If you want to try out experimental YouTube features, but you don’t have a Premium subscription, a new hub will be right up your alley. By signing up as a YouTube Labs test subject, users can try out the generative AI-powered features that are coming down the YouTube pipeline.
Signups for YouTube Labs can be found on the /new page, which YouTube uses to update its community about the features it is currently testing. Access to those in-development updates often requires a Premium subscription, but as YouTube embraces generative AI, it is bringing customers from its traditional free tier into the mix.
“Be among the first to discover the next generation of YouTube,” reads a description of the new initiative. “Join YouTube Labs to try our latest AI experiments and prototypes.”
YouTube has certainly been busy on the AI front. The video platform has applied Google’s Gemini large language model across its business, with use cases ranging from age verification to creative inspiration to language dubbing.
Those tools have plenty of promise, but YouTube’s use of generative AI has also drawn its share of scrutiny. Creators have complained that their videos have been scraped for training without their consent, and the pile of AI slop has grown so tall that YouTube changed its rules to promote original uploads.
In one notable incident, YouTube was caught using AI to tweak Shorts videos after they went live. That action wasn’t inconsistent with YouTube’s policies, but it showed the need for clearer communication with creators on the subject of generative AI.
YouTube Labs offers a form of disclosure. By letting users take upcoming AI-powered features for test drives, YouTube can provide more transparency regarding the changes it makes to its platform.
The first YouTube Labs feature is an AI DJ for YouTube Music. If you used Spotify’s disembodied DJ, you’ll know what to expect here: YouTube is adding more personality to playlists without disrupting the streaming experience. If that sounds like something that might interest you, then you know where to go to get your key to the lab.
“At Google, we believe AI should amplify creativity and support creators,” Anthony Nakache, Google’s Managing Director of MENA, said in a statement. “We want Google Gemini to give every aspiring storyteller, regardless of their budget or available equipment, the power of our advanced models to bring ideas to life.”
People interested in entering must submit a 7-to-10-minute film that’s at least 70% AI-generated. They must use Google’s various generative tools, including Gemini, Imagen, Veo, and Flow, “as well as any third-party tools that use Google Gemini as underlying technology,” organizers said. Applicants can use any other tools or software for “supplemental editing,” but have to use Google’s proprietary tools for the actual core video generation.
1BFS and Google say submissions should be “creative” and “visually realistic,” and should address one of two topics:
“Rewrite Tomorrow,” which should “inspirationally [explore] the shape of the future”
or “The Secret Life Of,” “demonstrating that everything around us has an unseen, untold story
All submissions must be filed by Nov. 20, 2025. From Nov. 21-Dec. 4, a panel of judges will evaluate them based on storytelling, creativity, AI integration, execution, and thematic excellence. The top 10 selected films will be open to public voting Dec. 10-15.
The top five films will be announced on Jan. 3 and screened Jan. 10 during the upcoming 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai. The creator(s) of the winning film will receive $1 million.
1BFS and Google say they’re open to submissions from anyone, but participants “need to be actively producing content on social media” in order to be considered. Films can be in any language, but must be subtitled in English.
Google of course has its own reasons for propagating the usage of AI; as for the UAE, the entire nation has “proactively integrated AI into its education system, teaching it as a core subject from kindergarten through 12th grade,” Saeed Al Eter, Deputy Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Strategic Projects and Chairman of the UAE Government Media Office, said in a statement.
“This award launches at a pivotal moment marked by rapid transformation in film, visual production, and content creation,” the Deputy Minister added. “Creativity is no longer confined to large studios and massive budgets, as anyone with a mobile device and a vibrant imagination can now create. Artificial intelligence will further amplify human creativity, enabling us to tell more stories, connect with larger audiences, and inspire billions around the globe.”
As we mentioned, top films for the competition will be shown at 1 Billion Followers Summit 2026, which will run Jan. 9-11. Organizers expect to welcome more than 30,000 content creators, entrepreneurs, and industry experts to the Emirates Towers, Museum of the Future, and International Financial Centre in Dubai.
Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.
This week, a creator goes into the thick of it on a reality competition show, British networks take on family-friendly U.S. stars, and a TikTok hashtag turns into a big payday.
