It’s Monday and an 89-year-old’s matcha takes have made him a TikTok star. A recent profile by the New York Times focuses on the viral rise of Werner Kalecinski, whose reviews have earned him a devoted following in Germany. 

TIKTOK TALK

The experiment: In summer 2021, a Wall Street Journal investigation found that TikTok’s recommendation algorithm could identify new users’ interests in under two hours, and then drive them into “rabbit holes” of content.

A few months later, TikTok announced it was increasing its efforts to “safeguard and diversify recommendations.” Without informing the public, the platform reportedly ran an experiment in which it sorted ~15 million users into a control group whose accounts would be fed by the default recommendation algorithm, with no safety net against patterns of potentially harmful content.

One of the people in that control group, 16-year-old Chase Nasca, “was recommended a repetitive amount of content surrounding Suicide and Self Harm and depressive topics” (per an internal TikTok document reported by Bloomberg).

Nasca was placed in the control group in January 2022, and committed suicide a month later. The same internal TikTok document showed that he watched 7,563 videos in the last two weeks of his life, 73% of which contained themes like sadness, depression, and personal struggles. 10% of the videos were apparently found to violate TikTok’s own TOS.

The response: Now, Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have sent a joint letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and Adam Presser (the CEO of TikTok’s U.S. operations) with 13 requests for in-depth information about the “filter bubble” experiment and a September 1 deadline for TikTok to respond.

Those demands follow the Department of Justice’s announcement of a $400 million settlement with TikTok and its parent, ByteDance, over COPPA violations. The DOJ’s suit, filed in 2024, accused TikTok of failing to protect children’s privacy and illegally collecting their personal information.

The platform agreed to pay $300 million immediately, and will pay another $100 million once the U.S. government vacates a 2019 consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission.

MANN IN THE HOUSE

The deal: Dhar Mann has entered the House of Mouse. A new deal between Disney and Dhar Mann Studios will see the eponymous entrepreneur produce 20 episodes of original content exclusively for Disney.

Nobody knows what that content will look like or where it will air. So far, the only detail that’s been released is confirmation that Mann’s Disney content will be aimed at kids, tweens, teens, and families (not surprising, considering his 28-million-subscriber YouTube presence is all about teaching kids right from wrong).

After Disney’s forays into both bite-sized vertical and creator-led horizontal content this year, Dhar Mann Studios’ 20 episodes could take any form. We’re guessing it’ll be distributed on Disney+ and possibly Hulu.

The influence: Whatever shape the Dhar Mann x Disney content takes, it will be another way for Mann to spread his influence to more viewers on more platforms.

On top of his 170 million online followers, Mann snagged Samsung TV Plus’ first-ever original content deal last summer and is also set to show up on popular vertical microseries app My Drama thanks to a January 2026 deal with Fox Entertainment and My Drama’s owner Holywater. Last but not least, he’s also the NFL’s official “Chief Kindness Officer.”

As for Disney, this could also a way for the Mouse House to step into the creator-poaching ring that Netflix has been firmly occupying for years.

CREATOR COMMOTION

The creator: Next month, Jaron Brower will take the stage at VidSummit 2026 to tell attendees exactly how he averages 50 million views for every single video he uploads to his YouTube channel.

Brower (aka Dr. Plants) posted his first YouTube video on August 23, 2022. The 8-minute upload—which followed the process of building a “little chunk of rainforest” in his living room—took over a year to make. And in the four years since posting it, he’s uploaded just 11 more videos.

That’s because all of Brower’s videos are just as time-consuming and high-effort to make. He specializes in creating intricate, cycling microcosms stocked with top-to-bottom food chains, biome-accurate weather patterns, and even functional seasons.

Because his productions are so high-lift and long-lived, Brower is generally working on three to four videos at any given time. He finishes and posts around three a year. Right now, those videos average 56 million views apiece—a figure that’s consistently grown year over year.

The presentation: While Brower admits his particular projects are a lot of work, he says his personal philosophical approach to content can be replicated across YouTube—and at VidSummit, he’ll teach 4,000+ attendees how to do it.

VidSummit 2026 will run from September 29 to October 1 at the Irving Convention Center in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Brower will join dozens of other speakers (including Caleb Hammer, HopeScope, LegalEagle, Nick Nimmin, Monica Khan, and Jon Youshaei) offering a smorgasbord of panels, discussions, workshops, networking events, and more.

Tickets are $995, and remaining spots are limited. You can book your spot here.

FYI: VidSummit is a Tubefilter partner.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

The episode: Are YouTube's latest updates a huge win for creators—or a total trap?

On the latest installment of Creator Upload, industry experts Lauren Schnipper and Joshua Cohen break down YouTube's decision to begin counting public views from the first frame, the doubling of Partner Program thresholds, and the platform’s efforts to hit back at Netflix with million-dollar exclusivity deals.

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.