An online activism campaign has celebrities who haven’t used their platforms to speak up in support of Palestine losing followers by the thousands.
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TVTranscript
00:00 Welcome to my block list.
00:02 Social media users are blocking celebrities and influencers who haven't spoken up in support of Palestine.
00:08 The campaign aims to force people with influence to use it, or face the economic impacts of losing followers.
00:14 The trend took off after a social media influencer shared a video of herself at the Met Gala,
00:19 lip-syncing to Marie Antoinette's famously out of touch
00:22 "Love to meet cake."
00:24 "Who took the bomb?"
00:26 Much like the French Revolution, calls for the rich and famous to face the digital guillotine, dubbed the Digi-teen, soon followed.
00:32 Hayley Bailey, who shared the original video, has reportedly lost 100,000 followers since posting it.
00:38 TikTok is now full of lists of celebrities and influencers to block, but the movement isn't without criticism.
00:44 It's been called performative, slacktivism, and poorly researched.
00:48 One list reportedly included Alan Rickman, who died in 2016,
00:53 while others included the Hadid sisters, who are themselves Palestinian.
00:57 There are also concerns that the trend, which was made in part to reject celebrity worship,
01:02 is taking focus away from Palestinian voices and centering celebrity gossip.
01:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]