Gonzalo Lira, a YouTuber and former online dating coach, has recently made headlines for reasons beyond his coaching career. Lira gained notoriety in the past for providing dating tips under the pseudonym Red Pill. Despite his professional endeavors on YouTube, he has become entangled in various controversies, leading to his arrest.
Gonzalo Lira was arrested on May 1, 2023, under charges related to wartime propaganda as per article 436-2 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, parts 2 and 3. The charges are associated with his online activities, where he allegedly shared hate materials justifying Putin’s armed aggression against Ukraine.
Lira, residing in Kharkiv, Ukraine, faced accusations of creating content that supported Russian invaders and glorified war crimes. Ukrainian authorities, particularly the Security Service (SBU), detained him at his residence. The charges extend beyond propaganda, accusing Lira of filming the Ukrainian military and making deliberate efforts to discredit their armed service.
Alexandra Krit shared a post on fb for Lira:
Gonzalo Lira is still in jail in Ukraine and nothing is done 😡😡😡
American Journalist Sarah Ashton-Cirillo is slated to be one of the witnesses in the criminal case against Lira. The investigation revealed that Lira commented on Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and mass murders of civilians in his YouTube videos.
As of now, Gonzalo Lira is alive but incarcerated. The investigation into his actions is ongoing, and he may face five to eight years of imprisonment if convicted. His controversial content, which included portraying Ukrainians as armed criminals and spreading debunked conspiracy theories, has contributed to the severity of the charges against him.
Gonzalo Lira’s arrest marks a significant turn in his public image, transitioning from a dating coach to a figure facing serious legal consequences for his online activities. The case highlights the potential repercussions of spreading propaganda and disinformation during times of conflict, shedding light on the broader implications of social media content in a geopolitical context.
