“I want Norman to finally take responsibility for what he did”

The hashtag Balance your Youtubeur made a big splash in the small world of French video creators. Launched in August 2018 by Squeezie, it aimed to denounce the actions of Youtubers taking advantage of their notoriety to try to obtain favors from their fans, often young girls. In April 2021, a new twist: a young Quebec girl chose to file a complaint and testify with her face uncovered at Urbania. She tells her story in order to put Norman Thavaud in front of his actions.

To read also: #BalanceTonYoutubeur: the shocking revelations of minors abused by Youtube stars

Put the YouTubers in front of their actions

Maggie Desmarais accuses the French videographer of having as and when their conversations on Snapchat pressure to obtain naked photos. She was a minor at the time of the alleged facts, while he was already in his late thirties.

The investigation ofUrbania shows that Maggie would not be the only one and that the French Youtubeur would also have exchanged with other fans, including several minors at the time. Each time, the same process: harmless exchanges around his pets, a few jokes, and then the request for more and more naked photos, always in the tone of a joke. The young women say that the evocation of a refusal on their part resulted in the threat of cutting short any discussion definitively. Maggie Desmarais does not want to destroy the life of the YouTuber, but that he accepts his actions. She wishes more broadly to free the word on this phenomenon of abuse of power exercised by these internet stars on their young fans.