Recent events online unfolding have caused a very minor spar between YouTuber Pewdiepie and small media outlet VOX Media. In multiple articles published over the past week or so, VOX has laid claim to the idea that the YouTube name Pewdiepie has been promoting anti-Semitism within his online following. VOX's articles claim that "YouTube’s most popular user is once again facing backlash — this time for promoting a highly anti-Semitic channel by recommending a video featuring a racial slur and a white supremacist conspiracy."
This "promotion" mentioned by VOX refers to a channel that Pewdiepie shouted out in one of his videos: YouTube channel E;R. Pewdiepie (aka Felix Kjellberg) has taken out this shoutout section of his video in order to address this controversy as gently as possible.
Pewdiepie answered VOX's articles by responding with multiple videos that explain his reasoning about why he feels that he is being wrongly accused. He himself questions VOX for publishing such emptily crafted information.
Pewdiepie's most recent response concerning VOX's accusations
Felix goes on in the above video to say "Now, looking at the VOX article... first of all, [they] can't even get my name right, which is hilarious." He continues by saying a few moments later that "they [VOX] mentioned the 'alt-right' 29 times in this article; it's almost like they're obsessed with these things."
A single VOX writer who has been dubbed as an "Internet Culture Reporter" on VOX's website has written three articles about Pewdiepie, two of which were written in late 2017. These articles were all written by the same person, not an array of different journalists. Other news sites have written small works on this subject as well, but not as heavily as VOX. With most certainty it can be waged that VOX does not believe that Pewdiepie is promoting the Anti-Sematic content that was described, but rather a single journal writer.
How Media is amplifying the situation
Many organizations, especially the Media of modern day, voice their opinions or facts pertaining to certain subjects. After putting forth his shoutout, as discussed earlier, Felix immediately had articles being written about him being racist and promoting neo-Nazi ideals. All of these came originally from one article, once again written by the same reporter employed by VOX. Soon after responding to this article, Felix was met with more articles being published, this time by different news companies.It seems that all it took for other media outlets to jump on the "Pewdiepie anti-Semitism" train was this simple spark. With one article and one rebuttal, an opportunity arose that couldn't be missed.
Felix said in his recent video above that "The reason why, despite all my controversies, that I'm still so popular is because fans know who I am. The people who actually know my videos and know me know that all of these things that people say in the media just aren't true." He even continues by saying "And when I have made mistakes in the past I have apologized and moved forward from it and moved on from it!"
In Conclusion...
If Pewdiepie is really an anti-Semitist, then how is it that he is still on the internet? YouTube's policies and agreements clearly state that "we don't support content that promotes or condones violence against individuals or groups based on race or ethnic origin...". So why is Pewdiepie still allowed on this platform?
The answer is simple: the articles are false. No man can judge another's heart, and especially can no news source determine what the actions of another mean. Felix has taken the time out of his day a surplus of times to address the media's claims. It's time that the media focus on news, not nonchalant accusations.
