Twitter, the social media giant, has once again been caught in the middle of a censorship scandal, this time involving the banning of popular YouTubers Brittany Venti and Jeremy Hambly of The Quartering. The pair was banned from the platform after sharing a screenshot from a Worldstar Hip Hop music video featuring human trafficking survivor and advocate Eliza Bleu/Knows/Cuts/Siep.
The video in question, which was released on February 19, 2016, and is still available on YouTube, depicts Bleu scantily clad and dancing provocatively. At the time of the video’s release, Bleu went by the name of Eliza Knows, and she was not yet the prominent and respected human trafficking advocate she is today.
As an alleged human trafficking survivor, and one of the most vocal advocates for the cause, Bleu has been featured on numerous popular podcasts, including Lex Fridman, where she shared her harrowing story of survival. However, her credibility and integrity were called into question when a thread appeared on Twitter that highlighted inconsistencies in her statements.
Brittany Venti, a former Twitch troll turned conservative commentator and women’s rights advocate, reached out to Bleu in a respectful manner, asking her to address the thread and the music video. However, when Bleu refused to address or respond to the controversies, Venti took to Twitter to share a screenshot of the music video. This action resulted in Venti being banned from the platform for “sharing privately produced/distributed intimate media without their express consent.”