Pop culture minute
KSI is the new guest judge on Britain’s Got Talent. The best-known member of the Sidemen will sit alongside Simon Cowell and co. as a judge on season 19 of Britain’s Got Talent. If the performers follow his advice, they can make a song so bad that it becomes a pop culture sensation.
Chris Stuckmann’s directorial debut impresses the critics. Reviews praised Stuckmann’s creative vision as reviews of the upcoming horror film Shelby Oaks rolled in. The YouTube star’s first theatrical release is almost certainly better than Shelby: The Dog Who Saved Christmas, a movie I accidentally clicked on while searching for Shelby Oaks.
Deestroying signs with CAA. The sports star, who was previously partnered with WME, recently got a sideline gig during YouTube’s exclusive NFL broadcast. Dee is moving up in the world, and his latest move will open more doors for him.
Creator commotion
Logan Paul’s Michael Jordan autograph purchase turns into a lawsuit. Paul won an auction to acquire a Chicago Bulls floorboard signed by His Airness himself, but the auctioneer’s suspicious behavior led Paul to file a suit. If he’s adding yet another court battle to his list, he should probably make sure he’s completed all those CryptoZoo paybacks.
Ned Fulmer’s podcast launches with a bit of a lurch. The disgraced former Try Guy brought on his wife Ariel as the first guest for a new podcast that discusses “people’s lowest, most embarrassing, and challenging moments.” The internet wasn’t into it, though — it might take a few more years before the sting of Fulmer’s cheating scandal fades.
NPC Miles Morales got into a car crash on the way home from his Mafiathon 3 appearance. Luckily, the streamer was unharmed in the accident, but he admitted that he “fell asleep” after spending a long night hanging out on Twitch with Kai Cenat. Incidents like this will lead to more scrutiny for marathon streams.
Platform headlines
The BBC doesn’t like how successful Ms. Rachel is across the pond. Patricia Hidalgo, the Director of Children and Education at the BBC, scolded YouTube for leading U.K. kids to creators like Ms. Rachel and Blippi instead of “nourishing” homegrown content. Now Ms. Rachel is going to have to write a song to teach her littles how to say “nativist nonsense.”
Meta AI is running on vibes at this point. The Big Tech firm’s Vibes feed offers a stream of AI-generated videos across specific moods and aesthetics. The feed is purportedly intended to help those in need of a creative spark, so consider it Meta’s answer to YouTube’s Dream Screen feature.
NBCUniversal warns customers about a potential YouTube TV blackout. For YouTube TV, the carriage disputes just keep coming. This time, the parent company of channels like NBC, Telemundo, and Bravo is playing hardball with YouTube’s negotiators — and the friction has arrived weeks before NBC is set to restart exclusive NBA coverage.
The biz
#RushTok is bringing beaucoup bucks to top sorority sisters. At the start of every school year, #RushTok surges in popularity, and the hashtag’s top stars are riding the wave to the tune of six-figure annual payouts. What’s most surprising about this is that the #RushTok stars can even afford to pay for their college education.
Jesser’s Bucketsquad drops an NFL collection. Jesser is best known for his basketball content on YouTube, but his ability to branch out to other sports has fueled his rapid rise. As YouTube continues to invest in the NFL, expect collabs like this one to become more common.
Amigas Mia’s is a new Latina-led digital media and talent company. The startup’s offerings will include an investing venture for its partner creators. Some of the first names on its roster are lifestyle creator Paula Galindo and makeup artist Camila Bravo.
The internet is a strange place
Motto by Hilton brings sidequests into the hotel experience. Motto heard that Gen Z likes to live it up with exciting experiences, so it launched a Guest Quest to send travelers on local adventures after they check in. If you do enough ice bucket fetch quests, you might even level up.
Charlie Kirk has become an AI character on the Christian side of YouTube Shorts. The people who brought us strange AI content starring God and Jesus have now added Charlie Kirk to the mix. Short-form feeds are starting to look like the next megachurches.
Watch out for fake Labubus. As if the original Labubu craze wasn’t ominous enough, U.K. officials are now dealing with a confiscated shipment of millions of dollars worth of counterfeit dolls. How will Britain deal with this Labubu booboo?
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Have you heard? KSI’s got talent, British networks take on Ms. Rachel, and sorority girls make six figures.
One of YouTube‘s original finance gurus is being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for $112 million over allegations his recent ecom venture was at least partially a Ponzi scheme.
