“Headphone dodgers” are taking over London transport. Should we ban them?

To ban or not to ban?

It’s a sweltering Tuesday afternoon when we board the 36 from Queen’s Park to New Cross and settle on the top deck. It’s only a few minutes before a man gets on, sits in the front seat and initiates a loud, headphoneless video call before aimlessly scrolling Facebook videos with the sound on. Under a new proposal from the Liberal Democrats, this kind of behaviour would be an offence, punishable by a £1,000 fine. But when we ask him what he thinks about this, he seems bemused, as if he’s been woken from a dream. “I do it because sometimes you feel bored, and sometimes you feel annoyed, and for a few minutes it makes you happy… I don’t do it for long, then I stop straight away.”

Something has happened in the capital these recent years. The phenomenon of people sitting on buses or the underground, scrolling through TikTok and Instagram out loud, has become inescapable. This problem isn’t bound to a particular social profile, either; it spans all ages and backgrounds. And the rest of the capital has begun to notice. 

Two weeks ago, tucked away on a Westminster backstreet, a team of Liberal Democrat strategy wonks were brainstorming policies that might keep their party in the headlines. Initially, the chat was a little dry, centred around amendments to the government’s bus services bill. Then someone voiced a grievance: people were constantly blaring music and TikToks out loud on public transport, and it was driving them crazy. Everybody agreed. The complaint was immediately worked into an actual policy proposal and sent off to the MPs’ Whatsapp group. It blew up. The idea was simple: it would become an offence to play music or videos from your phone on public transport, or at stations and bus stops, and those who didn’t comply would be fined £1,000.