Influencers were kicked out of a market for filming without a permit

Cafes, restaurants, and even towns have been banning influencers over the years. And while not actually prohibiting creators, London’s famous Borough Market does require them to have filming permits, an existing policy that has recently gained attention through two online food reviewers’ experience.

First reported by The Times on Tuesday, creators Gerry del Guercio and Paul Delany, who run food reviews on TikTok and Instagram as Bite Twice, were escorted from the food market by security while filming a review on their phones.

In a video posted to Instagram on Monday but filmed in May, the pair are in the middle of reviewing an apple crumble from TikTok-famous vendor Humble Crumble, which has a stand in Borough Market. Del Guercio and Delany are transparent on their page about paying for meals reviewed and turning up unannounced to venues, which is what they did for the Humble Crumble review. As they film each other’s disappointed reactions to the hyped £9 dessert, they’re interrupted by Borough Market security and escorted out of the venue.

“We were doing an ‘Is viral food any good?’ series and had been filming there on our phones and literally at the end when we had found a quiet corner a security guard came up and said ‘no filming, can you leave,'” del Guercio and Delany told Mashable via email.

“We asked why and they said ‘no filming.’ It was all very vague. No info was given but we did look at the rules online and it does say just we didn’t know.”

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Borough Market has an existing policy which requires anyone filming or taking photographs “for professional purposes” to apply through an online form and wait for approval by email. The market also does not allow filming between 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekdays or at any time during the weekend.

In a statement, a Borough Market spokesperson told Mashable these rules have been in place for a time, but the venue is “in the process of reviewing our policy.”

“We have a long history of working closely with the wider food community including chefs, established food writers and food influencers, and often feature their content on our website and digital channels,” the spokesperson said.

“We value the role that food reviewers play in showcasing Borough Market and its traders. Our filming policy is designed to ensure that activity doesn’t cause disruption to stallholders or visitors and our security team is trained to ask for the relevant permission from anyone filming in the market.

“Our number one priority is to ensure that visitors are comfortable and at times we do need to alleviate the congestion which can happen around particularly popular sites within our market. This occasionally means we ask food reviewers to stop filming if they are causing congestion or haven’t got the relevant permission.”

Filming and photography policies within hospitality venues aren’t new, they’ve just received increasing attention with the rise of online video reviews and the ever-rising wave of foodie creator content. As Meera Navlakha writes for Mashable, “It’s true that no-camera rules are not a new phenomenon: as early as 2013, major restaurants began to enforce stricter regulations for those intent on documenting meals. The New York Times described these diners as the ‘legions of amateur iPhone-wielding food lovers, who say what they do is a tribute — not to mention free advertising for the restaurants.’ Over a decade later, the act of taking food pics has evolved into full-fledged careers for many.”

Venues are increasingly specifying filming policies to include the words “influencer” and the like. For example, The National Trust, the UK’s heritage charity, stipulates that “any influencer, social media auditor or citizen journalist who wishes to create paid-for or gifted content on social media must pre-book through the Filming and Locations Office.” (Notably, this policy is specifically for paid content.)

As for Bite Twice? They’re back to work and have already posted more food reviews on their socials, while being inundated with media requests. “Hasn’t stopped for last 24 hrs,” they told us. “We all get our 5 mins I guess, already planning the next big story so it turns into 10 mins.”

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