Influencers have been using loopholes to flee the country for a holiday, under the guise of a "work trip", despite restrictions in the middle of the third lockdown. Over the weekend, health secretary Matt Hancock declared that people should not be travelling out of the country, explicitly slamming the many parties and holidays people have had. Yet, as an audience, we continue to witness the endless cycles of 'airport selfies, sunny holiday pictures and then half-hearted apologies on the notes app' from influencers on our Instagram feeds. Many Love Island cast members are guilty of this including: Laura Anderson, Molly-Mae, Anton Danyluk. Season 5 winner, Amber Gill, recently came under fire on TikTok after a user DM-ed her and confronted her for travelling in Tier 4, only for her to reply that "the government was in shambles and everyone should be doing it". In reality, most of us are aware that travelling to another country for a holiday could be the worst thing we could do. While many countries such as New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan are well on their way to complete normalcy, we are in the middle of our 3rd lockdown, with over 100k deaths already. Another influencer, Sheridan Mordew, also sparked controversy this week by travelling to Dubai for a holiday and calling herself an "essential worker" in an interview on This Morning. Since the start of January, she has been there to 'provide sunny content for fans and 'motivate them". Dubai has been a hotspot for influencers as travellers were not required to quarantine upon their return from Dubai, making it easier for them to zip in and out of countries. This has not only worsened the COVID situation in the UK but also angered the residents of Dubai. Expat Lauren Morgan, who moved to the city in January 2020, told MailOnline: "All the 'influencers' coming out to Dubai for 'work' has made me so angry, using loopholes to holiday and potentially spreading the virus." Influencers have created a hierarchy and put themselves on top of it, with the false belief that we would blindly support their selfish acts as followers. "Sunny content" from influencers is not the type of progression we want to see in the country's COVID situation. Many of us have our favourite influencers whose contents we enjoy. Still, I do not think that an influencer is an essential worker who should be given free rein to take a holiday while everybody else has to stay put and follow restrictions. At the very least, these influencers should be abiding by the law and taking responsibilities. A screenshotted apology is just not good enough. Do better.
Edited by Pia Cooper
留言