YouTube’s ethics are being called into question again after streamer Stas Reeflay seemingly killed his pregnant girlfriend on livestream. Valentina Grigoryeva had appeared in Stas Reeflay’s (real name Stanislav Reshetnikov) videos before, and his YouTube depicted her being repeatedly assaulted by her boyfriend, as Reeflay broke plates over her head, pepper sprayed her and slapped her on camera.
Feminist activist Liza Lazerson has called out YouTube for allowing Reeflay’s cruelty to be livestreamed for so long, pointing out that the platform has banned nipples but not violence against women.
“The woman dies on air – and the audience sends donations to the killer,” Lazerson said. “Such videos are calmly broadcast to the whole world, meaning something is broken. Until this is fixed, censorship is necessary.”
In his final broadcast, Reeflay was paid $1000 to kick Grigoryeva out of his home after an argument, and forced her onto his balcony in her underwear alone. When he realized that it looked like she was dead, he carried her back inside and tried to resuscitate her, his livestream still ongoing with thousands of viewers.
“Valya, are you alive?” he asked as he tried to revive her. “My bunny, what’s up with you? Valya! Valya! Damn, you look like you are dead.
“Bunny, come on… tell me something. I’m worrying. Damn… I don’t feel her heartbeat,” he continued.
“Guys… No pulse… she’s pale,” he told his followers. “She is not breathing.”
As Reeflay waited for the ambulance with her corpse, he even yelled that he loved her in attempts to wake her up. Shortly thereafter, the pandemics appear on the stream and pronounce her dead. It continued streaming for around two hours after she died.
A YouTube representative has denied that the platform condones content like Reeflay’s.
“We’re shocked to learn of this tragic incident. This kind of graphic content is not acceptable on YouTube,” the representative said. “Although the original livestream did not take place on YouTube, we quickly removed re-uploads and terminated the associated account.”
If it is proved that Grigoryeva died of hypothermia, Reeflay faces up to two years in prison. The Russian Investigative Committee also plans to launch an investigation into the broadcasted abuse before Grigoryeva died.
“Information will also be checked about possible unlawful actions against the deceased by the young man in whose house the body was found,” the committee said.
