This is a dark day. Fifty people have been confirmed dead and fifty more were injured after a gunman opened fire in two Christchurch, New Zealand mosques in the early afternoon of March 15th.
The shooting at Al Noor Mosque was live-streamed through Facebook, and the shooter, identified as a 28-year-old Australian man, can be heard saying “Remember lads, subscribe to PewDiePie” before opening fire on hundreds of worshipers. Evidence has appeared that the shooter was steeped in internet culture, with the shooter posting a message on the 8chan forums before the stream:
Please do your part by spreading my message, making memes and shitposting as you usually do.
– The shooter’s message on 8chan
Social media companies including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube struggled to remove video snippets of the shooting live stream, which were re-uploaded across the internet as fast as they can be taken down, across multiple social media and video platforms. YouTube made a statement on Twitter that “our hearts are broken” and that they are “working vigilantly to remove any violent footage.” Reddit made the choice to ban certain subreddits where users kept uploading the video in violation of its policy against content which can be interpreted as glorifying or encouraging violence. Conversely, Daily Mail Online and Daily Mirror posted the murder video on their websites, and were roundly criticized by furious and heartbroken internet citizens, who claimed this was a new low in clickbait.
The shooter also posted a 74-page, 16,500-word manifesto called “The Great Replacement,” saying that he was inspired by Norway mass murderer Anders Breivik. I am not supposed to give my opinion, but the shooter probably he said what he did about PewDiePie in order to attract attention from PewDiePie’s massive global audience, to expose them to his extremist viewpoints and contribute to their radicalization, or, most likely, to spread his message as widely as possible.
The murderer identified himself politically as an “eco-fascist,” condemning conservatives and communists alike, stating that he blamed immigrants and capitalists both, and planned “to deal with both.” He also ranted about killing prominent politicians, spoke about the degeneracy and nihilism of celebrity culture, and wrote obsessively about low white birthrates, claiming that white populations were being replaced worldwide due to low birthrates (hence the name of the manifesto). Many news sources declined to post the manifesto at all, fearing the spread of extremist propaganda.
PewDiePie released a statement on Twitter: “Just heard news of the devastating reports from New Zealand Christchurch. I feel absolutely sickened having my name uttered by this person. My heart and thoughts go out to the victims, families and everyone affected by this tragedy.”
PewDiePie did not post on Twitter again or upload any YouTube videos for a duration following the massacre, likely because his normally lighthearted content resurfacing soon after a tragedy might seem disrespectful to victims and their families.
The PewDiePie subreddit was also closed indefinitely, with a tweet from its moderator reading that it would “remain closed until further notice.”
A link was also posted on the closed subreddit asking for support to be sent to the Christchurch Shooting Victims’ Fund:
At the time of update, this victims’ fund has reached an amount of more than eight million dollars of support from around the world.
You, too, can do your part for humanity in the wake of this tragedy, by sending your support to victims and their families. We must let it be known that such acts of reckless hate will never divide those who choose to love each other.
Send your support to the victims and their families »
This is sickening and i would give my life to any of the ones who died but unfortunately that isnt possible…SAD
well that’s so easy to say
Exactly! I hate how the media immediately jumps to the fact that there is a connection between these 2 but there is not. Just because he says to subscribe to Pewdiepie doesn’t mean that Felix supports this behaviour. It just means that he might enjoy watching Felix’s content, which 89,000,000 people on Youtube also enjoy.THERE IS NO CORRELATION BETWEEN THE 2.
Well Gloria thinks it was just for attention, no other reason. I agree with that.
Well Gloria thinks it was just for attention, no other reason. I agree with that.
I asked my history teacher if he’e subscribed to pewdiepie and he said “I don’t want to relate myself to someone that took role in the New Zealand shooting.
sounds like my brother
Bruh sounds like something my teachers would say
you wouldn’t
That’s easier said than done
you sound like one of those facebook moms, but ya i do agree with you what kind of sick idiot does this.
I Hate this guy he is most likely mentally ill but we cant fixor mend brokenmen like him but build strong people against it Wecan build up stronger then that men if not..were like him
Oh that motherfucker
Now the media will go after pewdiepie again
They’ll go after him no matter what he does.
He’s a successful white man.
The media hates white men, especially the successful ones.
This site needs the ability to flag and moderate comments.
Comments aren’t published until they’re manually reviewed, so absolutely everything is moderated.