Lopez has been on YouTube for over a decade, and was one of the original voices in the whole “hustle bro” movement, telling wannabe entrepreneurs that if they wanted to become millionaires, buy their own Lamborghinis, and “get things done and stop sucking your thumb,” they should drop hundreds or thousands of dollars on his how-to courses* (*results not guaranteed).
You may remember that back in 2020, during the height of the whole NFT craze, Lopez and Zoosk co-founder Alex Mehr joined forces on a holding company called Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV). The idea was to buy legacy brick-and-mortar brands that were “distressed” (aka on the verge of or already in active bankruptcy), close down all their retail locations, and turn them into trendy ecom destinations. REV also, like many guru-run businesses at the time, had vague crypto and NFT ambitions. (Those gurus, including Lopez and Mehr, have mostly moved on to AI; Lopez just posted this video, and Mehr says he now runs businesses called “Famous.ai” and “Deal.ai.”)
Among REV’s acquisitions were Radio Shack, Pier 1 Imports, Dressbarn, and Modell’s Sporting Goods.
To finance these acquisitions, Lopez, Mehr, and Lopez’s cousin/REV’s COO Maya Burkenroad brought in investors. They ran splashy ads talking up Mehr’s sale of Zoosk and promising investors they’d get all their money back in monthly installments. One ad said that for every $300K investors put in, they’d get $60,000 back per year—a return so immediate and so high it’s virtually unheard of.
The SEC’s suit alleges that in pitches to investors, Lopez, Mehr, and Burkenroad said REV’s various companies were “on fire” and that “cash flow is strong.”
But that wasn’t actually true.
“Contrary to these representations, while some of the REV Retailer Brands generated revenue, none generated any profits,” the suit alleges. “Consequently, in order to pay interest, dividends and maturing note payments, Defendants resorted to using a combination of loans from outside lenders, merchant cash advances, money raised from new and existing investors, and transfers from other portfolio companies to cover obligations.”
(The SEC says REV also misrepresented one more thing: Burkenroad’s experience. While Lopez and Mehr claimed she had “over 10 years of experience managing multi-million-dollar companies,” she actually worked as a substitute preschool teacher, a promoter at a radio statio, and as Lopez’s assistant.)
It’s worth noting that while all this (alleged) fraud was (allegedly) happening, REV’s rebranding efforts weren’t going well. With Radio Shack, for example, the REV team tried getting digital denizens’ attention by filling its social accounts with crude, sexist, R-rated posts that had people wondering whether they’d been hacked. The posts did get attention, but marketing experts agreed it wasn’t the kind of attention that would turn Radio Shack into the booming ecom brand REV wanted.
While REV raised around ~$230 million total, ‘only’ around $112 million was raised through fraudulent means, per the SEC’s suit, and $5.9 million of investor payments were made through Ponzi means.
The suit also alleges Lopez and Mehr spent $16 million of investors’ money for personal use, and mentions that investors were told funds allocated for a particular brand would not be moved around to REV’s other assets. The SEC says this is not true, and that money was frequently swapped between accounts.
Scambusting YouTuber Scott Shafer has been making videos about Lopez, Mehr, and REV for years, and had access to an investor chat group. In a new upload, he said REV’s investors formed their own organization and now have control of all the brands previously owned by REV; Lopez, Mehr, and Burkenroad are no longer involved with them. This arrangement, Shafer said, kept investors from suing Lopez and Mehr.
But the SEC wasn’t part of that settlement, and now it’s on their trail for fraud.
Former employees told The New York Post that they were the ones who tipped off the SEC in 2023.
“We have been trying to get someone to expose Tai Lopez and his gang of fraudsters for a long time,” one said. Another former REV executive, who resigned after working there a short time, added, “I felt I’d be compromising myself by continuing to work there. It’s possible that I witnessed something illegal. I’ve never worked for a company promising to pay investors 20% and chartering jets and flying all over the country.”
The suit was filed Sept. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Lopez, Mehr, and Burkenroad have not issued official comments or publicly recognized the SEC’s allegations in any way.
Lopez, however, has been tweeting through it.
“Never doom,” he wrote Sept. 24. “No matter how horrible the situation, don’t ever think you’re doomed. Unless you are dead, all defeat is psychological.”
