Some pranks are harmless and entertaining enough to put a huge smile on the victim’s face, but some are absolutely traumatising and triggering, giving people unpleasant memories.
Recently, Malaysian YouTuber NickChannel received a huge backlash from netizens after he uploaded a prank video titled, “Aku Tarik Tudung Perempuan (Pulling Women’s Hijabs)”, which showed him pulling on the hijabs of 2 women.
According to the description, the video is meant to be a social experiment. However, the video has since been deleted following the huge backlashes from netizens.
In the video, the YouTuber can be seen targeting 2 women as his victims, where both of them appear to be all alone in their respective locations. After observing his surroundings, the prankster slowly approached the victims and pulled their hijabs from behind.
Both women reacted negatively to his prank but the second woman advised him to not do anything inappropriate.
Towards the end of the video, the content creator even asked his audiences for their comments and opinions. However, he did not seem to care if netizens criticised him for his actions.
In the comment section, netizens did exactly that and condemn the YouTuber for his stunt. One netizen also questioned if making content can serve as a licence for people to be rude and disrespectful.
Buat content ni memang lesen orang kita untuk jadi biadap ke?
— Aidi ER (@aidi_ezzhar) July 4, 2022
Benda ni dikira harassment kot. Saya buat content je kepala butoh dia.
Sakit pulak hati puak puak bodoh macam ni makin membiak. pic.twitter.com/5hAv5Khas4
“This can be considered harassment. ‘I’m only making content,’ wtf?” the netizen wrote.
In response to the backlashes, NickChannel later posted a follow-up video to explain the ‘social experiment’ was not about the victims, but the netizens themselves.
He said the prank was actually scripted and the 2 ‘victims’ were in on it. He added that they don’t even wear headscarves to begin with.
“I did this ‘social experiment’ to see how Malaysians criticise, because usually other YouTubers’ content would be taken out of context and condemned without netizens knowing the full story,” said NickChannel.
“So I made this video as proof to show that this issue was actually just content,” he added.
The YouTuber then went on to criticise Malaysians for making judgement on situations without knowing the full story and asked people to investigate thoroughly first before criticising.
“One thing I want to say is don’t judge a book by its cover, you know?” said.
Nonetheless, the YouTuber was arrested for the controversial video. According to Harian Metro, Wangsa Maju district police chief Supt Ashari Abu Samah said the 24-year-old was arrested at 7.30 pm on 5 July.
He added that an investigation paper was opened in accordance with Section 509 of the Penal Code for insulting the modesty of a woman, as well as under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 (Act 336) for indecent behaviour.
“However, the suspect was charged under Section 14 of Act 336 in the Magistrate’s Court on 5 July and was fined,” he said.
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