James Hale

• Is World of Warcraft RP Twitch’s next big thing?
• Meta axes fact-checking program, is working with Trump administration to “promote free expression”

  In a video posted this morning, founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company is making major changes with the way it handles disinformation--starting with eliminating its official fact-checking program and replacing professional checkers with an X-clone Community Notes system.

  
• Comcast just made a platform to “steal” ad dollars from YouTube

  For now, the platform will only allow marketers to buy ad space on streaming services owned by major TV networks and studios like NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery, but Comcast anticipates expanding inventory to space on traditional linear TV in the future.

  
• Nick DiGiovanni is trying a new recipe for YouTube content

  Last Friday, Nick's Kitchen popped up on YouTube with a 10-minute video showing viewers how to make the perfect mac and cheese. This upload is different from DiGiovanni's usual content; it's slower-paced and softer-lit, lingering on the moment-by-moment details. It looks more like a Food Network program, with an aproned DiGiovanni moving gently around a meticulously decorated kitchen set.

  
• Top 5 Branded Videos of the Week: Slinging guns, getting high, and going fishing
• A brand steals a creator’s video and uses it as an ad. Is that legal?
• Meta envisions a future where human creators share the stage with AI content mills
• Top 5 Branded Videos of the Week: Ryan Trahan double trouble
• TikTok says small business owners will lose $1 billion in revenue a month if it’s banned
• An AI VTuber is setting world records on Twitch
• A troll got a YouTuber’s Nintendo videos wrongly deleted. How did YouTube let it happen?
• New Year’s Rockin’ Eve is putting content creators center stage (Exclusive)