Filed under: Homepage Feature by James Hale Comments Off on You know what the SEC likes more than Lamborghinis? Nailing Tai Lopez for (alleged) investor fraud.
As viewbots become more sophisticated and harder to detect, the fight against them is evolving as well. The prevalence and impact of viewbots across streaming platforms is the topic of a new whitepaper co-published by data hub Streams Charts and influencer marketing firm Audiencly.
Viewbots have been in the news thanks to recent activity on Twitch. The Amazon-owned company tightened its enforcement of its anti-viewbotting policy in July, a move that may have led to a platform-wide viewership dip. A subsequent uptick led to claims that Twitch had reversed its policy update, though representatives for the platform clarified that the viewbotting crackdown is as active as ever.
The Streams Charts whitepaper indicates that Twitch does indeed have its viewbots under control — especially in relation to other streaming platforms. By looking for telltale signs of viewbotting, such as high percentages of logged-out viewers and linear, regimented traffic trends, Streams Charts identified channels with a “high chance of viewbotting.”
On Twitch, the prevalence of “suspicious” channels dipped sharply during the third quarter of 2024, when the FTC announced an official ban on viewbotting. The number of sus Twitch hubs has continued to decline since then, but that doesn’t mean viewbotting is a thing of the past. To the contrary, Q2 2025 was the first quarter in which at least 10% of Twitch accounts with at least 50 average quarterly viewers “displayed clear signs of persistent viewbotting,” Streams Charts wrote.
That figure indicates that Twitch still has work to do, but the outlook on Kick is much worse. The upstart Twitch rival uses powerful anti-viewbot tactics, at least according to creators like xQc, but the numbers suggest that many violators are slipping through the cracks. During Q2 2025, more than 16% of Kick channels with at least 50 average quarterly viewers were suspected viewbotters, Streams Charts found.
While Kick’s overall traffic rose sharply during that period, the rate of increase for suspected viewbotters was far higher. “Kick’s leadership has promised action, but enforcement remains inconsistent, with smaller creators often disproportionately affected while top streamers sometimes evade penalties,” reads the Streams Charts whitepaper.
If Kick is promising to act on its viewbotting problem, some users may argue that concerns about artificial traffic are overblown. But Streams Charts and Audiencly make the case that viewbotting has a wide-reaching impact. It’s not just a cheat code for creators who want to get ahead in competitive categories like “just chatting” and esports — it’s a phenomenon that causes influencer campaigns to waste spend and fall short of their engagement targets.
“The ripple effects are felt throughout the industry, as honest creators are overlooked in favor of those gaming the system, and brands become increasingly wary of investing in livestreaming,” said Stream Charts Chief Sales Officer Sergii Rudenko. “Ultimately, the unchecked spread of viewbotting threatens to undermine the credibility of influencer marketing as a whole.”
Viewers can help marketers, analysts, and platforms root out viewbotting by looking for suspicious signs like linear viewership, sudden traffic spikes, and nonsensical chat messages. If there’s one thing the whitepaper makes clear, it’s that viewbots are evolving faster than the tech industry’s enforcement solutions. Proactive behavior will be necessary if the influencer marketing world wants to avoid wasting billions of dollars of spend over the coming years.
On Thursday, the White House issued an executive order that clears the way for an acquisition of TikTok’s U.S. assets. A group of corporate billionaires and venture firms, including Oracle and Silver Lake Management, will take control of a U.S. version of TikTok (tentatively titled M2) in a deal that values the upcoming app at $14 billion.
A fresh report from the Pew Research Center has triggered yet another set of queries: What does this deal mean for the growing percentage of Americans who get their news from TikTok? Will they continue to rely on an app with close ties to the Trump administration, or will they look elsewhere for their daily updates?
After surveying a diverse range of U.S. adults, Pew found that 20% of respondents regularly get their news from TikTok. That percentage was sitting at 3% in 2020 and has grown steadily with each passing year.
TikTok’s status as a Gen Z news source is well-established. Reuters reported in 2023 that 20% of 18-to-24-year-olds use the app for that purpose.
The increasing adoption of TikTok-based news has been driven by older cohorts in addition to Gen Z. In the 30-to-49 age bracket, the percentage of people tracking current events on TikTok is up 6% year-over-year to 25%. And 2025 is the first year in which the percentage of 50-to-64-year-olds who get news from TikTok is in the double digits (it’s at 10% right now and growing with each passing year).
