 "What is 'Blockout2024' movement, where A-list celebs are losing followers over Gaza war?")
It’s 2024, and people are no longer following celebrities for their glam looks and chic outfits. Their opinions and stand on pressing issues have to resonate with their followers.
The young the world over are passionate about the ongoing Gaza war – the campus protests are proof. They want their influencers to influence and those who have decided to remain mum are facing the wrath of fans wielding the “digital guillotine” or a “digitine”. Wonder what that is.
Many social media users have used the now-viral term as a call to unfollow or block celebrities who have not been vocal about their stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
Taylor Swift, Drake, Kardashians, and many more have become targets of the movement, which began in response to the perceived disconnect between the recently held glamorous Met Gala and the grim realities of the conflict.
Will this movement hurt celebrities? Let’s take a closer look
How did the ‘digitine’ movement start?
On 7 May, influencer Haley Kalil stirred controversy by uttering “Let them eat cake” in a brief video, a phrase notoriously associated with France’s last queen Marie Antoinette, symbolising the callous disregard of 18th-century French aristocrats towards the poor.
An influencer straight up making a “let them eat cake” video at the met gala last night. No self awareness at all. None. pic.twitter.com/39rYMZqzLe
— Read Starting Somewhere (@JPHilllllll) May 7, 2024
Impact Shorts
More ShortsKalil’s statement sparked anger among TikTok users, who criticised it for perpetuating the notion that while Gaza residents endure hunger crises, wealthy celebrities remain oblivious to their plight.
Fellow TikToker Rae, who started the movement, responded, “It’s time for the people to conduct what I want to call a digital guillotine, a digitine, if you will,” referring to the execution apparatus used during the French Revolution.
“We gave them their platforms. It’s time to take it back, take our views away, our likes, our comments, our money, by blocking them on all social media and digital platforms. We sentence you to the digitine,” she urged in her video.
LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO #blockout2024 pic.twitter.com/ujPKgm09vn
— CritiCold🔻 (@ColdCriti) May 9, 2024
The video, gaining traction on TikTok, urges users for an en-mass social media block to compel celebrities to take notice and feel compelled to address the situation in Palestine.
Only two days before the Met Gala, on 4 May, Cindy McCain, the head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said in an NBC News interview that northern Gaza is experiencing “full-blown famine”.
TikTokers now aim to substantially reduce celebrities’ follower counts, aiming to diminish their ability to earn revenue from advertisements.
Rae’s video has over 1.7 million views, 446,000 likes, and thousands of comments from people who shared which celebrities they have blocked.
Which celebrities are under the radar?
Reality star Kim Kardashian, who attended the ball in New York, has lost hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers in recent days, according to analytics site Social Blade.
Global music superstar Taylor Swift, who opted to focus on her Eras Tour rather than appear at the event, has also seen a decline of more than 200,000 followers since last Thursday.
“This is about lives and justice – if she can rally all of us to vote, she has the power to speak up about injustice,” said TikToker, who described herself as a “Palestinian Swiftie” and was quoted as saying in an AFP report that it was time to block, unfollow and stop streaming her idol.
Several prominent figures have been consistently mentioned in multiple videos as popular options for blocking. These include Israeli actor Gal Gadot, Noah Schnapp, Harry Styles, Kylie Jenner, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Selena Gomez, Zendaya, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and Miley Cyrus, among others.
“Yalla, let’s all block the people who we made famous and rich.. who are living in a fantasy world…destroying our environment, society, harmony and economy, and don’t even put some effort to educate themselves about us, the 99% of the world’s population who made them,” Palestinian journalist and activist Bisan Owda known for her social media video reports from Gaza, posted on her Instagram story this weekend.
How will this movement impact celebrities?
The current movement to block celebrities on social media platforms is proving to be a more effective form of protest compared to simply unfollowing them, according to experts whom Al Jazeera quoted.
Eddy Borges-Rey, an associate professor at Northwestern University in Qatar, emphasised that while unfollowing a celebrity has minimal impact on their overall audience and engagement metrics, blocking them completely cuts off interaction with their content. He noted that social media celebrities rely heavily on visibility and engagement for advertising deals, making a decrease in audience size detrimental to their reach.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Borges-Rey explained, “If someone blocks the celebrity, they completely cut off all interaction with their content.” This action leads social media algorithms to deprioritize the celebrity’s content, making it less visible across the platform, even to users who haven’t blocked them.
Since the inception of the “digitine,” numerous celebrities listed for blocking, including rapper Lizzo and influencer Chris Olsen, have shared their initial public videos urging followers to contribute to support Gaza families and aid organizations assisting Palestinians.
“Social pressure has worked so far on Lizzo and Hank Green in the past day or so, as well as a lot of creators that had yet to speak out,” responded one user to a question about the campaign’s effectiveness_._
However, Natasha Lindstaedt, a professor at the University of Essex who studies celebrity activism, pointed out to AFP that while the movement may lead to temporary dips in a celebrity’s social media popularity, the long-term impact remains uncertain. Lindstaedt described this phenomenon as “slacktivism,” where individuals substitute low-stakes online actions for meaningful political engagement.
Lindstaedt noted that decisions to unfollow or block celebrities often stem from emotional responses to specific issues, but their lasting impact may be fleeting.
With inputs from agencies
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