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Selon l’agence Visibrain, 8,1 millions de tweets ont été publiés en moins de 24 heures sur l’attaque meurtrière à Rafah survenue dans la nuit de dimanche à lundi. Un hashtag incite à inonder de messages les influenceurs qui ne communiquent pas sur cet événement.
« 234 days since the start of the genocide in Gaza and still NOT ONE word from Tibo Inshape. » The face of the fitness YouTuber, who became the most followed in France this weekend with his 19 million subscribers, is displayed on the Instagram account « Blockoutfrance_2024 », which has a total of 46,000 followers. Originally from the United States, this hashtag encourages internet users to boycott celebrities who do not speak out on the Palestinian cause, or to flood them with messages on their social media platforms to encourage them to speak out. Other YouTubers such as Squeezie and EnjoyPhoenix are also targeted, as well as actors such as Pierre Niney and footballer Zinédine Zidane.
After the strike in Rafah, which has reportedly killed 45 people in a refugee camp during the night from Sunday to Monday, this movement is intensifying. On X (formerly Twitter), the web monitoring platform Visibrain has recorded 8.1 million tweets published in the last 24 hours about this attack. At the peak of activity, around midnight, over 17,000 tweets were published per minute.
Among these posts, some of these hashtags are now flooding the comments section of popular influencers in France. Like the hashtags #RafahOnFire, #Rafah and #RafahUnderAttack or even watermelon emojis (in reference to the colors of the Palestinian flag).
Product placements causing discord
Content creators are among the most scrutinized celebrities. Their young communities criticize them for partnering with companies that continue to engage in economic activities in Israel, rather than using their platform to inform about this issue. However, the notoriety of these YouTubers depends on these same subscribers, who can have a real impact on their communication.
A recent example is YouTuber Océane, who was criticized for promoting Coca-Cola in her latest video. « If you decide to make me the worst person because I drank Coca-Cola and wear Nike, then go ahead, block me, » she initially replied on her social media platforms, before deleting this content and making her YouTube video private. On her Twitch livestream, the young woman has since apologized, pleading ignorance on this issue.
YouTuber Mister V was also singled out for his collaboration with the fast-food chain KFC and the launch of his « Delamama » burger. On TikTok, influencer Anthonin apologized to his followers for ordering McDonald’s after leaving a nightclub and showing his order in a video. Two companies boycotted by pro-Palestinian activists, who hope to exert enough economic pressure for them to leave the country and for Israel to « be forced to comply with international law ».
« I don’t know how to communicate anymore »
With the intensification of the movement in recent hours, others have chosen to speak out on the subject. « No one is forcing us to talk about it. We stand with the Palestinian people, » reacted streamers Maxime Biaggi and Grim, hosts of the talk show Zen on Twitch.
Earlier in the afternoon, YouTuber Squeezie shared a video on his Instagram account by journalist and YouTuber HugoDécrypte explaining the situation in Rafah. For her part, her colleague and friend Léna Situations shared a link to a fundraiser to support Palestinian refugee families. The posts are not accompanied by comments from the content creators but simply relayed.
Most of the time, this sharing is done between two photos of outfit trials or shooting their next video. For some internet users, the gravitas of the information they relay sometimes seems contradictory to their business model based on a relationship with brands that encourages a form of political neutrality. As a result, their engagement is not always perceived as sincere. « I admire Squeezie for his opportunism, » replied one internet user under a tweet about his speaking out. « It’s only when their popularity is at stake that they take action, » adds another.
« I feel guilty because, honestly, I don’t know how to communicate since my platforms have become so important, » admitted Léna Situations on Instagram on October 19th, while she had already spoken out on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. « I have received serious threats this past week, which I take very seriously, hence my concern, » she revealed at the time.
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