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A Prime Minister is elected on Discord

A Prime Minister is elected on Discord

Political conflict plays out across social media.

September 16, 2025

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Tuesday and after five weeks, Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters is still at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to “Golden.” Who knew a fictional band could make such a bop?

Today’s News

🇳🇵 Nepalese politics move to Discord
🇰🇷 KIMPRO hits a new high
💸 This week in the branded rankings…
📈 Charlie Kirk’s legacy rules YouTube
🎙️ Creator Upload talks MrBeast

TALKING POLITICS

Nepal’s Discord election shows that platform bans won’t deter Gen Z

The Discord election: On September 12, former Nepalese Supreme Court justice Sushila Karki became the first world leader elected via a Discord server.

After at least 22 protesters died during clashes with police, a Gen Z-led movement overthrew Nepal’s sitting PM and agreed on Karki as a temporary replacement. That consensus—which saw Karki voted in via a Discord poll—followed a political debate that played out in front of over 10,000 users.

That Discord election represents the next step in a trend of internet censorship and civilian pushback that has increasingly defined political clashes across the globe. As illustrated by a recent blackout in Turkey, restrictions on social media have become a common strategy for administrations looking to quell unrest.

When the deposed Nepalese government looked to curb protests by banning social media giants, however, internet-savvy citizens weren’t cowed. Protestors simply fired up their VPNs and switched to a more accessible platform. The ensuing Discord election suggests that social media censorship may no longer be enough to suppress Gen Z dissidents.

The global context: In the U.S., public figures like Donald Trump have already recognized (and leveraged) the enormous power of Gen Z to influence electoral politics. On the campaign trail, Trump opposed a federal TikTok ban—which initially materialized due to political pressure to slow the rise of pro-Palestine rhetoric online—in order to court influential podcasters and young voters.

More than eight months later, President Trump claims that a deal to avert the ban has at last been made. That agreement may come with significant changes to the Bytedance-owned app. By safeguarding U.S. user data through the appointment of a steward like Oracle, then, the commander-in-chief may have found a way to save TikTok—or he may simply have paved the way for the next great conflict between the federal government and America’s youth.

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

Creators HQ and 500 Global are partnering on a creator accelerator that will distribute up to $13.6M

Creators HQ is partnering with 500 Global on the Creators Ventures Accelerator: a program that will dedicate up to $13.6M to turbo-charging the creator economy from vision to venture.

Over the course of 10 weeks, participants will take part in a hybrid business-building and acceleration program that culminates in the opportunity to showcase their startup as part of 1 Billion Followers Summit: Creators Ventures Pitch.

Submissions are open until October 3, 2025.

Up to $13.6M is allocated by Creators HQ for ventures launched by high potential creators and creator-enablers.

Creators HQ, the first content creator hub in the UAE and the Middle East, and 500 Global, one of the world’s most active venture capital firms, announced the strategic partnership to launch the Creators Ventures Accelerator.

The program is designed to equip participants with the skills, tools, and support needed to scale their businesses sustainably. It also provides them with valuable knowledge, mentorship, and networking opportunities to help build the next generation of leading businesses in the industry.

Applications to join the Creators Ventures Accelerator are open now.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

KIMPRO hit 1.6 billion YouTube views during the week of September 14, bringing the short-form hub to the top of the Global Top 50 and pushing its lifetime viewership total above 105 billion. (Tubefilter)
A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper released by OpenAI shows that ChatGPT is still growing fast—especially as a search engine. (Ars Technica)
New York has released more details about the SAFE for Kids Act, which will require social media platforms to verify the ages of users with methods that "are shown to be effective and protect users’ data."(Engadget)
Google parent company Alphabet has become the fourth company to reach a market value of $3 trillion. (Gizmodo)

GOSPEL STATS

Charlie Kirk’s legacy is alive on YouTube

The political influencer: Charlie Kirk’s death has already become a flashpoint in American politics. The right-wing YouTube personality—who died on September 10 after being shot at a campus event in Utah—was a controversial public speaker, a conservative podcaster, and the founder of Turning Point USA.

Kirk was also arguably one of the main reasons why Donald Trump performed so well among young men during the 2024 presidential elections—and that influence hasn’t faded in the wake of his passing. Since last week’s shocking attack, the official channel of Turning Point USA has experienced a surge of interest from users eager to learn more about the man whose assassination has led to a widespread debate about political violence.

The online impact: Kirk’s YouTube presence often stemmed from his college campus debates, which fed the platform’s algorithm with energetic verbal duels and controversial buzzwords. The Turning Point USA social team has also made expert use of YouTube Shorts over the years, racking up millions of views with clips that turn Kirk’s zingers into short-form soundbites.

Thanks in large part to that mastery of Shorts, Turning Point USA already had a solid YouTube following of more than three million subscribers prior to Kirk’s assassination. The media sensationalism surrounding his death, however, has pushed that number much higher. The organization’s official YouTube channel added 470,000 subscribers in the last week alone.

An accompanying viewership surge of more than 140 million weekly views (versus Turning Point USA’s weekly average of about 10 to 20+ million) also pushed the channel’s all-time viewership above 2.6 billion.

Even without the political shockwaves surrounding Kirk’s passing, those sorts of numbers have become commonplace for major right-wing entities on YouTube—and Kirk himself is a big reason why. The speaker’s ability to turn out young conservatives has made the Republican Party into a titanic force on social media. Now, we’ll have to wait and see how the next generation of right-wing influencers takes up the torch.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

Last week on the podcast…

“MrBeast’s Leaked Plan”: Is MrBeast starting a mobile phone company? In the latest episode of Creator Upload, industry experts Josh Cohen and Lauren Schnipper break down a leaked pitch deck that reveals Jimmy Donaldson's next potential business venture—and what it tells us about his plan for profitability.

Also on the discussion list: YouTube's first exclusive NFL broadcast, Press Publish NYC, Steven Bartlett's podcasting secrets, and Salish Matter's skincare launch.

Check out the full episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for all the details.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.