Bot Sentinel: Anti-Meghan YouTube channels have made millions selling hate

Because I tend to live and breathe royal gossip (for work and because I’m genuinely interested), I’m always surprised that things which are “common knowledge” to royal-gossips are not actually common knowledge for the casual royal-gossip consumer. One of the biggest examples of that was when friend-of-the-blog Ellie Hall did that Buzzfeed post comparing headlines about Duchess Meghan versus Duchess Kate – the fact that the British media was and is racist and they were climbing up Meghan’s ass in a way they never did about Meghan was, once again, not news to many of us. And yet, that post was huge news, it crossed over to the mainstream media and it was even mentioned in the Oprah interview.

I bring this up because I’ve found many of Christopher Bouzy’s Bot Sentinel reports to be kind of lukewarm tea. We’ve known for years that there’s a million-dollar cottage industry built on “hating Meghan on the internet.” We’ve seen that for years. But Bouzy is doing important work because it’s data-driven and it’s more than just an assumption. It’s showing that companies like Twitter and YouTube are allowing unchecked harassment and hate to flourish. Bouzy is showing coordination between hate accounts, and how certain royal reporters amplify hate. Bot Sentinel’s latest report is an extension of the work Bouzy has done on how Meghan-haters have monetized their hate and harassment on YouTube:

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have spoken out about the dangers of spreading misinformation online and now a new report has uncovered details of a monetized hate campaign against the Duchess of Sussex.

Data analytics service Bot Sentinel released a third and final report on Tuesday regarding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, this time on how “single-purpose hate accounts have turned targeted harassment and coordinated hate campaigns into a lucrative hate-for-profit enterprise.”

According to the report, a network of YouTube channels focused on disparaging Meghan has over 497 million views and an estimated $3.48 million in total YouTube earnings combined. Just three of the top content creators — YankeeWally, MurkyMeg and According2taz — have a combined 70+ million views and an estimated $494,730 in total YouTube earnings.

“The trio also coordinated their efforts on Twitter, cultivating a following by disseminating conspiracy theories and disinformation about Harry and Meghan that were concocted in the MeWe group,” the report found. “Their efforts allowed them to interact with journalists and royal experts, who then, in some circumstances, amplified the falsehoods. The women leveraged their Twitter popularity to funnel their followers to their YouTube channels, where they would discuss the conspiracy theories they helped to manufacture.”

Twitter has suspended YankeeWally and MurkyMeg. According2taz is still an active account, but “Twitter’s reporting system has acknowledged she has violated its rules on multiple occasions, including for abuse and harassment,” the report stated.

[From People]

I love that Bouzy was part of getting Murky and YankeeWally taken down from Twitter, so when will YouTube? And did you guys know that YouTubers were making that kind of money just by spreading unhinged conspiracies about Meghan? $494,730 for three YT accounts, roughly $160K each. I would assume that figure is the profit for the length of the YT channel too (meaning, for what, roughly three years?). Hm. Anyway… YouTube needs to shut this sh-t down, but they let genuine white nationalists and neo-Nazis spread their gospels of hate, so who knows.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instar.

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72 Responses to “Bot Sentinel: Anti-Meghan YouTube channels have made millions selling hate”

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  1. vs says:

    I read the report and it is sick! it is really sick….. why don’t those people promote the RF they claim to love so much?

    After I finished reading it, I felt as if my brain was sullied! not sure if anyone felt the same

    How can a human being spend so much time doing what those White Women do? If they do for money, it would be understandable! it would be beneath earth but at least I could understand! this type of hate, I just DO NOT

    • Common+sense says:

      It definitely left me feeling sick. I just can’t understand why some people are obsessively hateful towards someone they have never even met. It’s disgusting.

      • vs says:

        and why not ignore H&M? it is a cliche example but I don’t care much for a lot of celebrities, i don’t hate follow them….it seems depressing t even do that! why would I make myself miserable? I just do not get it

      • Gruey says:

        @vs this is always my feeling. The number of celebs for whom I feel a vague distaste or total indifference is probably in the many hundreds (especially when you include indifference, because that’s how I feel toward most).

        How many do I ever write about or even read about? Well if it’s on this site, I will read it and kinda forget 30 minutes later (a la Brad Pitt). But basically the answer is: NONE.

