Volunteers in Philadelphia’s Kensington say YouTubers and TikTokers are increasingly exploiting drug users as “trauma porn stars.”

The Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia is one of the most brutally obvious signs of America’s public health crisis. The so-called “open air drug market” in the middle of the country’s sixth most populous city is where hundreds of people use drugs, some of whom are unhoused, usually without being arrested by the police. It is a failure of our health care system, our cities, and our drug enforcement policies on public display.

For some, it’s also a content farm, where they turn other people’s misery into engagement and profit.

As I am writing this, 675 people are watching a YouTube livestream from a channel called USALIVESTREAM of a camera that is panning back and forth over the corner of Kensington Avenue and East Allegheny, where there’s a SEPTA train station that people congregate around. As is normal on YouTube, to the right of the video is a chat where viewers can talk to each other, and pay to post stickers and “super chats,” highlighted messages that cost as much as $500. The revenue generated from this chat is split between YouTube and the YouTube channel owner. YouTube and the channel owner also make money via pre-roll ads viewers have to watch before the video starts. It is a live version of a growing trend, mostly on YouTube and TikTok, where people make videos of people in distress, specifically in Kensington.

The dire situation at Kensington is such that the live feed is always capturing multiple people who are clearly in distress, slumped over while they’re standing, asleep in camping chairs, or using drugs. None appear to be aware they are being filmed and exploited as a form of entertainment.

read more: https://www.404media.co/youtube-is-monetizing-the-suffering-of-an-open-air-drug-market/

  • VikingHippie@lemmy.wtfEnglish
    101·
    8 months ago

    No. Absolutely not.

    Terminal cancer patients can’t take care of themselves either, do you want to take their rights away too?

    What about people with disabilities that require constant care, should they become “wards of the state” with fewer rights than children again like in the bad old days?

    • r3df0x ✡️✝☪️@7.62x54r.ruEnglish
      113·
      8 months ago

      Progressives who don’t believe in God support murdering disabled people through programs like MAID, which is just rehash of Action T4.

      Disabled people with families who take care of them don’t need government assistance. Unfortunately there are some people who need the government to take care of them.

      I should also point out that if someone relies on their family for care, they only have the rights that their family allows them.

      • VikingHippie@lemmy.wtfEnglish
        101·
        8 months ago

        Progressives

        Yeah, those of us who want humanity to progress rather than stagnate or even regress. So awful of us 🙄

        who don’t believe in God

        Leave your imaginary sky daddy out of it.

        support murdering disabled people

        Nah, that kind of thing is done by regressive monsters who are religious, superstitious or both. Like the nazis you’re referring to. They were religious, superstitious and not the least bit progressive. They were fascists.

        Disabled people with families who take care of them don’t need government assistance

        What fucking century do you live in where you think amateurs are better at dealing with disabilities than medical professionals??

        Unfortunately there are some people who need the government to take care of them.

        Yeah, literally everyone, in matters great and small. That’s what government is there for. To help and support all of the people who need it.

        I should also point out that if someone relies on their family for care, they only have the rights that their family allows them

        Ah, the century would be the 1700s if not earlier. That’s not how the law works, fundie.