YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki Urges Creators To Use Their Voices To Combat Violence

YouTube creators, and the site’s biggest stars in particular, are well known for the strong influence they exert over their viewers. Many digital video personalities develop strong rapports with their respective audiences, and YouTube’s CEO want to see that authentic connection harnessed for social good. In a blog post, Susan Wojcicki urged her company’s creative community to use its powerful voice to affect change in the wake of recent violence across the United States.

Wojcicki’s blog post is a response to the killings of black men Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, both of whom were slain by police, as well as the murder of five officers during a protest in Dallas. “How you use your voice is up to you,” wrote the YouTube CEO. “But if you can use it to help us all figure out how to live together in respect, to lend support to the Black community, to Dallas and to all the victims’ families, we need to hear it. I can’t do what you do, but change needs to happen, so let’s see what we can do together.”

This is not the first time Wojcicki has used her powerful position to send a political message. A mother of five, she has been a strong proponent for the adoption of universal paid maternity leave in the United States. In a 2014 op-ed piece she authored in the Wall Street Journal, she wrote that “support for motherhood shouldn’t be a matter of luck; it should be a matter of course. Paid maternity leave is good for mothers, families and business. America should have the good sense to join nearly every other country in providing it.”

It remains to be seen whether the YouTube community will heed Wojcicki’s latest call to action, but many of the site’s stars have shared their political points-of-view in the past. In particular, the YouTube community has been a strong advocate for LGBT rights, with campaigns like #ProudToLove leading the way.