The K-pop community said “fuck snitches.”
Over the weekend, Black Lives Matter protests unfurled around the globe in response to the despicable murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesotan police. Soon after the harrowing footage of Floyd’s murder began circulating online, there was a mass call for the arrest of Derek Chauvin, an officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes, ultimately resulting in his death.
On Sunday, the Dallas Police Department asked people to submit “videos of illegal activity” from the Black Lives Matter protests in the city through the “iWatch Dallas” app. The app is basically a breeding ground for snitches, cop sympathisers and Karen’s. It allows people to submit photo, video or text tips about possible crimes.
This didn’t sit well with K-pop stans. Twitter user @ngelwy rallied up the troops, encouraging fellow fans to spam the app with photos and videos of their favourite artists. Their scheme worked, a few hours later the App crashed. “Due to technical difficulties iWatch Dallas app will be down temporarily,” the Dallas Police Department tweeted.
Due to technical difficulties iWatch Dallas app will be down temporarily. pic.twitter.com/zksA1hkVhV
— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) May 31, 2020
@ngelwy has since suggested that the army of k-pop social justice heroes delete the app and clear the cache out of fear Dallas Police will store users personal information.
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uninstall the app and clear the cache of the app now, please.
— j (@shingibbangi) June 1, 2020
In another display of solidarity, K-Pop fans have coordinated voluntary censorship on phrases that might trend on Twitter that would take away attention from the Black Live Matter movement.
If you’re not familiar with the K-Pop stan realm, they are at essence a super passionate, hyper internet-savvy generation of teens. Stans will spend their days flooding the Twitter timeline with hashtags related to their favourite artists, usually in an attempt to bolster a release.
The stans have decided to take a step back from pushing their favourite artists, so not to distract from the crucial discourse surrounding Black Lives Matter and police brutality.
BTS fans, or “Armys,” have been censoring the names of the group’s members to prevent them from trending.
https://twitter.com/BTS_SNIPPER/status/1265996462992875528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1265996462992875528&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsea.mashable.com%2Fsocial-good%2F10788%2Fk-pop-fans-are-supporting-blacklivesmatter-by-refusing-to-promote-their-faves-on-twitter
Blackpink and Lady Gaga’s collaboration ‘Sour Candy‘ did trend on U.S. Twitter on its release date. Though Blackpink fans —or “Blinks”— acknowledged that it is not the right time for fans to promote the collaboration.
To all BLINKs and BP fanbases! Please stop using the tagline so we can all show our respects for George Floyd. Instead let's put our energy into fighting for justice, signing petitions, and spreading awareness. I hope everyone understands, please and thank you. #BlackLivesMatter
— BLACKPINK BLINK USA UNION 🎡 (@BBU_USA) May 28, 2020
Donate to the Black Lives Matter movement here.