Well then you shouldn’t allow the first comment. Messages like “the media hates white men” are nothing but spreading hate and dividing people, they are fascist in its very core and blatantly not true. Media is full of approval for white men, open any magazine and you will find singers like Justin Bieber, Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith or Post Malone, actors like Leo di Caprio, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, George Clooney or Bradley Cooper, majority of sportsmen, politicans, etc. etc. These people are covering all the covers, they are talked about all the time and nobody frickin hates them.
So this “imaginary” hate for white men is actually a construction made by alt-right themselves, when they try to somehow portray themselves as victims in society while actually being ONLY people who were never victims in the history of human kind.
Correct, the leftist media hates everyone who does not fit in their frame. Felix have his own opinion and the media hate it
Not *all* leftist/liberal media does this.
Pewdiepie has nothing to do with thw shooter whatsoever, That guy literally just want to cause A HUGE Problem to pewdiepie, 9 YEAROLDS DON’T USE GUNS WE USE WORDS, WHAT EVER THE FUTURE MAYBE BRING THIS FANBASE WILL STILL BE RELEVANT!
This event is sickening to hear about. we use words not violence
it is so cowardly to murder ppl while they are praying to something they believe in. And as if that wasn’t bad enough he dragged felixes name in the dirt as well. sending all my love and prayers to the ones who lost their lives and to the ones who lost their families.
I second that. No one deserves such a cruel fate. My condolences go out to all the family/friends/people affected by this horrific man. Also if I see even one media outlet make the connection that Pewdiepie is in any way to blame for even a fraction of a decimal of a percent of this horrific shooting, I will flip out.
at this point pewdiepie should just let tseries pass, the joke is over and it just keeps on hurting his image
He can’t just let them pass, he isn’t in control of the situation, the internet has taken the reigns and there’s nothing he can do to stop them
the shooter is trying to make people hate pewdiepie because he thinks that the shooting was pewdiepies fault
How does he think its pewdiepies fault if it was himself who did the shooting?
It actually makes a slight bit of sense that hes trying to bring his name down. He specifically discociated with the term conservative and trump supporter or whatever even tho he was an eco fascist. maybe he didn’t want to bring down that label but didnt even care about pews reputation
This should really have nothing to do with Pewdiepie, he shouldn’t let himself be hurt by this.
Even if he gives up, Felix can’t stop the war… it’s all about the community
pewdiepie should carry on but i do kinda agree
let’s see how fast the other news channels are to throw shade at Pewdiepie just because his name was said by a bad person
its been a day now, no big news channel blamed pewdiepie YET
Now everyone will attack pewds, as always. Sending prayers to the families of the ones who lost their lives.
Shocking. This shooter is disgusting. Horrible man. Nothing more to say.
Prayers for the lost.
Bringing Felix into this mess is disgusting. It’s just adding fuel to multiple fires
Guys, this one is in bad taste. I think you should delete this.
This is an actual shooting in Christchurch New Zealand, and it was indeed livestreamed. The shooter did indeed tell viewers to subscribe to PewDiePie. Mr. Borger Borger, I know this is a story a bit too serious for this news site, but it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be here.
@ExtraMerc
I agree. I think even if it’s a serious (and tragic) story, I think it has a right to be posted on this news site.
what he is trying to do is dividing the world! this was one of his tactics of the many he did yesterday…..we should be scarred if he or friends of his try to damahe the world even more because they know how to divide us…its scary.
this never should have happened in my own country. thank you to the internet for the support
fasinating how Pew news app is more factually accurate than some other news sites I’ve seen … like jokes aside … good on whoever wrote this article. It’s short but to the point.
I think I’m going to vomit this dude is horrible
Damn, thats tragic
By trying to kill “terrorists” he has become the very thing. Also he added felix for publicity.
If you read his manifesto he actually wasnt trying to kill terrorists.
First of all, it wasn’t his actual goal to just kill terrorists, there were much more to it than that for him. Second of all, he didn’t deny being a terrorist himself with this act. He did rather consider himself as a partisan, but admitted that by the official definition of the word the attack was a terrorist act
People are taking this so seriously that their shooting people. Totally not cool
I don’t think pewdiepie is the reason behind the shooting. I think the guy said that as a gag.
he said it to get even more attention….
yep and plus, this is not what he stands for
He was inspired by some mass shooting in germany or whatever, not pew
One of his main inspirations was the shooting committed by Anders Breivik and he said that he got radicalized by the 2017 terrorist attack in Sweden
Honestly so fucking disgusting. The shooter deserves a fucking death sentence, ruining people’s lives, taking them away like it’s nothing. Disgraceful!
