Streaming with a S.W.A.T. Team
September 20, 2016
Recently YouTubers have been getting caught up in the process of swatting. This is when an emergency service goes to someone’s house, in this case YouTubers and Streamers, without the owner ever knowing and consenting.
Many of these YouTubers and streamers are innocent but have been hurt because the dangerous trend. Swatters are never caught because they have the secrecy of their devices. Many people in the business, along with their fans, are becoming increasingly enraged about the pranks.
The root cause of the ordeal come from viewers who make up false information and call the cops. Youtubers and Streamers are then interrupted during their work and end up being assaulted by officers who have no clue that it is just a prank.
A few weeks ago a streamer that goes by the username “Vitaly” was swatted. Unknown to the streamer, cops came over to his house and checked for any suspicious activity. “Vitaly” was doing an experiment which had him popping soccer balls, basketballs, and other inflatable toys. Fortunately the cops didn’t mistake the actions they came across as harmful or illegal. Vitaly was given a warning, nothing major.
Swatters should be stopped, the idea of disrupting a person doing their job is discouraging to the content creator.
Youtubers have shared their stories about the nightmare of being swatted. A YouTuber known as ZwebackHD, a YouTube gamer, was swatted before. “No one was allowed to go back outside and it was a nightmare,” he said. “I became more careful of my private information.” Many YouTubers love what they do, and being harassed can mean the end a YouTuber’s career.
With all the wrong information flying around, many people have actually supported the idea of swatting. They believe that swatting isn’t harmful which is utterly stupid. They believe Swatting is just a fun way for people to humiliate popular and successful youtubers and Streamers. They just do it because they aren’t as successful or having fun like youtubers.
Without protection from swatting, youtubers and streamers are being very cautious. This could literally ruin many content of youtubers and streamers. Many youtubers and Streamers have said enough is enough with swatting. Hopefully swatting will be stopped so that youtubers can be safe from this “harmless prank.”