    • goofpuff says:

      It’s both. For $$$ and for their own pleasure. Some people really get off on being hateful people. They love being the troll. And even better, they love getting recognition for it. It makes them feel better than everyone that they can fool people like this. It makes them feel smarter.

      • Otaku fairy says:

        Yep. The people behind these single-purpose hate accounts won’t typically see a need to change their behavior without long-term consequences for their behavior. It is sick, but in their unreality, the real societal sickness is any and everybody questioning or showing disgust with the hate. It sometimes makes you wonder who is being either exposed to it, or just neglected because of it.

    • RoyalAssassin says:

      Having said all that, and I agree with all your comments, I can’t help but add one thing:

      I AM SO HAPPY THIS IS ALL COMING OUT! It’s like the tables have finally turned, and all of this is out there: the lies about security from the RF; Harry revealing the truth; all the bots attacking H&M who are making millions; on and on it goes, and I AM LOVING IT! I don’t believe this will go on forever as an underground or side issue: it’s coming out, and it’s the beginning of the end. I am BUSTING to see how all this plays out. I also love, as a side comment, how Scobie is so together and unbiased in everything he writes.

      Also? MY FAVOURITE PHOTO EVER of H&M in the rain under that umbrella…it still knocks you for six when you see it…what a brilliant capture, and such a unique but powerful photo….

  2. C-Shell says:

    I read the report when Bouzy released it yesterday and was *stunned* at how organized this conspiracy was from the beginning (they are the ones who created “Megxit”), and how toothless Twitter and YouTube prove to be. It’s whack-a-mole on Twitter. YankeeWally buys and teaches others on her YT channel how to buy fake Twitter accounts in bulk, how to use VPNs to appear to be based all over the world so that Twitter can’t shut them all down via IP addresses.

    Where did they get their encouragement, who taught them how to do this, who’s incentivized them and continues to do so, hmmmm? That’s the report I’d like to see from Bouzy. He’s hinted at it. Bring it on Chris!

    ETA —Wally, who lives in Wales, bragged that she makes more on YT than she did running two brothels, and she’s served time for violently threatening a guy with an air pistol over a parking dispute. She’s vile.

    • Cee says:

      And yet Harry isn’t allowed to pay for police protection because apparently there is no threat.

      • C-Shell says:

        Right! Wally has explicitly threatened to show up wherever Meghan might appear in the UK and throw tomatoes and rotten eggs at her. She’s proven her tendency to violence. The Sussexes might need to get restraining orders against some of these whackos.

    • Debbie says:

      I’m not even remotely computer literate; however, reason and logic tell me that if some random person on the internet who worked in a brothel or as a secretary or whatever can figure out a way to multiply and promote their hate electronically using Twitter and YouTube, then surely some paid wizard at those companies, or even those who created the websites, should be able to figure out a way to thwart them (electronically speaking, that is). That is, if Twitter and YouTube were really interested in controlling the spreading of hate, harassment and online bullying because it goes far beyond one person.

      • C-Shell says:

        Twitter suspended only two of the three worst accounts, leaving According_to taz up even though Twitter says her account has violated its terms against harassment and abuse. YouTube is worse because they’re allowing these single purpose hate accounts to monetize their bile. This is willful. They could take action, but they won’t.

      • equality says:

        Especially when I’m sure they have been reported many times over. I’ve reported them and got nothing back from Twitter.

  3. MsIam says:

    I haven’t read the report but I was listening to a video about this and one of the highlights was that YankyWally interacts with The Other Daughter quite a bit. I heard Murky and the others also buy Twitter accounts in bulk. And I don’t know if this is in the report but I would bet they buy views on YouTube too. Somebody is funding this, that is the real mystery.

  4. Merricat says:

    It is indecent and inhumane, and those are the nicest words I can use. I can’t imagine, don’t want to imagine, how gross it must be inside people who are so consumed with hatred. I wouldn’t be Kate Middleton for a million dollars.
    Now is the time when all decent human beings need to stand up. Racism is stupid. Sexism is stupid. Homophobia is stupid. But it will take all of us to say so to make it so.

