These videos are designed to mock people, and they're getting millions of views.

Jude Valentin

As someone who posts YouTube videos about fat acceptance and body positivity, Jude Valentin is unfortunately used to seeing negative comments. But that's never stopped her from doing her work. "I’m very loud about it and I’m not ashamed of it, because we all need to start somewhere," she told BuzzFeed News. Recently, though, the negative comments took a particularly hateful turn. Valentin noticed one of her videos getting more vitriolic comments than usual. At first she didn't know what was going on, but then she saw one of the comments mentioned a compilation video. Valentin did a search and found that one of her vlogs had ended up in a "fat acceptance cringe" video. Cringe videos are big on YouTube, with many having views in the millions. Typically, the goal is make the viewer cringe at the content due to how awkward it is. Some of these are pretty innocent, like editing together awkward moments from the nightly news or talk shows. Others, however, are much crueler and target certain groups of people by pulling clips from their personal vlogs or social media channels. The targets of these compilations are often fat activists, like Valentin, but they also go after feminists and trans, nonbinary, and gender-fluid people. Other groups like anime enthusiasts or furries also appear, as do earnest TikTok users. Generally the target is anyone the creator deems to be a "special snowflake" or "social justice warrior" and doesn't fit their standards of attractiveness.

YouTube

Whoever the target, the goal is clear — mockery. And there seems to be little recourse for victims of these videos to get them taken down. In Valentin's case, the compilation she was included in took her entire vlog, splicing in other clips and the odd reaction GIF. "I think the most disheartening part of it is this person has 16,000 subscribers. I have barely 2,000 subscribers," said Valentin. "I’m struggling to make ends meet. That’s the most frustrating part." The video's creator told BuzzFeed News that those depicted "probably see themselves as victims" but said he made the video to spread "awareness that there is a movement called fat acceptance." "I in no way tell my viewers to attack any of the people in my videos. I don't encourage it. When someone in my comments asks for a channel name, I never give it to them. I will never tell my viewers to harass anybody," he said. Valentin reached out to YouTube directly but was told the video didn't break any policies. YouTube didn't return a request from BuzzFeed News for comment.



"At YouTube, we understand the value of free expression and take great care when we enforce our policies," the company told her via direct message on Twitter. "As such, while we will take down content that crosses the line into threats or harassment when flagged, not all negative videos or comments will be removed."

Considering the video directly led people to attack Valentin in her comments, she was not satisfied with the reply. "Yes, the person in the video is not telling me to go kill myself, and they have a harassment disclaimer," she said, "but that doesn’t stop their followers from going and harassing me." Her next option would be to file a copyright strike against the video, but even that has complications. Doing so would reveal her full legal name to the compilation creator, which she fears could expose her to doxing. "It’s hard when activism is involved because we are so, so hated on the internet, and people are just ready to be nasty and unleash out private information and be spiteful and not treat us like people," she said.

youtube.com Valentin in one of her YouTube videos.