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More Than 65,000 People Sign Petition To Remove PewDiePie From YouTube

More Than 65,000 People Sign Petition To Remove PewDiePie From YouTube

The Swedish YouTuber has more subscribers than any other channel

Jake Massey

Jake Massey

A petition to remove PewDiePie from YouTube has received more than 65,000 signatures.

Before we go on, an explanation for anybody over the age of 18 - PewDiePie is the made up name of Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, a Swedish guy who films himself playing games and just generally messing about.

Anyway, his YouTube channel has 92,752,913 subscribers. As such, the petition signers are vastly outnumbered and their autographs will almost certainly amount to nothing, but still, their cause is a notable one.

Maria Ruiz started the petition, citing the 29-year-old's 'normalisation of white supremacy' as the reason why he should be removed from the platform.

Kjellberg has previously been accused of antisemitism and was dropped by Disney in 2017 after several videos he published onto his YouTube channel included references to Nazism or anti-Semitic images.

The most controversial video involved the YouTube star paying two Indians to reveal a message which read 'Death to all Jews'. There was a strong backlash to the video, but Kjellberg denied he was anti-Semitic.

PewDiePie has denied being anti-Semitic.
PA

He said at the time: "I don't feel good. I don't feel too proud of this, I'm not going to lie. I'm not anti-Semitic or whatever it's called. It was a funny meme, and I didn't think it would work... I swear, I love jews. I love them."

The petition argues that the Christchurch terror attack should be viewed as a cue to take action.

The petition reads: "In the wake of the most recent mosque shooting I believe it is time to take action as a community and remove white supremacist content from our platforms. One of the largest platforms for white supremacist content is PewDiePie's YouTube channel.

"PewDiePie has on many occasions proven once and again to promote and affiliate himself with white supremacist and Nazi ideologies. Worst of all his channel is very much aimed toward children in their formative years.

"The New Zealand mosque shooter even mentioned PewDiePie by name and asked people to subscribe."

Following the attack - which claimed 50 lives - Kjellberg condemned the shooter.

In a tweet, he said: "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."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: GAMING, Entertainment, Celebrity, News, pewdiepie, YouTube