The YouTube prayer channel started during Covid that’s causing a stir across the globe.
In India, where coronavirus cases have spiked by nearly 200%, and by almost 8,000 in China, the hashtag #praytovideos has been trending in Indian.
In the Middle East, where coronavirus cases have hit Saudi Arabia and Iran, the hashtag #praytovideos has also been trending, but on social media it’s usually used for the prayer to God.
YouTube has responded to the trend by removing all videos related to the prayer, including many featuring multiple religious figures, and the prayers are being re-uploaded in private mode.
In an email, YouTube said that it has been made aware of the fact that the prayers are causing concern among the public.
It’s also made its channel ‘controversial’ in the social media by asking users to report content that is inappropriate.
“We have heard from YouTube users that they can no longer find the prayers on YouTube for specific channels. We are removing all prayer requests from these channels. At the same time, we have also reported the channels that we know are doing inappropriate things,” a YouTube spokesperson told Mashable in an email.
“We are still not sure what those terms mean so we don’t understand why some channels are not being removed and we hope this is a mistake with only some channels. Please share your thoughts on this, we’re always working to make the YouTube experience better for everyone.”
The trending hashtag has had some of the largest growth when compared to other hashtags in our history. The trend in India was triggered after a video in which people are praying to God on the streets of New Delhi went viral.
Other viral videos have also been made on various religions, including Christian, Jewish and Muslim prayers.
The YouTube prayer channel has grown with the community around it, so much that one of its followers had to delete his account and join another.
Another channel shared on Twitter was created to spread the word about the fact that the prayer channel existed, and how the ‘prayer to videos’ was taking off.
This led to an influx of requests from viewers wondering why YouTube had not removed the prayer channel, while others are calling for the same action to be taken by Facebook and Twitter.
But none of them are sure
