as "entrapment agents" by encouraging people to speak before using their words against them.
The organization said the spread of these practices has created growing anxiety among transport workers, many of whom have become reluctant to engage in conversations with passengers for fear of becoming victims of secret recordings that could damage their reputations.
SOHR said legal and human rights advocates consider the publication of spontaneous conversations recorded inside vehicles to be an infringement on individual privacy.
They argue that such practices foster an atmosphere of surveillance, denunciation, and accusations rather than respect for the rule of law and citizens' rights.
The organization called on the relevant authorities to take a clear position against the use of secret recordings for the purpose of defamation and incitement and to prevent social media platforms from being used as tools to entrap citizens.
SOHR also urged authorities to ensure protection for individuals targeted by defamation campaigns and pressure, while holding accountable anyone found responsible for violating privacy or inciting against others, saying such measures are necessary to preserve civil peace and prevent the spread of a culture of accusations and retaliation.