By Rina Chandran
April 21 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Residents of Australia’s Byron Bay have hit out at plans for a reality TV show set in the iconic holiday town, highlighting a growing backlash against social media influencers and digital nomads who often exacerbate troubles that dog tourist hot spots.
Netflix series ‘Byron Baes’, will be a “love letter to Byron Bay” which is already a “magnet for influencers”, and follow the lives of Instagrammers, the streaming service said.
But the backlash was swift, with an online petition by resident Tess Hall to boycott the series attracting more than 8,500 signatures, and dozens of locals protesting by paddling out on surfboards at Byron Bay on Tuesday.
“We are a community experiencing significant challenges driven by influencer culture and rapidly shifting demographics of residents. We do not want to be cast as the perfect backdrop and magnet for social media influencers,” Hall said.
Rather than use the region as a “reality show punchline”, authorities should be focusing on addressing systemic issues such as housing affordability, coastal erosion, increasing unemployment and high levels of domestic violence, she said.
“We do not want to deal with the fallout of being showcased on a global stage in a way that can only harm our local environment and community,” she said in her petition.
