In 2016, Kanghua Ren, better known as ReSet for his YouTube channel, shared a video in which, as a “joke” in one of his famous challenges, he decided to humiliate a homeless man, whom he recorded after give him a packet of cookies filled with toothpaste on a street in Barcelona, Spain.
However, in 2019, the youtuber He was sentenced by a judge in Barcelona to 15 months in jail and to stop uploading videos for five years to YouTube. Now, on May 31, the Supreme Court confirmed his sentence imposed three years ago. In addition, he will have to compensate the man with 400 thousand pesos for moral damages.
Accused under the crime against moral integrity, it is the first time in which the High Court addresses an issue in which YouTube and social networks can be considered as “place of the crime”. Although the final sentence has not yet been drafted, the plenary session of the Chamber has followed the criteria of the public prosecutor’s office and only three private votes of the 12 magistrates are missing.
This proves that the Barcelona court accepted the arguments established in court, where it is stated that YouTube can indeed be a “place of the crime”, therefore, the sentence can include the prohibition of sharing videos again.
The Supreme Court confirms the sentence to 15 months in prison for youtuber Kanghua Ren, known as ReSet, for recording a homeless man who had been offered cookies with toothpaste. He will not be able to use the social network again in 5 years and will have to compensate the man with 20,000 euros
– Alfonso Pérez Medina (@alfonsopmedina) May 31, 2022
During 2016, ReSet became a well-known influencer both in Spain and in Latin America, so due to the fact that his channel had more than 1.1 million subscribers, the relevant video of the “joke” of cookies for the homeless accumulated more than 120 million views.
After the scandal that caused the recording, the sentence also reflected the economic benefit that the unfortunate action brought to ReSet’s accounts, since due to the popularity of his video, he earned more than 45 thousand Mexican pesos, that is, more two thousand dollars.
It was all goofy. My intention was not to offend. You are very close to the law.
– Kanghua Ren
The popularity of the video not only caused a scandal and took him to court, but the outrage of the users was so great that the young man was forced to record a video asking the man for an apology.
In the recording, ReSet approaches him and asks how the cookies he had given him in their previous meeting fell on him, which the tramp did not seem to understand and only put his hands together and said yes. Before the end of the video, the young man gives him a ticket as a token of his apology.
I may have gone a bit too far, but look on the bright side: this will help you clean your teeth. I think he hasn’t cleaned them since he got poor.
Then he returned to record a video for his YouTube channel in which he apologizes not only to the beggar, but to his entire family. On one occasion he even disguised himself as a homeless man to pass himself off as a homeless person on the streets.
This will be the first case, at least in Barcelona, that shows that crimes also happen within social networks.