Coun. Stevenson’s actions in viral TikTok video subject of Integrity Commissioner’s report

The Integrity Commissioner has exonerated Susan Stevenson following a complaint from a social media influencer over a 2025 town hall. Daryl Newcombe reports.

A viral video focusing on the actions of London City Coun. Susan Stevenson during a town hall meeting last September prompted three formal complaints to the Integrity Commissioner (IC), but an investigation spanning five months has concluded she did not violate the Code of Conduct.

Two of the complaints were dismissed, but a third prompted a formal investigation by the firm that acts as London’s Integrity Commissioner, Aird and Berlis LLP.

During the meeting inside Boyle Memorial Community Centre, Stevenson asked video producer Ben Durham to stop recording with his camera, then touched and moved his camera and tripod, and directed City of London security staff to ask him to stop recording or leave the meeting.

The complaint also cited her description of Durham as “a disruptor” trying to get views on TikTok during an interview with CTV News.

Following an investigation, the IC report concludes, “As the organizer of the meeting, the councillor was entitled to control the meeting as she considered appropriate. She encountered a difficult situation and she attempted to address it.”

“It’s a professional report that states clearly there wasn’t anything that I did that was incorrect, inappropriate, or veering anywhere near warranting the taxpayer expense that was paid on this complaint,” Stevenson told CTV News after the report was posted on the public agenda of next week’s council meeting.

On Friday, Durham maintained that his intent was not to disrupt the meeting with his filming.

“I’m not a disruptor,” he asserted. “Especially when I’m just trying to be a local journalist and share local happenings with the community.”

A key finding of the Integrity Commissioner was that although the town hall was hosted by a city councilor at a municipal community center, it did not qualify as a “public meeting” under the Municipal Act.

Therefore, transparency rules that permit the recording of committee and council meetings did not apply at the town hall.

Stevenson stands by her actions during the meeting.

“The only thing I would change is that we would have had established rules and processes in place for any councillor’s town hall meeting. I think that’s been put in place now, but that was a miss on our part,” she said.

“I don’t think I did anything wrong,” said Durham. “I’m just glad that a light’s been shone on this, because now hopefully things might have changed for other people who might want to film.”

Durham’s video describing his experience during the town hall has been viewed over 2.9 million times and received more than a quarter million views on TikTok.

“There’s nothing you can do to take back the damage that’s been done,” Stevenson said about the impact of the video. “Hopefully what we’re going to get out of this is a bit of public accountability on those who choose to weaponize it.”

“I don’t think weaponizing is the right word, because it wouldn’t have gone anywhere if the Integrity Commissioner disagreed with where this was going. And I was not the only one to file,” responded Durham. “[But] I can’t condone some of the things that the mob mentality brought into Susan’s email inbox.”

City council can weigh-in on the Integrity Commissioner’s report at its meeting on March 3, 2026.