Toyin Alausa cries out over ‘disrespectful’ death content

Nollywood actress Toyin Alausa has criticised the growing practice of sharing images and videos of deceased persons on social media, describing the trend as disturbing, disrespectful and unnecessary.

The actress made her views known in a post shared on her Instagram page, where she questioned the motive behind publicly exposing the dead, stressing that such actions undermine dignity and inflict emotional harm on grieving families.

Alausa urged social media users to exercise empathy by covering the faces of deceased individuals, especially in cases involving accidents or sudden deaths, noting that public exposure only compounds the pain of relatives and loved ones.

According to her, the routine circulation of such content for online engagement is unacceptable, even though there may be rare situations where footage is needed for clarification or public interest.

“The way people just expose the dead on social media these days is so annoying and mind-boggling. What’s the point actually?” she wrote.

“Immediately it’s confirmed someone has passed, the right thing to do is to cover them, at least the face. It’s about showing respect, offering dignity and, in a way, providing emotional closure for their relatives.”

She added that while documentation may sometimes be necessary, it should not be turned into viral content.

“This inhumane attitude has sadly become the norm. It may be important to get footage for clarification or when immediate relatives aren’t nearby, but not to be splashed as content on social media. It’s so disrespectful,” Alausa said.

The actress further warned that repeatedly viewing images of the deceased can be deeply traumatic, both for families and the general public, calling for greater sensitivity and restraint online.

“Seeing a blank face devoid of life and emotions can be extremely traumatic. I personally don’t think it’s appropriate, even health-wise. We can do better and be more empathic,” she added.