Home invasions occur as YouTube decides to keep online the rap video encouraging attacks on AAPI

For now, YG's song advocating robbing AAPI will remain on YouTube.

Days before the Vietnamese American family were tied up and had their house ransacked by home invaders, YouTube decided to keep airing a music video that told listeners to break into Asian American homes and steal their money.

The robbers broke into the home on March 30, tied up the couple and punched the man in the mouth, right in front of their 7-year-old daughter.

"They cover up my daughter with a blanket," said the woman Friday, April 2.

"They say, "If I move and try to run away, the first person I'll shoot will be your daughter,' " said the woman.

After ransacking the home, the gang left with what the couple said was their life savings.

Earlier in the week, YouTube decided not to delete

YG's 2014 song "Meet the Flockers" video whose lyrics said:

“’First, you find a house and scope it out. Find a Chinese neighborhood, cause they don’t believe in bank accounts. Second, you find a crew and a driver, someone ring the doorbell … And someone that ain’t scared to do what it do. Third, you pull up at the spot. Park, watch, ring the doorbell, and knock. Four, make sure nobody is home. They gone, okay it’s on.” 

In the context of the raised awareness and increased frequency of attacks against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, staff members of YouTube asked the streaming company's Trust and Safety Committee to remove the video that advocates violence towards Asians.

An exec from that specific department along with a content policy leader denied the request via email on March 22.

"We find this video to be highly offensive and understand it is painful for many to watch, including many in Trust & Safety and especially given the ongoing violence against the Asian community," the email reads, according to Bloomberg. "While we debated this decision at length amongst our policy experts, we made the difficult decision to leave the video up to enforce our policy consistently and avoid setting a precedent that may lead to us having to remove a lot of other music on YouTube."

Meanwhile a spokesperson for YouTube said in a statement, "YouTube has an open culture and employees are encouraged to share their views, even when they disagree with a decision. We’ll continue this dialogue as part of our ongoing work to balance openness with protecting the YouTube community at large."

The company's refusal to remove the song also is due to their exception for "educational, documentary, scientific or artistic" (EDSA) content.

“While EDSA is not a free pass for any content, there are likely thousands of music videos that would otherwise violate policies including Sex & Nudity, Violent or Graphic Content and Hate Speech were it not for these sorts of EDSA exceptions,” the statement reads. “As a result, removing this video would have far-reaching implications for other musical content containing similarly violent or offensive lyrics, in genres ranging from rap to rock. While we debated this decision at length amongst our policy experts, we made the difficult decision to leave the video up to enforce our policy consistently and avoid setting a precedent that may lead to us having to remove a lot of other music on YouTube.”

YouTube reportedly removed more than 97,000 videos and more than 46 million comments last year that it determined violated it's hate speech policy.

Its not the first time YG's song came under scrutiny. When the song was blamed for a rash of home invasions occurred throughout the nation 2016-2017. Sacramento, CA was particularly hard hit with over 20 incidents during that time. AAPI community members blamed the song for the increase of robberies and burglaries, gun sales rose among AAPI, and protests appeared at YG appearances.

The mother and daughter whose home was invaded in Oakland.

Meanwhile, in another part of Oakland, a new attack happened Friday. As an elderly Asian couple were bringing up groceries up the steps into their home, four men attacked them, grabbing a necklace from the woman and attempted to take the man's cell phone and wallet.

Only the appearance of the machete-wielding son prevented further injuries and kept the robbers from entering the house. The son who was inside the house, heard the commotion outside, grabbed a machete and chased after the attackers, who fled to a waiting car.

The earlier home invasion that occurred March 30 traumatized the entire family but has left the 7-year old daughter in fear. 

"She couldn't sleep all night, and she is really frightened and she keeps asking me, 'Are they going to come back?' "

But, YouTube executives probably slept soundly.

A Word of Caution: This posting is news laced with opinion. Readers are encouraged to read other news sources to form their own opinions.

Filipino American: MTV gives social media star Bretman Rock his own reality show

Bretman Rock has his own reality show

A Filipino American Youtube vlogger is living the dream of every social media influencer: His social media success has earned Bretman Rock his own reality series ... and like the star's personality, it is a wild ride.

The Hawaii-based Rock, 22, is one of the biggest social media influencers in the world with  over 5 million followers on Twitter and over 15 million followers on Instagram. The social media star and beauty and fashion influencer is the central subject of a new series called “MTV’s Following: Bretman Rock.”

One thing for certain: his show will not be boring. "We can watch only so many reality shows filmed in L.A. It gets boring and repetitive. I don’t think anyone really knows what a content creator’s life is like when they’re away from all the L.A. bullsh*t and mainland stuff. I wanted to bring in more of who I really am and the business side of Bretman Rock onto the show."

The six episode series began this week and will air every Tuesday on MTV’s social platforms for the next several weeks. Rock will be more intimate by take people behind the scenes of his life as an influencer, living on a small Hawaiian island and his new business ventures. 

Rock, who is unabashedly queer, hopes the series will provide his fans with a more extensive look at who he is as a person and influencer. Not shy about sharing his flamboyant lifestyle, an MTV press release notes that the episodes will center on Rock as he balances a new business, the loss of his dad, being an Internet superstar, and his mom's move.