  5. girl_ninja says:

    I reported that YankeeWally trash bag yesterday and I’m going report them and that other Murky one tonight AND Yankee Wally AGAIN tonight. I’m gonna have my sister report them too. I will do it everyday until they are taken down.

    • equality says:

      Good luck. I’ve reported Murky over and over on Twitter with no response from the company.

  6. Summerlover says:

    And not a peep about this in the BM!

  7. notasugarhere says:

    It isn’t just online. Bouzy has had to call the police several times on people parked outside his home stalking him and his family. Online threatening physical violence to him and Meghan if he continues his research. He’s proven at least one of the US ones is a rabid MAGAT of course, in addition to the brothel owner mentioned above.

    • Jan90067 says:

      He’s also been in touch with British police. THEY contacted HIM.

      • Christine says:

        But….but, Harry and Meghan don’t need police protection in England, they are low risk!

        I cannot with these people anymore, reading the report made my skin crawl. I don’t understand the hatred people have for two people who are genuinely just minding their own business and trying to make the world a better place.

  8. Ginger says:

    To see all of this laid out in one report was really depressing. This is stuff we knew for years but it’s nice to have the data backed up. Omid said 1 of them is being investigated by Met Police and Taz is trying to say it’s a parody and all in fun. She is definitely trying to change her tune. Luckily, no one is buying it. I think karma is finally coming to these hate accounts. I hope Harry and Meghan take legal action. Harry read the first report ( he quoted some of it for that Wired zoom call) I have no doubt he will read this one. Christopher said he hoped they take legal action.

  9. Sofia says:

    As I’ve said before, all this may be common knowledge to us but it’s not common knowledge to the rest of the population. And his reports consolidate this information and put it in one place for people to read who haven’t been following this for 5 years or longer like many of us.

    I tried reading the report but had to put it down several times because the pure hatred for someone they don’t know is absolutely disgusting. And its driven by pure jealousy. Sorry not sorry but none of them ever had a chance at marrying Harry.

    • vs says:

      It is not just jealousy….it is more than that! Kate M married the future future king…yet she does not have people going crazy over her; it is Meghan who gets all of it

      It is pure racism, misogynoir and classism; All those women had no chance of ever marrying H; absolutely no chance but they were thought White W is the most desirable W; Meghan by being whom she is, shattered all of those disillusions!

      Christopher Bouzy said he will tackle the Kamala H hate next! those hating on our VP will have the excuse of politics just like they had it with Michelle Obama.

      Meghan just like Serena W is facing pure hatred because she shattered so many norms for White W

    • Becks1 says:

      Yeah I find it interesting and disturbing to see it all there in black and white, but its not surprising to those of us who have been following this. Still, the more other people know about it, the better.

      I’m not sure how much is jealousy, bc Kate was never attacked this way. Maybe its a combo of racism and jealousy – like there were no issues with Kate marrying William bc she reminds people of themselves, or they thought she was the kind of person who “should” be marrying a prince? But the black woman coming into the white space that is the Royal Family was just too much for them?

      • swirlmamad says:

        It’s exactly that. With Kate they could and can envision themselves in her shoes — since she has no personality and is bland enough that anyone can easily project themselves onto her. But with Meghan, she not only committed the crime of having the gall to attract and then marry one of the most eligible bachelors in the world, but she also looked amazing doing it — and made their girl look bad, which in turn made them feel like shit themselves since they identified so closely with Kate. In their eyes, a black woman isn’t supposed to win over a white woman. Simple as that.

      • Nic919 says:

        The main difference is that Kate is protected by the UK media establishment in a way they never protected Meghan. Sure kate was once criticized for being lazy and spending a lot of money on clothes, all of which was true, but they were mild critiques. The BRF has enabled the established media as well as the tabloids to push this racist garbage and then the more unregulated social media has simply taken it further.

      • @SWIRLMAMAD. “ she (Meghan) also looked amazing doing it — and made their girl look bad, which in turn made them feel like shit themselves since they identified so closely with Kate.” This is so true. Thus the destroy her propaganda at all costs. The royal rota clowns are crazy and deranged as well as their mastermind William.

  10. TheOriginalMia says:

    Real depravity to spend their days and nights churning out hate against a woman/couple/family they’ve never met. I’d be worried about karma, but that’s me.

