Will YouTube Ban PewDiePie? New Petition Collects Over 68,000 Signatures

A new petition to ban popular YouTube personality PewDiePie from the media-sharing platform, along with content that is seen as white supremacist, has gathered over 68,000 signatures at the time of publishing.

The petition, called “Remove White Supremacist Content From YouTube,” was started on Change.Org three weeks ago by Maria Ruiz. It came in the wake of the attack on the mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, last month, where the shooter Brenton Tarrant, a white supremacist, urged people during his live stream of the massacre to subscribe to PewDiePie’s YouTube channel.

As soon as the video of the shooter taking his name went Live, PewDiePie took to Twitter to condemn Tarrant’s action as well as the shooting. “Just heard news of the devastating reports from New Zealand Christchurch. I feel absolutely sickened having my name uttered by this person. My heart and thoughts go out to the victims, families and everyone affected by this tragedy,” he wrote.

“In the wake of the most recent mosque shooting I believe it is time to take action as a community and remove white supremacist content from our platforms. One of the largest platforms for white supremacist content is PewDiePie's YouTube channel. PewDiePie has on many occasions proven once and again to promote and affiliate himself with white supremacist and Nazi ideologies. Worst of all his channel is very much aimed toward children in their formative years,” the petition said.

The petition further listed the reasons why PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg – currently running the most subscribed YouTube channel – should be banned by the platform. The list included his repeated use of racial slurs, making rape jokes, his videos featuring Adolf Hitler speeches and anti-Semitic cartoons, him performing the Nazi salute, paying Indian men on the website Fiverr to display signs that said death to all Jews, the time he made a man in a Jesus outfit hold up a sign that said "Hitler did absolutely nothing wrong,” using images of mages of famous African-Americans with wrong captions and creating a face-swiping video where he used an image of actress Leslie Jones to represent Harambe - the gorilla killed in the Cincinnati zoo last year.

“At what point is YouTube legally responsible for the content it provides and allows on its platform? I believe that his actions constitute a clear and present danger to society. YouTube’s guidelines state, ‘if content is intended to be humorous or satirical,’ it may remain online, ‘even if offensive or in poor taste.’ However, ‘if the uploader’s intent is to incite violence or hatred, it will be removed.’ How long will YouTube remain negligent?” the petition asked.

Ruiz also noted that in September 2017, Sean Vanman of Campo Anto studios, which developed the video game Firewatch, filed a DMCA takedown of any service hosting videos of PewDiePie’s playthroughs of the game, and any future games the studio develops.

In response to Ruiz’s petition, PewDiePie’s supporters have started a counter petition, urging Change.Org to remove Ruiz from the site. “In the wake of Maria Ruiz blaming Pewdiepie for a mass shooting and making wild and inaccurate claims about his actions, it is necessary now, more than ever, to remove him or her from this website. He or she must be removed from his or her platform before he or she is given the opportunity to make more vindictive, deceitful petitions,” the petition said.