K-pop fans have emerged as valuable allies in the advancement of current social issues in the U.S.
For years, followers of multiple fandoms have used their numbers to influence changes within the industry, but pressing matters in the last several weeks have united them to take action beyond their love of music.
Our Anonymous K-Pop division is now attacking the #BlueLivesMatter hashtag.
Calling on all #OpFanCam troops to flood the police hashtag with Fan Cams. ( @fabriqueparmoi) #Anonymous #ICantBreathe #GeorgeFloyd #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/hc98ODOe3I
ā Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) June 3, 2020
Here are five recent times K-pop fans exercised social activism on the internet:
1. They deliberately suppressed trending K-pop hashtags to make way for #BlackLivesMatter.
We request everyone to please stop using the Sour Candy celebratory tag. Instead, let us pay our respects to George, Breonna, Ahmaud, and all of the victims of this inhumane violence and injustice.
No life matters until #BlackLivesMatter. pic.twitter.com/jnEQigUDcx
ā BLACKPINK Asia #HYLT (@BLACKPINKAsia) May 28, 2020
K-pop-related hashtags almost always dominate trends on Twitter. After George Floydās death on May 25, K-pop fans rallied behind the Black Lives Matter movement by posting supportive messages using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
Blackpink fans, affectionately known as Blinks, especially contributed to the cause. Instead of tweeting about Lady Gaga and the quartetās āSour Candyā ā which came out three days after Floydās death ā they came in solidarity with Black Lives.
2. They flooded the Dallas Police Department with fancams to stop cops from tracking protesters.
hereās a video, iāll dm you some morepic.twitter.com/VihMsrI81M
ā sterre āæ (@marvelous70s) May 31, 2020
Amid demonstrations against police brutality after Floydās death, the Dallas Police Department asked people to report āillegal activity protestsā through its iWatch Dallas app.
Apparently, K-pop fans got wind of the call, so they spammed the app with fancams, or fan-recorded videos of K-pop performances, to protect protesters.
The following day, Dallas police announced that the app suffered ātechnical difficulties,ā though they did not cite what caused them.
Due to technical difficulties iWatch Dallas app will be down temporarily. pic.twitter.com/zksA1hkVhV
ā Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) May 31, 2020
3. They spammed hashtags used to antagonize #BlackLivesMatter.
k-pop stans really took care of #WhiteLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/bhVo5UMAl1
ā ā”ļø gigi ā”ļø (@gigi_hadidn_t) June 3, 2020
While many have expressed support for the BLM movement, several slogans emerged to criticize it. These include #AllLivesMatter, #WhiteLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter.
K-pop fans came to the rescue by using the hashtags to spam, yet again, fancams. As a result, the original messages endorsing those hashtags were drowned out.
4. They matched their idolsā contribution to the BLM movement. Literally.
BTS and Big Hit Entertainment Donate $1 Million to Black Lives Matter (EXCLUSIVE) @bts_bighit @bts_twt https://t.co/Sm21Vgvykm
ā Variety (@Variety) June 6, 2020
BTS made a $1 million donation to the BLM movement. Soon after Variety reported the good deed, ARMY, the septetās legion of fans, managed to raise $1 million for Black organizations.
One in an ARMY, a charity-focused collective, tracked the incoming donations.
āWeāve run big projects before, but the amount of support for this project is overwhelming,ā a representative said in a statement. āWe truly didnāt know whether the goal would be reached. Weāre so proud that ARMY have once again channeled their power for good and are making a real impact in the fight against anti-Black racism.ā
.@BTS_twt fans match BTS’ one million dollar donation to Black Lives Matter.
You can download our release here : https://t.co/nbRz6BnYzh#BlackLivesMatter#ARMYMatchedAMillion#2MforBLM pic.twitter.com/kpKia6mBMq
ā One in an ARMYā· Charity Project (@OneInAnARMY) June 8, 2020
5. They teamed up with TikTokers to embarrass President Donald Trump.
Many of the people who signed up for tickets to the Trump campaign rally in Tulsa, are actually TikTok users and kpop stans trolling Donald Trump.
ā Covie (@roper_93) June 17, 2020
On Saturday, Trump held a campaign rally at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The venue had seats for over 19,000 people, but only a little more than 6,000 attendees showed up.
What happened? It turns out that K-pop fans and TikTokers teamed up to reserve as many seats as possible, without the intention of showing up.
kpop stans doing gods work for the tulsa trump rally pic.twitter.com/GNaXaRqlPK
ā ą¼ą¼ ą½ą¾ą½ą½ (@iwdfcftbatk) June 21, 2020
Feature Image (representation only) via Drew Angerer / Getty Images