    • SourcesclosetoKate says:

      Their life is already in the pits, I don’t think they worry about hell. This is how they get their kicks they live vicariously through these peoples’ triumphs and pain, it’s sick and twisted.

  11. Snuffles says:

    I keep asking the same question every time to topic of social media manipulation is brought up. WHY do these platforms allow bot? Allow people to buy likes and followers? People like Bouzy have demonstrated that it’s possible to identify them. So why can’t the likes of Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook etc ban these practices on their platform? That would take care of half of the problem.

    • vs says:

      How would they make money? it is time to disrupt the social media business model….I wonder if people would be interested in a SM with no possible to buy bots; with reduced misinformation and disinformation….if anyone is interested in that, maybe I am not so crazy after all

      • Snuffles says:

        Well, the legit way is advertising, but apparently that isn’t enough for them. I would be willing to pay for an ad free, bot free version of Twitter. I pay for an ad free version of YouTube and LOVE it. They should beta test the idea.

      • vs says:

        @snuffles — thank you very much for the feedback; great to know there is interest out there

    • Cessily says:

      I have not opened fb, ig or YouTube in years because of all the misinformation and hate. (I do sign in to my Twitter Sussex fan account but that is it for me) It wasn’t worth it. If my social media accounts were not the keepers of all family photo albums collected and restored after a fire I would have deleted them altogether.

  12. LaraW” says:

    What I want to know is how often these accounts interacted with Knauf.

    • Cee says:

      Same. There’s more. These 3 sad hacks had to be fueled and emboldened by someone giving them “legitimacy” to do what they did and continue to do.

    • Cessily says:

      Rumor was he ran an account that was suspended permanently that was a big account. Others on Twitter have the actual receipts for this. I imagine if he did have one account, like all these others haters, he had a backup account also.

  13. SourcesclosetoKate says:

    Yes, thank you for talking about this. It’s truly disgusting I get scared to click sometimes but these videos come on autoplay. A lot of very vocal Meghan haters/ bots ask famous YouTubers to do videos on meg, and because its in popular demand they do it. It’s really disgusting. I was a fan of a YouTuber that did this very thing and I unsubscribed right away it left a bitter taste to know someone whose work I respected would sell out an innocent women like this. They pinned William as good but a little reserved, Kate an angel, harry an idiot victim and Meghan as absolutely evil. The commentary have so little to work with on meg to. The whole thing is very suspicious and needs to end.

    • Chatnoir says:

      Famous you tubers ? Who? I know “the take” has a video but it’s pretty neutral. Tara mooknee has a slightly negative video about the royals in general. Khadijambowe did a reaction to Oprah but it wasn’t negative to Meg

      • SourcesclosetoKate says:

        I probably follow YouTubers different from yours, usually psychology research and stuff I find interesting. Hg Tudor who does podcasts/YouTube has a tonnnn about her and also Rebecca Zung did one but she was quite neutral, there were a few others I was following but I unsubscribed. Also a new one called duchess of narsussex would pop up on autoplay but I never watched her videos I just shut them off.

      • Purple prankster says:

        Personally I used to watch a youtuber named the Body Language guy whose content in the past few months has pivoted to 100% anti Meghan videos. His channel isn’t huge but that’s one I know of. Also I do know body language reading is pseudoscience lol.

    • SourcesclosetoKate says:

      @purplepranskter I watched him too thinking he was good then he did Meghan and Harry it was contradictory, they would do one thing and it was “controlling” but when Kate and William did the same it was “nurturing” that’s when I knew he had nothing and was pandering to the bots so I stopped. Besides people don’t really act like themselves on camera unless you’re really comfortable.

  14. aquarius64 says:

    Scammy was name checked in this report.

    • Debbie says:

      Is that Scammy creature still at it? Resenting Meghan because she was not invited to the royal wedding when the wedding has long been over! I doubt she was invited to Meg’s first wedding either, because if Scammy had been, we would have heard all about it, and she would have bought a car with the money she got for selling photos of it. So, I just cannot bear these people (1/2 sister, 1/2 brother, and sperm donor) who still resent Meghan just because of her life and the people she knows. I think they enable the online hate from strangers and if, God forbid, anything were to happen to the family, they would be the first to want to attend any funereal.

