#blockout 2024 ：一众明星为何被押上赛博断头台？

全文字数：3219字  /  阅读时长：9分钟

Hundreds of celebrities are on the “digital guillotine”as social media users campaign for a #blockout 2024 — urging one another to block the social media accounts of big names who have remained silent about the ongoing humanitarian atrocities in Gaza. Many household names are included— from Taylor Swift to Zendaya to Justin Bieber.

On May 6, celebrities flocked to the steps of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, swathed in jewelry and fineries, as hundreds of pro-Palestine activists protested just miles away. That same night, Israeli airstrikes targeted Rafah, an enclave on the border of the Gaza Strip that was a refuge for Palestinians amid the ongoing war.

Social media was flooded with images from the star-studded event. Around the same time, images circulated as Israel launched a military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. That led to some users calling out the contrast between the gala’s celebrity opulence and the situation in Gaza — using images from both - and condemning celebrities for not using their platforms to speak up for those who are suffering.

People made comparisons to The Hunger Games, the popular book franchise by Suzanne Collins that highlights the dystopian social divide between the wealthy Capitol elite and the impoverished district citizens living under state oppression. 

“This is genuinely so dystopian,” a man said in a video. “These people are living in a different plane of reality than the rest of us.”

Much of the movement began with reactions to an ill-advised video from influencer Hayley "Baylee" Kalil (@haleyybaylee) who posted a video of herself at a Met Gala pre-event, lip-syncing to the alleged Marie-Antoinette quote, "Let them eat cake," which appeared in Sofia Coppola's 2006 biopic of the French queen. 

Though there's no historical evidence Marie-Antoinette actually said it, the quote is indicative of the struggles during the French Revolution.

TikTok user Rae (@ladyfromtheoutside) has been attributed the kickoff to the movement, specifically using the term "digital guillotine" or "digitine" and asking for TikTok users to begin by unfollowing Baylee in particular. The "guillotine" reference points to Baylee's use of the infamous Marie-Antoinette quote, as both Louis XVI and the Queen were executed by guillotine after the revolution prevailed.

The goal of Blockout 2024 is pretty simple: hit them where it hurts.

For months, activists have flooded the comments section of popular influencers and celebrities to no avail. If anything, the barrage of comments has just boosted celebrities’ engagement because all publicity is good publicity. So instead of waiting for their favourite celebrities to speak out, audience are simply redirecting their attention to real-world problems, and leaving the celebrities without their engagement.

TikTokkers have explained that the movement is about the overwhelming silence from public figures, about celebrities recognizing their reach, and people redirecting their money and attention from these faces. 

Media outlets have explained that the digital revolt is all the more impactful because people are not only removing celebrities from their feeds, but actually blocking them, thereby removing their monetary gains from targeted ads: "This is a grassroots push for accountability and social responsibility from all members of the community, celebrity or not," reads an Instagram post from a company.

Others participating in the movement have also have pointed out that disillusionment with celebrities in the midst of world crises is nothing new, and that the pro-Palestine movement is largely being propelled and given voice by the people — those on the ground, working to make change.

"Why is it that we are more invested in a small blip from a celebrity?," asks creator @ashcashistrash. "I do not care if Kim Kardashian has a fucking thing to say about it. I care about the people who are on the ground suffering, the people who have educated themselves here in America, who are protesting. I do not care about celebrities and you shouldn't either."

Mashable's Elena Cavender and Chase DiBenedetto argue similarly, writing, "Why are we so obsessed with what celebrities think of social movements?" While celebrities have the means to direct attention towards Palestine, they wrote, "it's up to those online to choose where to focus their eyes."

Still, some online pointed out the impact that an influencer can make with a single social media post: One GoFundMe campaign reached its $200,000 goal less than 24 hours after TikTok creator Yuval Ben-Hayun shared it in a video, asking viewers to donate to help get his friend’s family out of Gaza.

In the days since the “digitine” began, several stars on the block lists — such as rapper Lizzo and influencer Chris Olsen — have posted their first public videos encouraging their followers to donate in support of families in Gaza and aid organizations serving Palestinians.

Social media-based activism can be fleeting: followers lose interest; momentum dies down; and the reach of movements is limited by algorithms.

Instagram feeds have been inundated with infographics, charts, and gruesome images of death and destruction. TikTok — once an app primarily known for goofy dances — has become a battleground for shaping the public narrative around the long-standing Israel-Palestine conflict. 

For many — especially younger people — their entire exposure to the conflict has been on social media, as opposed to learning of it on a college campus, through family, or via traditional media. It only makes sense, then, that these same platforms have become an outlet for their responses, whether in the form of frustration, activism, or some combination thereof.

END