A Black TikTok influencer used her platform to blast a man for what she claimed was his texting homophobic and racist comments to family about her and others on the flight.
The quick-thinking travel vlogger videotaped the man’s text conversation before posting it online, raising questions about one’s right to privacy while communicating on a personal device.
Taila Rouse, whose TikTok and Instagram handle is Taila.thecreator, said she recorded the conversation with the white passenger sitting next to her on a flight to Atlanta from Puerto Rico because he made her feel uncomfortable.
The woman apparently glanced at the man’s phone while he was texting a person named “Mommy” and saw exchanges that she considered racially derogatory and anti-gay.
In a caption, she wrote, “He and his family went on and on about the woes of being stuck sitting next to Black and gay people.”
Seemingly upset, she videotaped herself as she decided what she should do. This video, while she did not specify when it was recorded, shows her silently looking back and forth while sitting in a window seat at the man, rolling her eyes and twisting up her mouth. The caption said, “Me literally going back and forth with myself, trying to decide if I was going to say something to the racist beside me.”
Another video which had over 15 million views on TikTok at the time of publishing, shows her decision.
Rouse documented her exchange with the man. With her camera apparently close to her lap and looking upward toward her, she said to the middle-seat passenger, “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I decided I want you to feel as uncomfortable as I do, and I want you to know that I saw your text messages and I think you’re disgusting.”
The man originally asked her what she was talking about, questioning, “What text message?”
Rouse quickly snapped back, “You know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m not going to repeat it because everybody doesn’t need to know.”
“But, I want you to know that I know, and I saw you,” she continued.
The social media user went on to share details about what she read.
“Speaking of airlines weeding people out,” she continued to rail. “Maybe if they raise prices, you wouldn’t be able to afford to sit with your family. Then that way, they don’t have to sit next to the Black people.”
After a while, the man quasi-admitted to having written embarrassing remarks and said he was “sorry.”
Rouse told him that his apology was insincere and that he only said it because she got caught.
On her TikTok, she posted two additional videos. One of the videos was of the man typing something to a family member and another of him with his back to her.
Both videos were viewed over 2 million times.
@taila.thecreator Replying to @TXSM9999 ♬ original sound – Taila • Travel Tips
Most viewers believed she did the right thing by posting the exchange.
“I’m proud of you and don’t even know you. I know the back and forth with yourself on this was hard and you did that!!” one TikTok follower wrote to her.
“I know your heart was beating saying this and honey…. But you stood up through it! Proud beyond proud,” Nicole Banks wrote.
Imani Hunter co-signed Banks, acknowledging she too could see Rouse push through her fear, saying, “The shaking … I can feel you through this video!!! So proud. So brave. So honorable!”
Another person cheered her advocacy, calling her a hero: “Not all heroes wear capes.”
Other people questioned if she violated his right to privacy by posting a video of him texting.
One person wrote on Instagram, “I am typically against people reading other’s private conversations without permission. I think it is rude. However, you might glance over and see someone’s text because you are sitting so close. And in that case, if they are texting something about you personally, I say by all means call them out.”
JacobPowell555 responded to that comment, saying the woman was wrong because she made a scene and “the texts weren’t about her.”
Others chimed in about her violating his space.
“It’s none of your business of what he’s tell his friends. He didn’t speak it out or let you see intentionally, meanwhile, you stalking the others’ phone are the wrong one,” Issac__0618 wrote.
Those concerned about the privacy violation may be referring to Georgia’s recording laws. According to a summary of the law, Georgia is a one-party consent state.
“In Georgia, it is a criminal offense to use any device to record or disclose communications, whether they are wire, oral or electronic, without the consent of at least one person taking part in the communication,” the law stipulates, according to RecordingLaw.com. “This means that in Georgia, you are legally allowed to record a conversation if you are a contributor or with prior consent from one of the involved parties.”
There is one caveat. Parents are legally permitted to “intercept the communications of their children.”
Laws regarding recording someone texting are vague and may develop as technology develops.
Even though she did not get permission to record him and post, the masses said he deserved to be called out.
“He blatantly had his phone SUPER out and visible. He wanted you to see those text messages. No one should be having a pity party for him [because] he got called out on his racist BS,” Miss Mack wrote on Instagram.
Instagram user Saint Loserent added: “If he wanted privacy, he should have been on a private jet. He’s talking about weeding people out with prices and his broke a** is sitting in coach, not even in first class.”
Rouse said she felt uneasy about sitting next to the man. The International Air Transport Association, an airline trade association, says “passengers and crew have the right to expect to enjoy their flight free from any form of disturbance. Airlines and crew take any reports of racial and other forms of harassment very seriously.”
Currently, the Federal Aviation Administration does not record non-criminal altercations where people are offended by something someone texted.