Add it all up, and TikTok is now the second-most common social media news source; it delivers headlines to 55% of U.S. adults, putting it just two percentage points behind X. On that axis, TikTok has surpassed Facebook and Reddit after trailing them as recently as 2023.
When that trend collides with the Trump administration’s dubious commitment to the truth, the results could be world-shaping. Will consumers still turn to TikTok when it has a recommendation algorithm backed by U.S. conservatives, or will the app become a nakedly partisan news source a la X or Truth Social (both of which showed year-over-year usage declines in the Pew report)?
By trying to shield Americans from the national security threats and pro-Chinese political bias they perceived on TikTok, Trump and his allies may have opened the door for a whole new wave of unreliable social media reporting. At the same time, very few Americans follow journalists on TikTok — so it’s possible that many people who turn to TikTok for news may not even notice the app’s shifting focus.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News, TikTok by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Will a $14 billion TikTok sale affect how 20% of Americans get their news?
Now, YouTube is taking a similar tack in the U.K. It just formed the new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), which it says will “act as a vital bridge between the UK’s creators and Westminster.”
“The new APPG’s mission is to champion the significant social and economic contributions of UK creators while working with policymakers to deepen their understanding of the digital creator economy and advocate effectively for the sector,” YouTube said in a company blog post.
It added that it formed the APPG based on feedback from the over 10,000 U.K.-based creators who took part in its first Creator Consultation this summer.
YouTube said data from the 2024 Oxford Economics Impact Report shows it contributes over £2.2 billion to the U.K. economy and supports the equivalent of more than 45,000 full-time jobs.
“However, the Consultation revealed that UK creator growth is significantly hampered by a lack of recognition,” it said. “This is compounded by significant gaps in support–including skills, training, funding, studio space, and filming permits–which undermines creators’ ability to innovate, reach new audiences, build their businesses, and support economic growth.”
The APPG is run by creator advocacy orgs Digital Creator Association and Influencer Marketing Trade Body, and is co-chaired by former Digital Ministers Feryal Clark MP and Lord Ed Vaize. It intends to tackle these issues by giving our industry a voice that can communicate directly with the government, and teaching U.K. policymakers about creators and their needs.
YouTube said the APPG will start by taking on “the most pressing challenges,” including securing training and funding opportunities for creators and working on “improvements to filming infrastructure.”
These efforts across both the U.S. and U.K. are in their very early days, so we likely won’t see any significant shift for at least a few months, if not a few years. But creators simply having an educational foothold in governments where many leaders still don’t understand what the internet is or how it functions could lead to good things in terms of tax breaks, career support, and overall recognition of creators’ ever-growing power–and their unique needs.
Filed under: Homepage Feature, YouTube by James Hale Comments Off on YouTube’s new advocacy group is telling the U.K. government why creators are important–and what support they need
The world of creator-friendly digital media companies is turning Vylit. That’s the name of a new platform co-founded by former OnlyFans CEO Amrapali “Ami” Gan and brand strategist Kailey Magder.
Gan and Magder have raised a $2.7 million seed round to power Vylit, which combines the all-ages approach of OnlyFans with AI-powered enhancements that are designed to uplift smaller creators. The new platform has a team of about six employees and an estimated launch date of December 2025.
After stints at Red Bull and Quest Nutrition, Gan made headlines in 2021 when — at age 36 — she replaced founding OnlyFans CEO Tim Stokley as the company’s top exec. Gan began her two-year stint in charge of OnlyFans amid a tumultuous time for the sex-positive platform. Inconsistent policies regarding NSFW content led to friction with creators. While established stars like Amouranth and Lizzy Capri hauled in big paydays, lesser-known names found OnlyFans to be a mixed bag.
Keily Blair took over as OnlyFans CEO in 2023, and Gan linked up with Magder to launch advisory firm Hoxton Projects. Now, as Gan and Magner prepare to launch their next venture, the former OnlyFans CEO is applying the lessons she learned from that gig.
To wit: Vylit has a clear policy regarding NSFW content. Topless posts will be permitted, but anything more risqué than that is verboten. Per Fortune, the company describes itself as “a place for monetizing the casual thirst trap.”