Taping of his show "was interesting because I didn’t think I’d be filming a reality show during the middle of a pandemic,” said Rock, in an interview with CBS Local’s DJ Sixsmith. “It was weird and really new. I think we filmed a great show, even though I don’t feel my nose anymore with all those cotton swabs that have been up there. I’m obviously used to my own cameras pointing towards my face, but I’m not used to other cameras pointing at me for such long periods of time.”

As an immigrant -- he came from the Philippines 15 years ago -- Rock told NBC the bigger goal in taking his talents to MTV was to provide representation — something he lacked growing up and constantly references his Filipino roots. 

Bretman Rock and his mother taping a cooking segment.

He often features his mother in episodes titled "Cooking With My Mom," in which the mother and son cook his Filipino dishes.

In the first episode, he talks to his tearful mother over dinner about her challenges bringing her family from the Philippines to Hawaii.

“I know I'm not the only kid that moved to America and had to live with 30 cousins in one house,” he said. “I kind of just wanted to be like ... other immigrant kids coming to America with nothing but a dream.”

Bretman Rock's series started Monday and will show new episodes  on MTV's YouTube channel every Monday, 4 p.m. EST, for the next five Mondays..

Beauty guru Michelle Phan surprises fans with return to YouTubeA

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

After a two-year absence, Michelle Phan returns to her Youtube roots.

ASAM NEWS

When she decided to quit YouTube after a decade on the platform, Michelle Phan wrote in a description box that she’d return when she was “inspired to share new ideas again.”
After two years, it seems like she might finally be ready.

On Sunday night, the beauty guru uploaded a new video that includes footage of herself, her cat and a photoshoot for her makeup line EM Cosmetics. The video description for “Hello :)” simply reads “I miss you.”

“I wasn’t even planning on dropping a new video, but yesterday moon was in Aries and I was feeling spontaneous as hell,” Phan wrote later on Twitter. “Anyways. Hi!”

Phan started her YouTube channel in 2006 and became the first person to do makeup tutorials for a living, according to Entity Mag. She is widely acknowledged as a pioneer of the YouTube beauty community.

According to Elle, Phan trended worldwide on Twitter after “Hello :)” was posted. Many people expressed excitement and nostalgia in response to her surprise return.

When Phan left YouTube suddenly in 2016, she was at the height of her power, CNN reports.

A year later, she uploaded a ‘Why I Left’ video explaining that she had become unhappy after getting caught up in money and success. She also mentioned several copyright infringement lawsuits she was involved in for her use of popular music on her channel.

According to CNN, Phan kept busy on her hiatus by relaunching her beauty brand, EM Cosmetics.

Some fans seem to look to Phan as a reminder of a simpler time for beauty YouTubers. Earlier this year, Insider called the YouTube beauty community “one of the most turbulent and drama-filled places on the internet.”

The video description simply reads “I miss you.”

Beauty YouTubers James Charles and Tati Westbrook famously feuded this year, and in 2018 so many gurus fell from grace that the time period was nicknamed “Dramageddon.” According to Insider, the audiences of beauty YouTubers seem to be “particularly prone to mob mentality, which can be shown in the dramatic losses and gains of subscribers in the midst of drama.”

For now, it’s not clear if Phan’s upload is a sign she will be back in the community for good. She hasn’t shared specific plans for her YouTube channel moving forward.

But her subscribers, 8.86 million and counting, may have reason to hope.

The final shot of her surprise return video leaves viewers with a promising message: “See you later :).”

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Shay Mitchell allows fans to follow her pregnancy

From the deepest of secrets, Shay Mitchell has done a 180-degree turn, by allowing the world follow her as her pregnancy on social media. 

The Filipina Canadian announced in late June on social media that she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Matte Babel. She kept it a secret from her fans as long as she could. Approaching her sixth month, she revealed her pregnancy on social media with a very tasteful topless photo.

"Does this mean I’m allowed to drive in the car pool lane at all times now?" she joked, captioning a topless maternity shot that showcased her growing baby bump.

Mitchell's pregnancy announcement came just five months after the actress revealed that she suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage.

In a YouTube video, titled "Guess Who's Preggers," the actress detailed the lengths she went to hide this pregnancy early on, describing it as a "really lonely journey." 

"When you're in the public eye, there are some things you want to just keep a secret until you feel ready," she said in the video, which gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at everything from an ultrasound appointment to her maternity photo shoot. 

Mitchell, whose breakthrough role was in the Pretty Little Liars series, said she was ready to announce her pregnancy when she "couldn't hide it anymore and was tired of wearing oversized sweatshirts."

Mitchell, 32, also announced her pregnancy via a teaser for her new bi-weekly YouTube Original Series, Almost Ready. The sneak peek shows her with her boyfriend, TV host Matte Babel, 38, at her pregnancy shoot. The two have reportedly been dating since 2017.

The new series documents Mitchell's pregnancy journey. New episodes will be released every other Wednesday beginning on Wednesday, July 17.
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