Archive · 14 Aug 2026
Nagaland Minister Shares Video of Man's KYC Facial Recognition Struggle
A government minister from a place in India called Nagaland shared a funny video on the internet.
The video shows a man having trouble with a machine that checks faces and eyes to prove who he is.
The man was doing something called KYC, a check that banks use to make sure you are really you.
The machine could not see his eyes properly because his eyelids have a natural shape where the upper lid covers part of the eye.
In the video, his friends try to help by stretching his eyelids so the camera can see better.
More than 350,000 people watched the video, and lots of people joined the conversation.
Some people said the machine is the problem, not the man.
They said there should be other ways to prove who you are, like using fingerprints or special eye scanners.
People also wondered why India doesn't use solutions that countries like China and Japan may already have.
The funny video made many people think about making technology fair for everyone.
Nagaland minister Temjen Imna Along shared a video of a Naga man repeatedly failing an eye scan during KYC verification.
In the clip, villagers hold the man's face and stretch his eyelids to help the scanner capture a clearer image.
Shared with the caption "Struggle is real," the video has amassed more than 3.5 lakh views and over 10,000 likes on X.
Commenters argued the technology is at fault and urged alternatives such as fingerprint verification and iris scanners suited for epicanthic fold (monolid) eyes.
One user tagged X's AI chatbot Grok asking for an iris scanner for monolid eyes; the minister earlier went viral in 2022 joking about the "small eyes" stereotype.
- Who
- Nagaland minister Temjen Imna Along, a Naga man attempting KYC verification, and online commenters urging better biometric solutions.
- What
- A viral video showing villagers helping a man complete KYC verification by holding his face and stretching his eyelids while the eye-scan system repeatedly failed to recognize him.
- When
- Not explicitly stated in the articles.
- Where
- Northeast India; the video was shared on X (formerly Twitter).
- Why
- Facial recognition and eye-scan technology kept failing to recognize the man's eyes because of a natural eyelid shape (epicanthic fold/monolid eyes), making KYC verification difficult.
Critics of the Biometric Technology
Defenders of the Humorous Approach
Root Cause of the KYC Failure
Critics of the Biometric Technology
Commenters argued that "the technology is the problem, not you," saying systems were not designed for all Indian facial features and that nobody should suffer because of natural biological traits such as monolid eyes.
Defenders of the Humorous Approach
Article 1 notes the video does not establish that the technology was designed to exclude people from Northeast India, nor does one failed scan prove biometric systems cannot recognize particular physical features.
Preferred Solution
Critics of the Biometric Technology
Authorities should allow alternatives such as fingerprint verification and iris scanners suited for epicanthic fold, possibly adopting solutions from countries like China and Japan.
Defenders of the Humorous Approach
The demand for alternatives came from online commenters; no article reports an official proposal from the minister or authorities, who instead drew attention to the issue through a humorous viral video.
- Video Views
- More than 3.5 lakh (350,000)
- Video Likes
- Over 10,000
- Caption
- "Struggle is real"
- Minister
- Temjen Imna Along, Nagaland
- KYC
- Know Your Customer, used across banking, financial services and digital platforms
- Key Term
- Epicanthic fold (monolid eyes) – upper eyelids cover the inner parts of the eyes
- User Suggestions
- Fingerprint verification and iris scanners for monolid eyes; adopting solutions from China and Japan
- Earlier Viral Moment
- In 2022, Along joked about the 'small eyes' stereotype; Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shared the clip