Vylit will also look to solve creator concerns related to discoverability and monetization. OnlyFans creators make the most money when they can import an established fan base from another platform (again, Amouranth and Lizzy Capri exemplify that phenomenon.) To help upstarts who may not have established followings, Vylit offers a centralized feed that looks like it belongs on TikTok or Instagram.
On the monetization side of things, Vylit employs AI to enable efficient interactions between creators and their paying customers. Like on Instagram, Vylit users will be able to outsource fan interactions to AI chatbots, a strategy that will theoretically increase engagement across the platform.
“We aim to make social media truly social and enjoyable again; a place for digital connections where people can feel comfortable being themselves,” Gan and Magder said in a joint statement. “Vylit takes on the white space between social media and creator platforms, making it accessible for everyone to have a place to express themselves and monetize.”
Windmill Chain Fund led Vylit’s $2.7 million seed round. Manifest Financial and Amaze CEO Aaron Day also participated. With cash in hand and seasoned leadership at the helm, the newest addition to the creator economy is ready to show that the Vylit hour is at hand.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News, OnlyFans by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Former OnlyFans CEO raises $2.7 million to put new twist on titillating content
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said his platform takes security “extremely seriously” after Valkyrae and QTCinderella said they’re considering skipping next month’s TwitchCon due to safety concerns.
In a recent episode of their podcast Wine About It, the two streamers–who planned to record an episode live onstage at at the convention–mentioned the murder of Japanese streamer Airi Sato, who was stabbed to death by a male stalker while broadcasting in Tokyo.
“I’ve been so anxious and scared and sad this whole past week,” Valkyrae said. “It just takes one person.”
“Respectfully, I don’t feel irrational. I feel very scared,” QTCinderella agreed, adding that after Sato’s murder, “I almost pulled out of all my obligations. I was like, ‘I don’t think it’s for me.'” She ended up being “talked off the ledge,” she said, but other “horrible things have happened” that have made her nervous about attending.
She said that for now, she and Valkyrae have given Twitch “a soft, ‘Hey, we’re in a bit of a panic mode right now.'” We’ve seen reports that the duo have cancelled their TwitchCon appearances, but there’s no public confirmation of that yet.
QTCinderella didn’t go into the “horrible things” that have made her and Valkyrae anxious about security, but we can guess at some of them: This past March, Amouranth had her house broken into by people who wanted to steal her cryptocurrency; separately, less than 24 hours later, Valkyrae, Cinna, and Emiru were accosted on the street by a man who got down on one knee and proposed to them, then threatened to kill them when they refused.
There’s also the fact that TwitchCon was rife with harassment in 2024, mostly from Kick streamers crashing the event. One Kick streamer, DBR666, sexually assaulted creators Nmplol and Wake Wilder on camera. Other incidents ended in physical fights. After the convention wrapped, Kick CEO Ed Cravensaid his platform was “continuously working on reviewing policy and doing better,” while Twitch said it was investigating the incidents and pointed out that it had a safety/security team present at the event.
Clancy’s current response to Valkyrae and QTCinderella’s concerns has a similar vibe. “I want to be very clear; we take security at our events, like TwitchCon, extremely seriously,” he said. “Every year, we build on successful approaches to TwitchCon safety and security, particularly as we become aware of new or emerging security or safety challenges.”
He added, “We have teams focused on this year-round, including keeping creators and community members safe on Twitch or at TwitchCon. We have rules and standards regarding TwitchCon attendees, and we limit people who have been indefinitely suspended off service violations–they are not able to attend.”
Valkyrae and QTCinderella have not responded to Clancy’s statement–but Asmongold did, and he didn’t mince words, mentioning the incident with DBR666.
“Last year, nmplol and wake were sexually assaulted by a streamer and Twitch didn’t press charges or pursue any form of legal action against him,” he said. “If I was a woman, I would never go to twitchcon.”
Streamers including QTCinderella have talked about hiring personal security/bodyguards, but there may be conflict about what guards are allowed to do at TwitchCon. We’ve seen reports that TwitchCon security has a policy of not laying hands on anyone, which we imagine makes it difficult to truly protect streamers. We reached out to Twitch to confirm the veracity of these reports and ask what TwitchCon security staff are/are not allowed to do.
Whether Valkyrae and QTCinderella decide to go, TwitchCon 2025 will take place in San Diego Oct. 17-19. More than 22,000 people attended last year.