The terrorist was planning for 2 years when the battle between t-series and pewds didn’t exit he just mentioned pewds to gain an extra fame.
He was planning for 2 years when the battle between t-series and pewds didn’t exit he just mentioned pewds to gain an extra fame.
The mainstream media is accusing pewdiepie of causing this even though he clearly mentions that he condemns this
How could someone shooting up a place say “Subscribe to Pewdiepie” when doing it!
This is not how a 9 year old works.
I think you shouldn’t talk about this one here or anywhere. It’s something we should ignore. The only message to spread here is to ignore anything that has something to do with terrorism.
I understand your concern, but in the world we live in it’s important to address these issues. Although it’s depressing nobody wants their death to be turned away and ignored because it’s too painful. What this man did was awful and for him to use Felix’s name in such a situation is just horrible. We as his community shouldn’t turn away from this, rather we should use this as a lesson. The world always wants to blame someone for something, and even if Felix had nothing to do with it that’s who the media is going try to blame.
Ah yes, ignore the deaths of 50 people
Dude you can’t just turn a blind eye when something bad happens. That’s not how it works. Ignoring the problem doesn’t solve anything
This guy is fricked up.
that man is fucked up
PEWDS is the best he never inspired for violence he makes me smile.. he is been throught alot from 9 years. he supported many people by his fame by his income by his power he did and now its our 9 year old jobs to protect these itchy blames of main stream media..
This man isn’t a true fan, he is just a Terrorist , we nine year olds have to ignore this and fight in the war : Pewdiepie vs T-series , Take the sub guns out! Ready? FIGHT!
We won’t let this nobody ruin our meme. This is OURS and if we let him ruin it then we are giving him what he wants. We support and love the victims but this piece of scum will die faceless and nameless and he won’t get the fame he wanted. Disgusting human being.
I hope the families get support and recovery.
It’s so fucking sad bc I LIVE IN NEWZEALAND and this is not how we do things. The gunman was Australian, and when the news went international we hoped that they would put the blame on Australia but….
I respectively ask that we take the man’s name out of the article to not draw any attention to him.
Since PewDiePie didn’t respond to this in his latest video, is it possible to remove this article? I think it would be a good idea.
Exactly! I hate how the media immediately jumps to the fact that there is a connection between these 2 but there is not. Just because he says to subscribe to Pewdiepie doesn’t mean that Felix supports this behaviour. It just means that he might enjoy watching Felix’s content, which 89,000,000 people on Youtube also enjoy.THERE IS NO CORRELATION BETWEEN THE 2.
The monster who did this is only doing this to divide others. He knows how much the media despises Pewdiepie and how several people still label him as an anti-semite so doing this will get more people to attack Felix and his fans. This terrorist isn’t dumb, he knows how to manipulate the public and the MSMs and several conservatives and liberals are all gobbling it up, pointing the finger at others instead of ways to solve the problem.
Fellow nine year olds we shouldn’t take this as a tragedy (though what happened was horrific and totally messed up) we should take this as an opportunity to prove to the news sources and social media what we already know PewDiePie was never involved in this and that he is a good person. Though his name gets dragged through the dirt way to often we will prevail and all of this shade that is being thrown at him will encourage other children and people that have unsubscribed to PewDiePie to get back in the fight we will win this!
#jointoday
Dear writer of this article. I’d like to point out an error :
“Reddit made the choice to ban certain subreddits where users kept uploading the video in violation of its policy against content glorifying or encouraging violence. ”
This is incorrect. The video was uploaded with a factual description of the shooting. Not a single person in the comment section encouraged or glorified the violence. The title was neutral. Uploading the video is not glorifying or encouraging violence. The admins of Reddit chose this time to ban the sub to become more advert-friendly like they have planned for a long time.
Please correct this, you can find a lot of information about this in the comments of the Reddit post on the frontpage where the ban is announced, and on r/watchRedditdie.
Why would he bring pewdiepie into this like whyyyyy, and he shoots people for fucking clout, what an idiotic person, is their death sentence in Zealand cuz I hope he fucking dies for the action that he has caused.
