YouTubers Who Made Some Money Spark Donation Debate: "Charity Porn" vs. "Good Deed"

YouTuber with 100 Million Subscribers "Supports 1,000 Eye Surgeries"
Some Netizens Say "Nothing but a Vulgar Charity Show in Front of the Camera"

The individual YouTuber with the most subscribers in the world, 'MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson, 25),' recently sponsored surgeries for 1,000 visually impaired people, but some netizens are criticizing this as 'charity porn.'

MrBeast, who has 130 million subscribers, recently collaborated with ophthalmologist Jeff Levenson on a project to provide free eye surgeries to 1,000 visually impaired people worldwide.

The beneficiaries were those with treatable visual impairments who lacked the conditions to undergo surgery, and participants gathered from countries including Mexico, Honduras, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, Kenya, and Jamaica. MrBeast also gave some low-income participants gifts such as cash or vehicles.

[Image source=Pixabay]

The video containing this content was released on YouTube on the 29th of last month (local time). The video garnered over 77 million views and became a major topic of discussion. However, some criticized the content as a 'show' created purely to attract viewers' attention.

According to BBC and others, one netizen pointed out, "Paying for surgeries for 1,000 visually impaired people is a good thing, but turning it into content has made it a tacky and vulgar 'charity porn.'" Another netizen criticized on Twitter, saying, "If there were no cameras (filming MrBeast), none of this would have happened."

In response, MrBeast directly rebutted the criticism. He expressed on Twitter, "People say 'the rich should help others with their money,' so I said, 'Okay, I will help people with my money and donate all my money before I die.' Then they say 'MrBeast is bad,'" he lamented.

Nonprofit organizations also defended him. Andrew Hodgson, president of the UK Association of the Blind, told the BBC, "It is rightfully welcomed to focus on treatable eye conditions like cataracts and support surgeries to help restore vision." The international charity organization SightSavers also said, "It is very encouraging that eye health, which has been neglected in global health issues, is gaining public attention."