Delta Air Lines is expanding its in-flight entertainment options with help from YouTube. A partnership between the two companies will bring a curated selection of YouTube content to Delta’s seatback screens beginning on September 25.
The deal between Delta and YouTube was first teased at the CES trade show in January. Nine months later, Delta is making good on its promise to provide flyers with a wide range of YouTube favorites. Delta Skymiles members will also be able to claim complimentary trials for the ad-free YouTube Premium service, and the airline’s flight attendants will put together YouTube Music playlists that will play while passengers take their seats.
The concept of in-flight content culled from the streaming world is nearly as old as YouTube itself. Virgin America began offering web-native fare on its seatback screens in 2007, and it upped the ante in 2013 when it premiered a new in-flight safety video choreographed by YouTube star Todrick Hall.
Delta’s initial response to that viral hit was a memetic PSA of its own, which it dubbed “The Internetest Safety Video on the Internet.” But as airlines transitioned from on-demand entertainment to wifi-enabled flights (which, in theory, allow passengers to watch whatever they want), the concept of creator content at 35,000 feet was relegated to the back burner.
Flash forward a decade, and on-demand entertainment in vehicles is all the rage, as evidenced by the numerous automakers who have added apps like TikTok and Twitch to their central consoles. Meanwhile, Delta’s data shows that passengers who use the inflight wifi often turn to YouTube. Delta VP of Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity Strategy Julieta McCurry told The Hollywod Reporter that YouTube is “the number one platform” streamed by the airline’s customers.
“Think about what Delta is all about, which is providing an amazing experience as they take travelers around the world. And from a YouTube perspective, we’re really focused on bringing the best of the world to our users, through quality content,” added YouTube VP of Product Partnership Miguel Quiroga. “So at the end of the day, like that intersection felt really compelling.”
YouTube and Delta didn’t announce the specific videos that will be available on the curated seatback playlists, but the hub seems like an ideal distribution point for the long-form videos YouTube is promoting alongside its continued investment in Shorts. Airplane passengers represent one of the last true captive audiences in the media landscape, and if there’s an appetite for inflight movies, then long-form YouTube videos can certainly carve out a niche as well.
If you ask me, Jet Lagseems like a perfect choice for airplane viewership. Real Engineering videos could also help flyers understand the mechanics that keep them aloft. OK, maybe I just want a hub of Nebula videos on my seatback screen. Without that, I’ll have to look to the row ahead of me and watch whichever YouTube videos that passenger has queued up.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, News, YouTube by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on YouTube is coming to Delta flights. Which creators will you watch at 35,000 feet?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has strict disclosure guidelines for creators who upload sponsored content. For channels that appeal to kids, the policies are even tighter. YouTube’s biggest star, MrBeast, certainly qualifies as a kid-friendly entertainer — but is he following the FTC’s rules?
That’s the question the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) is asking. The independent agency, which exists within the nonprofit BBB National Programs, issued a press release that accuses MrBeast of providing insufficient disclosures related to sponsorships and sweepstakes.
The CARU report offers numerous examples of MrBeast videos that seem to clash with the FTC’s rules. “CARU observed several MrBeast YouTube videos where the video descriptions and pinned comments contained advertising content unrelated to the videos,” reads the report. “This content was not clearly labeled or otherwise identifiable as advertising to children in the audience.”
MrBeast’s practices related to his Feastables brand also drew scrutiny. For a 2024 Halloween sweepstakes, the method of free entry (i.e. entries that did not require the purchase of Feastables products) was improperly disclosed. Since the contest targeted children, additional measures were required. “One of the rules was that minors can enter with parental consent, but the parental consent was not obtained before collecting personal information,” CARU reported.
The CARU press release includes a joint statement from the MrBeast and Feastables teams. The two entites expressed appreciation for “CARU’s mission,” but they also disagreed with some of the organization’s conclusions. “A variety of the issues raised by CARU relate to practices long since revised and/or discontinued,” reads the statement. “Notwithstanding, MrBeast and Feastables certainly will take CARU’s concerns under advisement as it develops future advertisements which appear in children’s media.”
Even if MrBeast has addressed CARU’s concerns, the creator’s team should still keep a lookout for the FTC. Franklin Graves, an attorney researching and writing about law and policy at Creator Economy Law, told Tubefilter that “it is not uncommon” for CARU investigations to lead to further action from the FTC. Despite the corrections in place, FTC probes and class action lawsuits could still be on the table.
