With conspiracy theories being a huge trend, Youtuber Shane Dawson released a movie length youtube video, dedicated to conspiracy theories. Dawson uploaded a brand new 1:44 video Jan 30, after not uploading for three months. The theories he went over were iPhones always ‘listening,’ celebrities having their faces and voices stolen online and subliminal messages.

Starting with a theory on iPhones, Dawson discovered that when his friend was receiving a call, the person on the other line could hear his friend talking before he actually picked up the phone, implying that apple products are constantly tapped and being observed. He also goes over the fact that when someone takes a live photo and plays it back, a clip before the picture was taken can be seen. Apple has said the camera records three seconds before and after a picture, but Dawson feels there is more.

He believes that by giving Apple as much access as we all do, it is making it easier for the company and even hackers to hold information they shouldn’t. When he puts his phone up to his ear, he hears a buzzing sound, which is common for phones that have been tapped. He will go more into this theory in part 2, being released Feb. 11.

The next subject he talks about are “deep fakes,” a free new software that allows people to put faces onto another person, while they are speaking. This can be dangerous because of how real it looks and the ability to copy voices and create sentences with only a snippet of someone’s voice.

For example, Dawson explains how this has been around for awhile, like when recreating actors that pass away before a movie is finished like Paul Walker. He explains that this is now harmful because anyone has the access to make a deep fake. Someone could easily cause a world issue by making a fake video and declaring fake information, putting the world into stress, according to Dawson.

The last theory touches on subliminal messages. With subliminal messages being left in childhood shows, Dawson feels that these are used to ‘brainwash’ children. These messages have been found in shows like Spongebob and Looney Tunes, which show many acts like suicide. They even glorify it by saying things like “free at last” making it comical when characters die.

He stresses that some cartoons are planting ideas into kids’ minds that lessen the severity behind suicide. The theory is based on the fact that your brain develops most in the first five years of life, so Dawson feels there is a correlation between children’s minds being easily manipulated to watching cartoons that have subliminal messages. He adds a disclaimer that people do have severe depression and suicidal thoughts and he isn’t disregarding that.

He goes on to point out that by making fame, money and success look so exciting, games indirectly inform kids that if they cannot achieve it, then they aren’t enough. An example he gives is like the Game of Life, which declares the winner to be the most successful and rich participant.

Part 2 of the video will release next Monday and will go more in depth into these different theories and speak to other people invested in them.