They’ll go after him no matter what he does.
He’s a successful white man.
The media hates white men, especially the successful ones.
I agree with you because a lot of people and companies are becoming more,e racist and sexist when they are trying to do the opposite. In some cases, trying to reduce sexism and racism only causes more sexism and racism, even when it’s not trying to do that. Suddenly, the media is trying to make out any white man to be evil, even when they are nice, down-to-earth people.
how can i write my own article.
just go on the left side-bar and hit “contribute”
now this is bad, folks.
I’m as a moslem didnt want give a mercy to who shot my friend on there,so i so sorry for this
Its sad that the victims are getting less attention than a youtuber who don’t even live in NZ. He has stated more than 3 times that he doesnt condone that kind of behavior. it’s also sad that the people speading hate to Australia, America (the right and left) and Pewdiepie are doing exactly what the terrorist wanted. Its sick, Vox is sick, Buzz Feed is sick and all those other articles using Pewdiepie has the symbol for this attack
The left has been using this to push their agenda which is really messed considering that they use 49 deaths to blame others just to do so.
I saw the video, that dude was a fricking monster!!! He’s messed up, and no one should use Pewdiepie’s name while doing something like that.
How dare you say frick in this family friendly website.
What a horrible thing to do
what did those muslims do to deserve this, they were just praying in peace and then get killed for what they believe in, muslims want peace just like you do, we need to stop the racism against islam
This could likewise be someone who dislikes pewdiepie, hopefully this person get the worst of punishments this is not the people we need in our societies but sadly they keep popping up . Condolences from Sweden!
This man not only killed dozens of people but still pulled Pewdiepie into it, disgusting.
he did this so the media would attack Pewdiepie
This is horrible and the fact that various people、including the media、are blaming pewdiepie and linking him to this event is horrible. They are just doing exactly what that monster wants.
I do not support his actions, but “white populations were being replaced worldwide due to low birthrates” is actually true.
Pewdiepie has nothing to do with this, god.
May their souls rest in peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. I wish Felix the best. I know how hard it is for him.
I am from the very same city as the shooting location. My mum was in the same suburb. I was luckily at home at the time. Every damn school was in lock down in the city. Even towns 10’s of kilometers were in lock-down. Look at google maps and see how far Rangiora is, they were even in lock down. I believe what the news is doing is SICK. ABSOLUTELY SICK. They aren’t thinking about the people who died, they just want publicity and traction on their website. they are getting it and they don’t deserve it. I’m not saying do not sub to PewDiePie but I am saying DON’T BE SELFISH AND USE OTHER PEOPLES DEATHS TO GAIN PUBLICITY.
YES! I couldn’t agree more
);
I eff ing crying the dude was just a memer, a rasist memer, im so conflicted and hurt.
and disgusted.
This upsets me so much. Felix did nothing. Leave him alone
I think this is really stupid how the shooter said “remember lads, Subscribe to PewDiePie” giving more fire to his bad name already from past and what the internet has come to. And I pray and hope that families will recover from this devistation
This really is bad. Stop with this… NOW! To kill people and at the same time say “Subscribe to PewDiePie!” ruins the world.
I think he could have said “Subscribe to Pewdiepie” just to give people the impression that people who are subscribed to Pewdiepie, are horrible people, while it’s not that way.
I hate this man from the bottom of my heart. He did something no one thought of, causing harm to the real AND virtual world. smh hope this doesn’t hurt pewd’s that much and im sorry for all the people involved, I hope they all feel better.
When I read the title I said to myself: Why the hell would someone make a joke about this!!
I then do some research and holy shit he actually did. I support all pewdiepie fans, except for this one. When I’m in hell, I’ll rule. And I’ll make him pay. Nobody deserves to have this happen to them.
I think that it’s terrible that he would even dare speak of Pewdiepie, King of All Nine Year Olds.
the fact the people are like this is just horrible
The fact that there are so many comments give him more fame!
I send out my love from the bottom of my heart to the people involved in this tragey.
My grandma grounded me because I was subscribed to pewdiepie since apparently “He supports genocide.”
I am from new Zealand I know pews don’t control what shit comes out of people’s mouths but on a real level thay banned semi automatic weapons from new Zealand I swear to god we are a communist country now
Ugh this is just sickening how someone would do this. Honestly, why?