Social media provocateur accused of harassment after covert recordings on ferry and Skye

Police Scotland has launched an investigation into a social media influencer who used Meta smart glasses to covertly record members of the public, shop workers and ferry crew during a road trip around Scotland, in a case that has raised fresh concerns about the privacy implications of wearable camera technology. Scott Margerison, 42, from Rochdale, who posts under the alias E Dobbin across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, is understood to have filmed numerous encounters during a tour of the country in late June and early July, visiting locations including Dunoon, Glencoe, John O'Groats, Skye, Uist, Barra and Lewis in a white Ford Transit van. The footage, much of which has since been removed from various platforms following action by Meta and TikTok, includes sexually explicit comments directed at young women, an unprovoked expletive-laden outburst at a fellow ferry passenger, and a disturbing exchange with a Sikh shopkeeper in which he invoked the far-right Kalergi Plan conspiracy theory about "breeding out the white race".

In one particularly troubling incident, Mr Margerison was recorded on the bridge of the CalMac ferry MV Loch Seaforth after being granted an escorted tour – a courtesy traditionally offered to passengers at the discretion of the ship's master – during which he fired questions at the second officer while wearing his Meta glasses, which contain miniature cameras. It later emerged that he had been explicitly informed that filming and photography were prohibited in the restricted area, prompting the ferry operator to suspend such visits, which had been popular with children and maritime enthusiasts, indefinitely. A CalMac spokesperson confirmed that the decision to pause the tours was taken because an individual had "filmed in a restricted area without permission", and the company has since distanced itself from the influencer's conduct.

The encounter on Skye, however, has drawn particular condemnation. Mr Margerison approached a UK-born Sikh woman of Indian heritage who runs a shop with her teenage daughter, initiating a conversation in which he claimed that "forced" diversity was being imposed in Europe and referred to the discredited Kalergi Plan, a staple of white nationalist propaganda. The shopkeeper, who was born in London and has resided on Skye for two decades, later told BBC Scotland News that Mr Margerison had opened the exchange by asking "what are you doing here?" – a question she said he edited out of the published footage. She described the encounter, in which a heavily built man well over six feet tall loomed over her, as "100% intimidating", and said she had cried upon learning that a secretly filmed video of the interaction had been posted on TikTok.

Elsewhere during his Hebridean tour, Mr Margerison filmed an angry confrontation with an elderly couple in a supermarket after they complained that he had "loudly and rudely" asked them to move out of his way; he proceeded to follow them around the store, blocking their path, swearing in their presence and accusing them of being "mental", while threatening to post footage of them on TikTok. In another clip, he was seen arguing with a female CalMac staff member who was attempting to explain that the small ferry he wished to board was fully booked, and on a separate occasion he made sexualised comments about the appearance of two teenagers, then approached them and their parents while wearing his glasses, apparently without their knowledge that they were being recorded.

The lawfulness of such covert filming depends on the circumstances; while individuals generally have only a limited expectation of privacy in public places, recording may be unlawful if it amounts to harassment, stalking or behaviour deemed likely to cause fear or alarm. Victims may also have grounds for a civil claim if footage is captured in circumstances where a reasonable expectation of privacy exists, and data protection laws may apply where the material is produced as part of a commercial enterprise, such as a social media channel generating revenue. A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed that the force was aware of the videos and was "assessing the content" to establish whether any criminality was involved; anyone wishing to report an incident is encouraged to contact the force via 101 or online.

The case has also prompted action from the platforms that hosted Mr Margerison's content. Meta, which owns Instagram, confirmed it was "actively investigating" his accounts and had blocked one, while Instagram has since shut down all of his profiles. TikTok stated that it did not permit content that harasses or bullies others and had taken action against accounts that violated its policies, and YouTube said it would investigate the videos on its platform. The emergence of smart glasses as a mainstream consumer technology – Meta has partnered with designer brands including Ray-Ban and Oakley, while Apple, Google and Samsung are also investing in the sector – has heightened privacy concerns, with manufacturers touting benefits such as AI-assisted translation and hands-free calls while critics point to the potential for covert surveillance.

Meta glasses are equipped with a built-in LED light that flashes when recording and cannot be turned off, though the company was recently forced to roll out a mandatory update after reports that some users had found workarounds to disable the safeguard. The head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, recently acknowledged that some users had attempted to "drill off" the flashing light, though he claimed that recent updates would render the glasses inoperable if tampered with. Last week, Monopoly Events, which organises some of the UK's largest comic and entertainment conventions, banned Meta glasses from its gatherings following complaints of invasion of privacy, harassment and "body shaming" at cosplay events where similar covert recording had taken place. Mr Margerison had been approached for comment by BBC Scotland News, but had not responded at the time of publication.