SEVERAL days ago, YouTube content creator Tukomi, which is widely known for their pranks, uploaded a video of pranks under their "Comment Trolling" series. The video on YouTube was titled "Mag hagis ng itim na bag ng naka pang Muslim | Comment Trolling."
The video shows one of Tukomi brothers, wearing a Kaffiyeh (head cloth) and a thobe, going to establishments and throwing a black bag. He then makes a run for it causing the people in these establishments to also make a run for it.
The prank was suggested by a commenter with a Youtube handle "Ranalyn Young." They said in their comment "Mag outfit ka ng MUSLIM tapos mambato ka ng backpack kunwari bomba! KAYO LANG MAKAKAGAWA NETO MGA ALAMAT!!! [sic]." Their comment received over a thousand of votes.
The channel drew flak for clearly tasteless and disrespectful content.
Our Muslim brothers and sisters have been stereotyped in this video as perpetrators of such acts. It also somewhat promoted Islamophobia with what they did.
It is questionable for content creators who are from Davao and, as they said in their apology video, have relatives who are Muslims, to create such content.
Though they said they tend to take risks with the content that they do, this is one risk that has gone too far, putting a whole population in a bad light.
On May 3, 2022, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) issued a statement saying that they are looking into the possibility of filing legal charges against them.
"The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos has been notified about this incident. We have forwarded the information to our Bureau of Legal Affairs for the next steps in addressing the issue, particularly in determining the cases that may be filed against these individuals. Meanwhile, we appeal to the public to refrain from spreading the video, and to avoid further engagements with the content creators," NCMF said in a statement.
As of May 5, 2022, Tukomi have issued a public apology on the incident, both written statement and a video.
"Humihingi kami ng paumanhin sa lahat ng mga na offend na mga kapatid nating Muslim," the content creators said. In the apology video, they also said they did not intend to offend the Muslim community with their video.
Nonetheless, this incident serves as a reminder that for pranks or similar content, we should be mindful of what we do and how it could affect others. It is a stark reminder for content creators to be more responsible in the content they produce. It may seem fun for them, but it is hurting others already.