PewDiePie ADL controversy

 PewDiePie ADL controversy(Censorship,  Internet history)

The BBC's clear attempt to victimise the ADL and demonise PewDiePie.
Date	September 2019
Location	UK,  US
Supposed participants	“Alt-right”
Participants	PewDiePie, ADL
Exposed	ADL
Interests	Censorship
Description	The ADL's attempt to destroy the world's most recognised YouTuber. There are still a number of theories to what really happened behind the scenes.

The PewDiePie ADL controversy was an important event in 2019. It was between Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie and the Anti-Defamation League.The controversy was reported on with media spin. The controversy will be a significant event in Internet history, and the censorship of free expression.

Events

PewDiePie announced that he would be donating 50 thousand dollars to the ADL to celebrate him reaching 100 million subscribers on YouTube.

Many of his fans found this odd considering the ADL had accused him of "Antisemitism" before and had called for him to be censored.

The donation was retracted in a surprise last minute change of heart.

Commentary

The mainstream media strongly took the side of the ADL. The BBC painted PewDiePie in an unflattering light. Every mainstream media article described the ADL as an "anti-Hate group", and portrayed PewDiePie as an enemy image, just as the ADL had done.

A number of commentators on YouTube covered the story.

• Sargon of Akkad
• Styxhexenhammer666
• Tim Pool
• Brittany Venti (13 September) (and 24 September)

Analysis

There are a number of theories to what actually happened.

• Bad advice - PewDiePie was given the idea of the ADL by somebody else, and later had a change of heart. This is the Official narrative.

• Blackmail? - Was PewDiePie blackmailed to propose the donation in the first place. Was an ultimatum given?

• Peer pressure - Another theory is that YouTube had recommended the donation to go to the ADL.

• An honest mistake - The good intentions were overlooked by the contradictions. This theory is that PewDiePie did not know who the ADL were, and only rescinded the donation after the backlash from his fans, in order to save face. This is unlikely as the ADL had already written hit pieces on him, which he was aware of.

• 4D Chess - The most interesting theory, promoted by YouTuber Styxhexenhammer666. This premise begins with the idea that the entire controversy was planned by PewDiePie in order to get one over on the ADL. The malicious acts of the ADL would be exposed to his audience, mainly young people, who would find out who they were and would give the ADL bad attention for it. The point of this would be to deflect criticism off himself, onto the ADL. Brittany Venti questioned this theory.

 

Known Participants

All 2 of the participants already have pages here:

Participant	Description
Anti-Defamation League
PewDiePie	One of the most famous YouTubers. He has been a target of the Anti-Defamation League.

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