Pranks in media gained popularity with shows like ‘Just For Laughs’ and then made their way into the new media sphere with platforms like YouTube. However, some content creators have blurred the lines of fun and violation.
A case in point is a recent video by YouTuber ‘Crazy Sumit’. The video features him going up to women, kissing them without their consent and running away. With the amount of backlash the video received, it was taken down and an apology video was released — but it was too little, too late.
Saadiya Ali, known for her hilarious video content and for being outspoken about women’s rights shares, “A man forcing himself on random women is laughed off in the name of a prank, while women being groped is brushed off as ‘boys will be boys’! It’s really sad. Somehow, it’s ‘funny’ to see women subjected to abuse. I’m sure there are repercussions by law against such people, but the question is whether they will be made to deal with it.” She goes on to say, “I think such social media platforms serve as a reflection. People have freedom, and YouTube shouldn’t intervene, but when you see people pull such stunts, you call them out and make them an example.”
For Jaytesh Sridhar of sketch group ‘Paraceta- mol Paniyaram’, pranks have never been interesting. “I personally don’t like annoying people unnecessarily, and find nothing creative about pranks. We once did a staged prank with people we knew already. But I think even when doing pranks, consent of the other party involved is essential to be able to air it, otherwise it is an outright violation of privacy.” He believes that censorship by YouTube when it comes to such videos is not right, and that the verdict should come from the audience themselves.
RJ Syed Mohsin from Chennai has been a part of prank videos as well — and says that a lot of Indians try to emulate international YouTubers. “Some people fail to understand that people like Fouseytube stage most of their pranks and do it with the consent of those being pranked.” He adds, “Indian YouTube is a small, happy community, where what you do is seen by 10,000 people at least and has influence too. But they need to be aware of staying within their limits. Invading on privacy to gain cheap popularity is not okay. After ‘Crazy Sumit’ pulled down the video, other YouTubers with similar content are also following suit.”