  15. Isabella says:

    Still waiting for someone to go after Quora, where trolls make money posting vile conspiracy claims against the Sussexes. Why do they get a pass?

    • Khaissa says:

      I mean quora actually has a lot of Chinese communist party propaganda too. “Quora” is a good name that sounds reliable and kind of academic and maybe was good at some point but it’s probably worse than reddit right now (because on reddit a person can make a sub and make fair rules including blocking people from posting if they are brand new.) I feel that quora is an anomaly because sites like twitter reddit even fb try to project fairness and reliability ( for example they make announcements against bullying , misinformation ) to at least some extent, and quora just went off the deep end

  16. Cee says:

    The worst part is that Samantha “Markle” is part of this origin story, having private communications with Yankee Wally, passing on private info, etc. I am shocked no one is talking about this. Meghan’s half “sister” is a key part of the hate campaign that fueled courtiers and journalists and royal “experts” into suicidal ideation and so much grief.

    So, what motivated Samantha to do this? I hope Bouzy’s release on more info shines a light on it.

    • SourcesclosetoKate says:

      Meghan needs to get a restraining order, cyberbullying, or defamation of character against her or something. She needs to be put on blast. These women are insane and causing so much trouble.

  17. Ginger says:

    If anyone has Tik Tok I strongly recommend the account matta_of_fact. She breaks down the whole report in 2 minutes and does an excellent job. She also said something interesting in another video, she said that if you ask anyone in public what they think of Meghan, they like her. They don’t have these strong feelings of hate like these accounts do. And it’s true. Anyone I have spoken to about her like her. They are not followers of her but they like her just fine. These hate accounts want it to seem like the world hates her and it doesn’t. I even worked with a Trump supporter and she liked Meghan.

    • *nod nod* Many of them act as though they won’t be satisfied until everyone else hates her as well.

      I’m currently laid up with an injury and have a lot of time on my hands, so I’ve been reading old CB items (and comments) on the royals, starting with the very first reports of Meghan dating Harry.

      I’m currently only up to Dec 2017, but I’ve noticed several interesting things–one being that commenters who didn’t like Meghan would often insist that people in a given country didn’t like her or approve of her marrying Harry/joining the BRF. They would say things like “Americans don’t like her” or “most British can’t stand her”, despite being constantly challenged on this by others.

      Some may have actually believed this due to confirmation bias, e.g. only talking about her with others who felt the same way, taking their cues from places like Daily Fail comments, etc. But with some commenters, it comes off as a very deliberate attempt to force a narrative, like a form of astroturfing. Especially when you see the same commenter making the same debunked claims over and over—then after a sufficient number of people have pushed back, disappearing only to pop up with another handle and do the same thing (but recognizable by their speech patterns and arguments).

      • schmootc says:

        Sounds like Trump: “People are saying…” Followed by completely random crap he just made up.

      • Nic919 says:

        I recall the new handles popping up and trying to make unfounded negative comments and for a while it was non stop. I wouldn’t be surprised that people were hired to try to infiltrate sites and they just gave up on CB because the bs was called out here all the time.

      • Otaku fairy says:

        Yes. I’ve seen that in a lot of discussions about Meghan Markle in other places. They don’t just hate her. They don’t want other people to be able to find the few spaces where it’s ok to express concern about the behaviors toward her. Or sometimes, toward certain groups of people altogether.

  18. aquarius64 says:

    What motivates Samantha? Jealousy that white privilege did not work out for her. She had a one episode appearance on Matlock, no modeling career and she still worked as a salesgirl at a department store. Meghan had to use her calligraphy skills to pay the bills and deal with casting racism in Hollywood but still was able to be a regular on Suits, a long running series.

    Samantha dropped out of high school and got pregnant, got a 2 yr associate degree from a school in New Mexico. Meghan has a degree from Northwestern, one of the most prestigious universities in the US. Sammy may not have had the grades to get into a top notch school.

