Jordan van den Berg's vigilante-style approach has won him fans and critics amid a housing crisis.

Three years ago, lawyer Jordan van den Berg was an obscure TikTok creator who made videos that mocked real estate agents.

But today the 28-year-old is one of the most high-profile activists in Australia.

Posting under the moniker Purple Pingers, Mr van den Berg has been taking on the nation’s housing crisis by highlighting shocking renting conditions, poor behaviour from landlords, and what he calls government failures.

It is his vigilante-style approach - which includes helping people find vacant homes to squat in, and exposing bad rentals in a public database - that has won over a legion of fans.

Some have dubbed him the Robin Hood of renters.

  • Alien Nathan EdwardEnglish
    91·
    2 months ago

    Can someone explain how you went from “This sub is for news about not America, if you want news about America there’s a whole sub for that” to “straight white men are victims of systemic injustice”?

    • jkrtn@lemmy.mlEnglish
      71·
      2 months ago

      It seems like there is a step in between, like, “America is the victim of injustice because it isn’t given priority status in the world news sub that has to be distinct because all the other news subs end up being about America.” Some sort of persecution complex?

      • Alien Nathan EdwardEnglish
        51·
        2 months ago

        being a victim is great as long as you’re not actually a victim. you get to be outraged and make demands of people and, because no one is actually victimizing you at all, there’s no downside!

      • Mango@lemmy.worldEnglish
        15·
        2 months ago

        “Isn’t given priority status” is totally the same as “specifically banned here”. Move them goalposts harder.

        • jkrtn@lemmy.mlEnglish
          51·
          2 months ago

          You transitioned into panicking that cishet white Christians are being persecuted because there is a sub for US news and a different sub for other news, but it is the other people’s hyperbole that is wrong, got it.

          • Mango@lemmy.worldEnglish
            16·
            2 months ago

            You just go on ahead and make up more stuff to argue about. I’ll watch since my input isn’t really represented here.

            • jkrtn@lemmy.mlEnglish
              4·
              2 months ago

              Your input isn’t represented? Uh oh, sounds like you are being silenced and persecuted!

              • Mango@lemmy.worldEnglish
                13·
                2 months ago

                More like ‘brave new world’-ed. You’re just making a bunch of noise hoping that I dig a hole and people avoid me.

    • Mango@lemmy.worldEnglish
      16·
      2 months ago

      It went to that because you decided to misrepresent what I said. You did that because you don’t have a response for my actual position and needed something easy to attack.