Opinion: Why do we let YouTubers get away with everything?

Some things are unforgivable.

Warning: some details of this article may prove upsetting for some readers Cancel culture is everywhere these days, it seems like you can be forced off the internet for literally anything but of course, some things are a whole lot worse than others. YouTubers are people who always seem to be in the middle of some controversy, whether it's simply tweeting something they shouldn't have or more horrific like a sexual offence. Despite what it is and the long and forced emotional apology they put out on their channel, we always seem to forgive them, what's that about? This topic came to me yesterday morning when I looked at my phone and saw I had a notification to say that David Dobrik posted a new video. David dropped off the face of the earth after he was forced to make an apology video earlier this year after being accused of facilitating a sexual assault and exploiting former members of his group 'Vlog Squad.' One of his former members Durte Dom was accused of the act, but it was David who placed the girl in the situation in the first place. While Dom made an apology video, along with David and another member of his squad Jeff Wittek, why are we letting them post as if nothing has happened? Whatever about smaller YouTubers who may have done minor things and were still welcomed back, when it comes to such horrific acts, the big YouTubers seem to get a free pass. Look at Logan Paul, a man who is currently going through a mega successful UFC career. Everybody seems to have quickly forgotten his 2017 video that got him temporarily banned from ad revenue on YouTube. Logan filmed himself in a Japanese forest when he came across what seemed to be a dead body, which he posted footage of. His channel was suspended for a short time, but he's only more successful since it happened. A video was posted back in 2014 by Sam Pepper, a popular English YouTuber at the time, called "Fake Hand Ass Pinch Prank." He went around pinching women on the bum, which was bad enough, only for several women to come out and say he had assaulted them. A few days later, he posted another similar video, and then another explaining that the first was a social experiment and scripted. While we never got an apology despite whether the allegations were true or not, Sam continued posting until 2017. So let's get back to David Dobrik. While David was filming a vlog in 2019, his childhood friend Dom allegedly sexually assaulted a fan. David recorded their initial interaction and included it in the vlog. The woman, who is staying anonymous, claims that Dom raped her while she was too drunk to function, and while David never committed anything to this extent, it is alleged that David bought the alcohol for the people in his videos in order to get better content, including this one. Trisha Paytas was there that night and is cited as a witness as she is an ex-member of the squad. She has also, along with others, come out with other stories about her treatment by David and how he would insult them for content. The girl who is alleging the rape said she reached out to Dom in 2019 asking for the video to be removed, so it seems that they've known about this but only made the apology when she took to mainstream media about it. David addressed it and gave a huge apology publicly and privately to the girl, but yesterday was treated like a king when he made his return, and mainly by other celebrities. If we knew someone in our own lives that had done something like this, we'd shun them and never want to see their face again. But why is it that once they've a few million subscribers that attitude goes out the window? The newest video made a small reference to the incident, but in a jokey way. This isn't good enough, there's nothing funny about this and we can't let someone else away with it. While David is telling his friends he's back vlogging and they're heading to Hawaii, Jeff immediately picks up the phone and jokingly says into it: "Yeah, call off the lawsuit, he's got it, he's doing something." In some circumstances, an apology isn't enough. For someone like David, he's going to need to do a lot of work to prove he's a better person now that deserves to be forgiven, and that he doesn't take what's happened lightly. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, contact Women's Aid 24 hours a day on 1800 341 900.