    Sammy has been cashing in on dragging Meghan, aiding and abetting the British tabloids before the wedding. Despite this and her self published slam book her standard of living has not improved. The table scraps she gets from Dan Wooton is not even affording her regular trips to the hair salon. Meghan, despite the cruelty, manage with Harry to have a beautiful home in Monteceito, afford designer clothes and fabulous jewels, become a best selling authoress, and most importantly, be in a place where she is at peace with Harry and their children. Sam is in a hell of her own making, mixed in in with some karma.

    • Debbie says:

      I used to watch Matlock religiously and I don’t recall a crazy-ass looking female on that show, so I guess her name must not have appeared in the titled-guest roles. Years ago, Scamatha criticized Meghan by saying that it was only because of Terrible Tom Markle being in show business that Meghan was able to make a living in that same business, but if that’s true then how come Scammy was unable to make her living in show business since she had TT in common too?

      I must admit that I’m surprised that the Internal Revenue Services has not come after any of the Markle “family” leaches, with all the government aid they surely receive, and the extra money they make off of Meghan’s fame.

  19. Petra says:

    What the bot_sentinel report does is give a legal way for individuals to sue platforms where lies are told about them. A member of BTS is suing a youtuber, Cardi B is in civil court with other youtuber. Unfortunately, suing the individual posters for defamation will not stop this disease. The only way changes will be made is when the platforms themselves make a huge payout via lawsuits. I’m hoping legal scholars and lawyers are looking into are defamation law suits can be file against these platforms. Someone else needs to fight the platforms, Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan are already fighting for their lives on many fronts.

    • LaraW” says:

      The strategy in a situation like this isn’t going after everyone, but going after the biggest, most egregious accounts that have an outsized influence on social media. Go after those REALLY hard, and the smaller accounts think twice about whether they can afford to take that risk. Is having five hundred more subscribers and twenty thousand more views worth getting sued for $1M?

      Afterwards, it’s usually sufficient to send cease and desist letters, because you’ve shown you can and will go after them, and you will win and they will be bankrupt, social media accounts shut down, etc.

      Also, platforms are not responsible for the content their users post. A defamation lawsuit against a company like youtube is dead before you can even file it. Section 230 shields social media platforms from liability.

  20. MerryGirl says:

    For those of us who’ve been following this Meghan hate from the Royal Family, RRs & Trolls this report is not surprising but for the everyday person or casual onlooker it’s necessary to have something like this put out in the public sphere so everybody can see what’s going on.
    It’s time for YouTube, Twitter, Quora and all these other platforms to take accountability for not shutting down these racists & haters.

  21. equality says:

    Next up should be a comprehensive list of any companies sponsoring these channels so that people can write and boycott them.

  22. WHAT says:

    This is serious. Look on the daily mail exclusive on Meg Ryan riding her bicycle on h&m private road, look at the daily fail articles on h&m socalled 11companies in Delaware. This threat is real who knows who’s riding bicycles on their private road unless they’re living there. This fascination with always exposing Cali is the reason why they’re not coming to salty island

  23. AB says:

    I notice there’s always some negative supposed “scoops” on Meghan on that gossip site Deux Moi. The latest insider “scoop” is that Meghan and Ellen D had a falling out over disagreements they had when Meghan made her appearance on her show. Then some other show “insider” added Meghan demanded everyone call her “Duchess.” Total BS.

    • notasugarhere says:

      That site doesn’t have any insider access. On one of the hate forums, they think up these hateful lies, workshop them, then submit them to DeuxM.

  24. Lulu says:

    Question is, how does one even hate on a face like this? She radiates so much positivity and joy! Any negative feelings I might have (due to the evil press’ smears) are neutralized when I see her photos. She’s truly blessed with inner and outer beauty.

    • SourcesclosetoKate says:

      I know she’s so sweet and innocent I don’t think I could be mean to her even if you paid me a million dollars, lol.

  25. SourcesclosetoKate says:

    They need to go after HGTudor, he is a diagnosed narcissist and has a humiliation fetish towards Meghan, and his equally narcissistic commenters are gross, probably Samantha and Kate fund him.

  26. Elf says:

    They deleted all Q anon videos on YouTube and even tangential videos that wanted to talk about Epstein and real criminal pedophilia like in the royal family, and similar crimes so I don’t see why they won’t delete white nationalist videos and hate videos about Meghan and Harry unless youtube is covering those people and supporting hate speech.