“If the alleged violations are proven true after further investigation by the FTC, Feastables, Inc. could potentially carry fines, enforcement measures, and a future where the business ventures and activity of the various MrBeast brands are heavily audited and scrutinized,” Graves said. He added that the interconnectedness of MrBeast businesses (e.g. the presence of a Feastables sweepstakes on a MrBeast video) “can potentially open broader exposure across the MrBeast operations.” Even the United States Postal Service, which oversees rules for sweepstakes, could become involved.
This is the price MrBeast is paying as he attempts to build the biggest creator-led business we’ve ever seen. Such a big undertaking tends to bring increased vigilance from regulators — just as KSI and Logan Paul. The former boxing foes were riding high when they launched beverage brand Prime in 2022, but as sales increased, so did scrutiny. Prime has since been hit with numerous lawsuits that have hurt its bottom line. If MrBeast wants Feastables to avoid that fate, he should make sure that all of his disclosures are as meticulous as can be.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Homepage Feature, MrBeast, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Will MrBeast’s sponsor disclosures (or lack thereof) get him in trouble with the FTC?
YouTube has become the latest social media platform to capitulate to the Trump administration. In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, YouTube parent Alphabet said it’ll reinstate channels/accounts that were banned for spreading misinformation about COVID and the 2020 election.
The letter (in which Alphabet said YouTube “values conservative voices on its platform and recognizes that these creators have extensive reach and play an important role in civic discourse”) was a response to an investigation by Republicans into whether the Biden administration pressured platforms to remove certain types of content.
During its four years, the Biden administration did urge platforms and individual content creators to ensure they were sharing accurate, trustworthy information, and asked them to help stop the spread of conspiracy theories and lies about crucial topics like vaccines and medical treatments. The administration held the White House’s first-ever creator summit, where Biden himself gave a speech telling creators misinformation on the internet had “never been this bad before.”
“It’s getting incredibly difficult to count the number of lies people hear. They don’t know what to believe, they don’t know what to count on. But you break through in ways that I think are going to change the entire dynamic of the way in which we communicate,” he told the ~100 creators in attendance. “That’s why I invited you to the White House.”
YouTube’s policies against COVID misinformation resulted in it taking down or suspending channels belonging to Children’s Health Defense Fund, a group affiliated with current Health and Human Services Secretary/aspiring vaccine eradicator Robert F. Kennedy, and Republican Senator Ron Johnson.
“We’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship,” Mark Zuckerberg said. “The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech. So we’re gonna get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms.”
We also heard the “restoring free speech” rallying cry at X, which has become increasingly unmoderated and unhinged since (former) Trump BFF and bankroller Elon Musk took over.
Now, to be clear, YouTube started relaxing its policies around election misinformation back in 2023, when Biden was still in office. It fumbled the handling of election theft claims as the 2020 election was happening, going back and forth for months over what creators were allowed to say. Finally, in June 2023, it decided it would allow videos that outright lied about the results of the 2020 election. (It also changed its hate speech policies this past April, removing “gender identity” as a protected category.)
With this letter, it’s taking things further–and blaming the Biden administration for its earlier, heavier hand.
“As online platforms, including Alphabet, grappled with these decisions, the Administration’s officials, including President Biden, created a political atmosphere that sought to influence the actions of platforms based on their concerns regarding misinformation,” Alphabet wrote. “It is unacceptable and wrong when any government, including the Biden Administration, attempts to dictate how the Company moderates content.”
As we mentioned above, YouTube’s new policy allows accounts that were permabanned for spreading COVID and/or election lies to be reinstated. It’s not clear how YouTube plans to implement this, but we suspect account holders/creators will have to apply for restoration, as opposed to there being some sort of blanket unbanning.
Alphabet said this decision is part of its “commitment to free expression.”
What does this mean moving forward? Will YouTube allow lies about future elections and medical emergencies to spread across its platform, and therefore across the internet? At what point does its attempt to curry favor with Republicans go from allowing “free expression” to allowing claims that can do material harm to people?
Guess that remains to be seen.
Filed under: Homepage Feature, YouTube by James Hale Comments Off on YouTube is fine with creators spreading misinformation, actually
