“Blockout”: but what is this mysterious pro-Palestinian hashtag that has been exploding on X since this weekend ?

Plusieurs personnalités sont pointées du doigt. MAXPPP

Depuis ce week-end, un hashtag explose sur X (Twitter) : Blockout, ou le fait de bloquer les personnalités qui refusent de dénoncer ce qui se passe à Gaza, victime de bombardements israéliens.

Amy Shumer, Lana Del Rey, Gal Gadot, Taylor Swift… lists of personalities have been published for several days on the social network. The goal of #blockout? To point out and block all public figures who refuse to express themselves on the dramatic situation affecting the Gaza Strip.

Block celebrities

An Internet user explains what the hashtag is: "The celebrities you should block, because they refuse to use their account, their influence and their voices [to denounce the situation] and believe that entertainment is all we need."

After the image of the watermelon, whose colors are reminiscent of the Palestinian flag, social networks are once again taking up this humanitarian crisis.

"Now we need a better, fairer, peaceful, equitable world, without famine or genocide", adds the same user. As a reminder, the term genocide, used by many voices speaking out for the protection of Gazans, was not retained by the International Court of Justice.

Guys i created a list of celebrities to block #blockout pic.twitter.com/AAc3nYachY

— sofia (@pariseffingcunt) May 9, 2024

Denounce rather than amuse

The hashtag was born after the Met Gala, where dozens of celebrities stood out on the steps of the New York museum. Exorbitant outfits, gourmet dinner and paparazzi on the lookout, the annual event by Anna Wintour has once again unleashed passions.

And that's the whole problem, Internet users denounce. Faced with the famine, violence and insecurity in which the 1.5 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are plunged, the Met Gala stood out with a certain bad taste. Users are calling for less celebration, or else more commitment, taking positions, and highlighting the horrors that affect civilians.

And the situation in Gaza is not the only one that Internet users would like to see denounced. The civil war ravaging Sudan, particularly in Darfur, where massacres are regularly committed, also requires more attention according to them.