PewDiePie promoted anti-semitic YouTube channel with hateful content

The Swedish YouTube star Felix Kjellberg, better known as "PewDiePie" is in rough weather after he Sunday recommended the controversial YouTube channel E;R (EsemicolonR).

the Recommendation came in the latest episode of the segment "Pew News" - a semi-satirical series in which he shares his views on issues in the news or discussions that occur in the YouTube culture.

The last part of the segment is dedicated to giving "shout outs" to smaller channels he likes to watch.

- You also have the E;R, who makes great video essays. He made a about "Death Note" which I really liked, " he says in the video.

It did not go unnoticed in the YouTube environment.

Get hard criticism

the Man behind the channel E;the R is known to regularly come up with anti-semitic, sexist and homophobic speech in their videos.

Hasan Piker, who is the presenter of the popular YouTube channel The Young Turks, expressed his concerns over the Kjellbergs newfound fascination for E;R on their own channel.

He adds that Kjellberg probably not have seen all the hate videos on the channel. Nevertheless, he points out the important responsibility that comes with the huge influence he has on their followers.

- to not be conscious of what message you are promoting, is irresponsible, " he says in the video.

After Kjellbergs "shout out" have E;R, according to The Guardian, it has grown by around 15 000 subscribers.

He has, however, removed the code in the original video, and said that he did not know about the anti-semitic references on the channel.

- Because I got so much attention though, I thought it would be nice to give "shout outs" to a few less channels I like. Tydleligvis like one of the ones I mentioned to have hidden and less hidden nazireferanser in their videos. If I had known that, I would not have done it, because I said a year and a half ago that I should dissociate myself from the nazivitser, " he says in a video.

- I didn't know about the anti-semitic content, and know not even to the references. All I said was that I liked the animations.

Lost a giant contract

In the five years Kjellberg been at the top of the list of the world's largest. youtubers. At the time of writing he has nearly 76 million subscribers on his channel. He specializes in video games, but have a wide range of other content in their videos.

The fact that he is now linked to E;R is worrisome, mean Girls and more with him. It is namely not the first time that the influential swede creates controversies to support similar attitudes.

In 2017, he lost a major contract with Disney, having been accused of promoting anti-semitic attitudes. The time he had posted a clip where two men held a sign with the text "Death of all jews".

Although he believed it was a hoax, and that it was part of a project where he would find out what people were willing to do for money.

Later the same year he lay paddeflat on its own YouTube channel, after having used the word "nigger" in a livestream.

Radicalising content

Episode Kjellberg especially recommend, is just one of many in the The Guardian describes as "a sea of hateful content".

They refer to a video from 2016 which will have been seen over two million times. Where is referred to the creator of the series "Steven Universe," "a jew", followed by several derogatory jokes and a four-minute unedited speech by Adolf Hitler.

the Video is removed from the channel, but has been posted again by other channels.

The major plattformselskapene says constantly that they work with to combat hate speech on their platforms. Investigations The Wall Street Journal has carried out with the help of former Google engineer Guillaume Chaslot (courtesy of The New York Times), however, shows that YouTube often leads extreme and konspiratoriske videos to the people who usually consume relatively neutral news sources.

In an interview with The Daily Beast says the research director at the research institute Data&Society that. youtubers have learned to exploit the platform's algorithms.

- Social media rewards engagement. This applies to both recruitment of new target groups and to hold on to these. Then use the tools to analyze what works, and in this way ensure that one continues to grow.

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