Blockout Target Artists Reportedly Starting Lose Followers
Artists targeted for Blockout 2024, such as Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift, have reportedly lost hundreds of thousands of followers recently. (AP/Lewis Joly)
-- The stars targeted for the 2024 Blockout action have reportedly started losing followers on social media in recent times. Blockout 2024 is an action to block influential artists who are silent about Palestine.
AFP on Tuesday (14/5), citing analyst site Social Blade, reported that Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift are examples of artists who have lost followers recently.
Kim Kardashian has reportedly lost hundreds of thousands of followers, without detailing the figures. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift is also reported to have lost 200 thousand followers.
"This is about life and justice, if she [Taylor Swift] can get us all to vote, she also has the power to speak out about injustice," said one TikTok user who labeled himself as a Palestinian Swiftie.
He said it was time to block, unfollow, and stop streaming idols who were still silent about Israel's attack on Palestine.
However, it is not yet known for certain that Blockout 2024 was the only factor in the decline in followers of these artists or whether there were other aspects that influenced this change.
On the other hand, there have also been no reports regarding the impact of Blockout 2024 on the finances or income of the artists targeted by the action.
Natasha Lindstaedt, a professor at the University of Essex who studies celebrity activism, thinks the fallout from Blockout 2024 will only be short-lived.
"Sometimes people make decisions based on their emotional response to an issue and decide that if a celebrity isn't on the same side... they don't want to follow them anymore, but that's short-lived," he said.
The phenomenon, known as slacktivism, replaces low-risk online activities, such as uploading memes or unfollowing favorite stars, with meaningful political engagement.
Blockout 2024 is busy on social media as support for Palestine, which is still being attacked by Israel since October 7 2023. This action was triggered by celebrities at the 2024 Met Gala who were silent about Palestine, even though at that time Israel invaded Rafah.
This movement was initiated by various parties, such as journalist Bisan Owda. He is a Palestinian journalist who always provides updates on the situation in Gaza since the Israeli attack on October 7 2023 which killed nearly 35 thousand civilians.
He re-uploaded the social media accounts of world artists who had never spoken out about the attack even though the condition of civilians in Palestine was increasingly miserable.
The same movement was echoed by other residents who created the TikTok account @BlockOut2024. He asked netizens to block world celebrities who have been silent about Palestine until now.
This account also regularly uploads a list of artists who are targets for blocking or Blockout 2024, from musicians, actors, to celebrities who exist on Instagram and TikTok.
"But when we block their social media accounts, and completely forget their names, they lose everything. The attention we give them and the engagement they provide is their immediate currency."