Dallas Police asked people to report illegal protest activity via an app. K-pop stans organized to spam it with fancams instead.

• On May 31, the Dallas Police Department put out a call on Twitter for people to report "illegal activity from the protests" via its iWatch Dallas app.
• K-pop fans called for people to spam the app with fancams, and the Dallas Police Department tweeted later on May 31 that the app was temporarily down.
• K-pop stans have also recently called for fandoms to refrain from trending hashtags associated with groups or new releases out of respect for Black Lives Matter.

On May 31, as thousands in the US and across the world protested and demanded justice following the death of George Floyd after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, the Dallas Police Department put out a call on Twitter for people to report "illegal activity from the protests" via its iWatch Dallas app. Instead, K-pop stans called on each other to spam the app with fancams. Around 6:26 CT, the app temporarily went down.

When asked for comment, the Dallas Police Department confirmed that the app went down, but has been restored. They did not provide comment on why the interruption occurred.

K-pop stans are known for spamming fancams on Twitter

Fancams are short videos that typically depict K-pop idols performing, although the term has come to mean short edited videos that aren't necessarily tied to K-pop. K-pop stans are known for dropping them in replies to tweets or in trending hashtags. Over time, the phenomenon spread to other circles on Twitter. There are even Anonymous fancams now.

The effort to spam the iWatch Dallas appears to have started with a tweet from user @7soulsmap calling for people to censor protesters' faces, including a screenshot of the Dallas PD's tweet requesting information on illegal protest activity following a mix of peaceful and violent protesting. A tweet later in the thread from @7soulsmap reads, "The only reason to post fancams in 2020 is to protect the identities of BLM protestors."

From there, a few quote tweets of @7soulsmap's original tweet took off, including one since-deleted tweet asking people to "DOWNLOAD THE APP AND SEND ALL YOUR FANCAMS!!!" and one from @YGSHLT calling on people to "download the app and f-cking FLOOD that sh-t with fancams make it SO HARD for them to find anything besides our faves dancing." @YGHSLT's tweet currently has over 40,000 retweets and over 100,000 likes.

"Originally I tweeted because I saw a post about how the Dallas PD would probably be using the app to arrest protestors, and I wanted to do something to stop them/slow them down," @YGSHLT, who preferred to be referred to by their Twitter handle, said. "I saw a few comments underneath it with the idea to spam the app with something, and since I'm a kpop stan the first thing I thought of was fancams."

Fans also dropped negative reviews for the iWatch Dallas app on Apple's App Store

People also review-bombed the app on Apple's App Store, where the iWatch Dallas app currently has a one-star rating and approximately 3,500 reviews, with some including "ACAB" (an acronym standing for "All Cops Are Bastards") or saying that the app gave them a virus, seemingly as a means of deterring others from downloading it. "Downloaded to report my witness of police brutality but it crashed multiple times," one review reads.

The fancam rallying call and subsequent crashing of the iWatch Dallas app have received significant attention online, with tweets circulating about the power of K-pop stans and their ability to spam fancams. The tone of reactions from people who aren't particularly familiar with K-pop fandom is one of surprise.

"The response was really overwhelming," @YGSHLT said. "I know K-pop stans and locals usually have a hard time agreeing with each other, especially on the topic of fancams, but I got a lot of comments or messages or people praising the idea and even downloading our fancams to help out."

It's worth noting that K-pop stans are extremely online and generally plugged into social issues: they've called out idols who have made dismissive comments about police brutality in the past and recently have worked to stop trending hashtags about recent music releases out of respect and support for Black Lives Matter. @YGSHLT attributes the fandom's willingness to spam the iWatch Dallas app with fans to many K-pop stans' support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

"All of us want to help in any way possible. We really appreciate everything the protestors are doing out there and we don't want them to get in trouble," @YGSHLT said, also saying that many K-pop stans are teenagers or young adults who have limited funds and urging people to donate to National Bail Out.

• Read more:
• K-pop fans are organizing to keep Lady Gaga and Blackpink's latest single from trending online out of respect for #BlackLivesMatter
• Pain and anger: 19 powerful photos show the fury of US protests over the death of George Floyd
• Thousands across the UK, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and Canada condemn racism and demand justice at global George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests
• Police across the country draw outrage for excessive force against protesters and media