- An Afghan man named Esa was confused when a stranger paid for his groceries in a supermarket.
- Soon after, he found out a video of the stranger paying for his groceries had gone viral on TikTok.
An Afghan man has spoken out against a popular TikToker who filmed him without his consent in a "random acts of kindness" TikTok video, saying he was "embarrassed" and "shocked" to learn that the person posted a video of him.
ABC News Australia identified the man who was filmed in the video as an Afghan refugee, known only as Esa, who came to Australia in 2001 as an asylum seeker. The footage showed Esa at a supermarket checkout speaking to the cashier, when another person walked into the shot and tapped his card on the contactless machine, paying for Esa's groceries and saying "have a great day sir."
The video was posted on June 6 by a TikToker with 7.2 million followers named Rustam Raziev. Raziev often posts videos of himself paying for other people's shopping as part of the "acts of kindness" TikTok genre. The genre typically features creators filming themselves giving strangers gifts or money, citing the aim of brightening another person's day, but often with the result of millions of views.
@rus.alien 37/60 w/ @alienandcoco #ramadan #melbourne ♬ original sound - Rustam Raziev
Raziev's TikTok went viral and currently has 6.1 million views, with many commenters saying the clip made them feel "happy" and that they thought the TikToker did a nice thing. However, Esa told ABC News that discovering the TikTok video made him feel "shocked and sad."
He told the outlet he had no idea that he was being filmed and thought that the stranger paid for his $23 bill as part of a promotion from the store.
Esa told ABC News that he felt the video made him look like "I'm a kind of desperate person who needs help or I'm a beggar."
"I have friends and family around the world. They've been calling me, saying: 'Oh, you need help' and 'What happened to you? Someone's paying for your food.' I was a bit traumatized," he said.
Raziev told the outlet he only wanted to "help" the man.
"I'd just like to apologize," he said, adding "that it was nowhere near my intention to offend him in any way."
The "acts of kindness" genre previously came under fire when another person spoke out against being filmed in a viral video
On TikTok, the hashtag #ActsOfKindness has 381 million views, and videos that show people performing such acts often go viral on the platform. However, concerns around whether the people who feature in "acts of kindness' videos — those receiving the "acts of kindness — have consented to being in them have caused some people to speak out against the genre on social media.
That's led some to wonder whether filming "random acts of kindness" is really that kind to begin with.
On July 13, a woman known only as Maree told ABC Radio Melbourne that she felt "dehumanized" after she was unknowingly filmed in an "acts of kindness" TikTok video which then went viral and made headlines in a tabloid newspaper.
The TikTok of Maree was posted on June 20 by Harrison Pawluk, who has 3.2 million TikTok followers and is known for filming himself perform "acts of kindness," such as buying people clothes or food.
The video showed Maree sitting at a coffee table in an Australian shopping center when Pawluk approached her and asked her to hold a bouquet of flowers. The TikToker then put on a coat and walked away from Maree without taking the flowers from her. He captioned the video, "I hope this made her day better."
Maree told ABC News that Pawluk "interrupted" her quiet time to film her without consent, adding that she felt it was a "patronizing assumption that women, especially older women, will be thrilled by some random stranger giving them flowers."
It is legal to film in public spaces in most parts of the world, including Australia, and Maree told ABC News that others should be cautious if they do not want a similar thing to happen to them. "I don't do any Facebook, Instagram, TikTok — anything — and yet it happened to me," she said.
Representatives for Pawluk told ABC News that the TikToker has a "personal commitment to helping people feel more connected and trusting," and that "he would not want something designed to spread love and compassion to cause anyone concern."
Pawluk and Raziev did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.