What is the Blockout 2024? Alia Bhatt, Taylor Swift, Zendaya Boycotted for their ‘complicit’ silence on Gaza Issue
Blockout 2024: In the age of digital debate, online discourse, and internet warriors, there is hardly any news away from the grips of social media activists. Recently, the same social media activists have united together in one strength to support the cause of Gaza on the internet by blocking all the A-lister actors and celebrities on social media. Blockout 2024, has become a popular hashtag used to mobilize the masses aiming to strip away the stars from their stardom by diminishing their reach on their social media platform, which in the blockers' view is given by the audience and could be easily snatched away by the same people.
View this post on Instagram
So what is the blockout 2024 about?
Blockout 2024 is a trend started on TikkTokk in solidarity with the loss of life and infrastructure in Gaza. The campaign has turned social media into a fighting ground for internet protestors to ignite conversations around the loss of humankind, mainly women and children in Israel's ongoing attacks on Gaza.
View this post on Instagram
The tech protestors are blocking or unfollowing popular social media influencers, actors, actresses, and internet celebrities who have remained “complicit” on the issue of genocide in Gaza. The users are expressing disapproval of the celebrities for not using their reach and platform to raise awareness and mobilize support for the people of Gaza.
Links With Met Gala
Simply put, the Met Gala is a display of lavishness, luxury, and privilege. Everything and more that has been ripped away from the people of Gaza. On the opulent night of the Gala, the people in Rafah city of Gaza were evacuating it owing to the persistent attack of Israel on the city to eradicate Hamas.
View this post on Instagram
Juxtaposing the “full-blown famine” declared by the UN in Gaza against the exorbitant Gala costing $113,000 per head, the sated versus the starving, the plenty versus the lack of the users highlighted the vast gap of resources of the two strata of the world.
‘Let Them Eat The Cake’
The notorious phrase of Marie Antoinette highlighting the unawareness of France's queen of the starving masses became a catalyst in joining the Met and Gaza War. A Tikk Toker by username ‘’HayleyyBaylee posted a video lip-syncing the same phrase while being in an event related to the Met Gala further trivializing the cause “unintentionally” as the Tikk Toker put it. She has also posted a 9-minute apology video for her actions.
An influencer straight up making a “let them eat cake” video at the met gala last night. No self awareness at all. None. pic.twitter.com/39rYMZqzLe
Impact of the Blockout 2024
The internet trend has escalated on other forms of social media including Instagram across geographies. Per the reports, celebs including, Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Selena Gomez, Billie Eilish, Beyoncè, Justin Beiebr, BLACKPINK, Shahrukh Khan, and more have been blocked resulting in the loss of lakhs of followers.
The scrutiny of the masses has shifted to those who they think are ‘complicit’ on the issue serving them for digital guillotine or digitine.
