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PewDiePie Is Inexcusable But DMCA Takedowns Are Not the Way To Fight Him (vice.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, is the most popular YouTuber in the world. He's gotten himself into another controversy, this time for shouting the n-word while livestreaming a video game. The 27-year-old Swede has repeatedly been criticized for hate speech, and just last month said he would no longer make Nazi jokes after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia turned violent. But while playing PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on Sunday, Kjellberg, who has over 57 million subscribers on YouTube, called another player the n-word before erupting into laughter. "What a fucking n****r," he said. "Jeez, oh my god. What the fuck? Sorry, but what the fuck? What a fucking asshole. I don't mean that in a bad way." Kjellberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and has yet to publicly acknowledge the incident.
In response to Kjellberg's use of a racial slur, a number of video game players and developers have condemned the creator. Sean Vanaman, the co-founder of video game company Campo Santo, decided to use copyright law to push back against Kjellberg. On Twitter, he said he was filing a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown request against the famous YouTuber regarding a video in which Kjellberg plays Campo Santo's game Firewatch. There are compelling reasons to [remove hate speech from major internet platforms] by any means necessary, but DMCA overreach is among the least compelling options, considering that it unilaterally puts power into the hands of what are essentially uninvolved parties and allows for little arbitration or defense on the part of those who have their content removed.
In response to Kjellberg's use of a racial slur, a number of video game players and developers have condemned the creator. Sean Vanaman, the co-founder of video game company Campo Santo, decided to use copyright law to push back against Kjellberg. On Twitter, he said he was filing a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown request against the famous YouTuber regarding a video in which Kjellberg plays Campo Santo's game Firewatch. There are compelling reasons to [remove hate speech from major internet platforms] by any means necessary, but DMCA overreach is among the least compelling options, considering that it unilaterally puts power into the hands of what are essentially uninvolved parties and allows for little arbitration or defense on the part of those who have their content removed.
"publicly acknowledge the incident"? Except for that apology video he posted shortly after ending the stream the same day.
"An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard" and yet I can't see a link to that report in this article. Also, having heard about this whole thing elsewhere I know that PewDiePie has most definitely responded already in another video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLdxuaxaQwc&ab_channel=PewDiePie
Yet another case of poor editing at /.
Note I'm not in any way, shape, or form defending PewDiePie, despite his thorough apology and admittance of guilt. The fact the n-word came out like that for me points to it being part of his cultural vocabulary.
N*gger isn't a swear word it's a demeaning and dehumanizing word.
Curse words like fuck allude to sex, n*gger is designed to erase anything distinct about someone and reduce them to a preconceived construct designed to abstract the target instead of dealing directly with the individual on common terms.
Perhaps words can change meaning over time but there are many people alive who have had negative experiences involving that word being used as I described above, and to hear someone who you are supposed to enjoy drop that word takes a lot of the enjoyment out for certain people.
Twinstiq, game news