TOGETHER WITH

It’s Monday and if you’re tired of modern messaging, fly on over to Carrier Pidge. The app is such a realistic simulation of communicating by carrier pigeon that your virtual bird might just veer off course entirely. Hope that letter wasn’t important!

COURT OF LAW

The statute: In 2026, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 is celebrating its 30th birthday—and possibly one of its last.

In theory, the statute shields consumer tech platforms from legal liability for violative content they host, so long as they respond to takedown notices in a timely fashion. That “safe harbor” has helped Big Tech firms fend off numerous legal challenges for decades, but it might not be available for much longer.

While courts haven’t yet stripped Section 230, they have ruled that Meta and TikTok must face thousands of lawsuits—despite the companies’ attempts to appeal to their safe harbor protections.

The context: The cracks in Section 230 began to show in 2024, when an appeals court broke from precedent by requiring TikTok to face a lawsuit over the deadly “blackout challenge.” The presiding judge ruled that the app’s algorithmic recommendations exist outside of its safe harbor.

Then, in 2026, a jury in California found YouTube and Meta liable for a plaintiff’s social media addiction. That decision opened the floodgates to thousands of potential lawsuits, and was followed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that Section 230 can only be used as a legal defense—not as a means of circumventing a hearing altogether. Now that those cases are primed to move forward, Section 230 will come under the microscope.

Republican politicians like Senator Ted Cruz, Congressman Jimmy Patronis, and Senator Josh Hawley have long argued that the law needs to be rewritten or repealed in order to bring necessary reform to social media platforms. On the flipside, watchdogs are cautioning the masses about the dangers of repealing Section 230, since draining the safe harbor would be a blow to the right of free expression.

Every year, VidSummit tickets sell out as top creators and industry pros prepare for a biz dev event like no other. 

With a fan-free environment and a speaker lineup dedicated to furthering your career, VidSummit is more than a creator industry conference. 

It’s where video creators and digital entrepreneurs discover how to dominate the industry—with exclusive insights from the world’s top experts.

Meet the speaker behind one of VidSummit’s hottest panels:

With over 3 million YouTube subscribers and 1 million TikTok followers, Dantic has turned high-stakes challenge videos into a thriving creator business. 

At VidSummit 2026, the social media daredevil will share his secrets to success—including how he’s managed to collect nearly 520 million YouTube views with fewer than 100 videos.

From September 29 to October 1, VidSummit 2026 will unite Dantic and 70+ other expert speakers in Dallas, Texas to share actionable growth strategies you won’t discover anywhere else. 

Visit the website to reserve your ticket:

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

SPORTS WORLD

The soccer broadcasts: KSI made a splash in March when he picked up a stake in Dagenham & Redbridge FC. Now, the former Sidemen member has struck a deal to stream coverage of the Greater London soccer club, which is colloquially known as Dag & Red.

The broadcast deal is an agreement between the National League South (aka the sixth tier of English soccer and Dag & Red’s current level), KSI, and DAZN. The last of those partners, which previously broadcast KSI’s boxing matches, will help the creator add new dimensions to National League coverage.

The strategy: KSI plans to broadcast a handful of Dag & Red matches while bringing fans closer to the club through behind-the-scenes content, guest spots, “innovative production formats,” and “unique storytelling.”

That strategy seems to draw inspiration from the story of Wrexham A.F.C. After actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney became co-owners of Wrexham, the Welsh club began a meteoric rise that currently has it sitting one promotion away from the Premier League.

By producing a docuseries called Welcome to Wrexham, Reynolds and McElhenney generated revenue that could be invested back in the club. KSI will similarly lift up Dag & Red through his videos, but with the added advantage that comes from being a digital-native creator.

Wielding an established streaming audience is a big deal in the soccer community, as evidenced by this year’s World Cup. After snagging the official broadcast rights to every match in FIFA’s international tournament, Brazilian creator CazéTV set viewership records and proved that the future of sports will flow through digital stars.

Now, the lessons learned from those record-breaking streams will inform KSI as he looks to raise Dag & Red’s profile.

SURVEY SAYS

The data: CreatorIQ‘s latest State of Creators report shines a troubling light on creators’ relationships with branded content.

Data from 5,095 creators showed that 46% of videomakers rely on brand deals for the bulk of their income—but only 15% fully trust sponsored content from other creators. The largest chunk of respondents (48%) said they somewhat trust branded content from other videomakers, but “how much I trust depends on the creator.”

Meanwhile, 53% of creators with 500K+ followers said they “feel tension between audience and brand desires.” That disconnect leaves videomakers walking a fine line between earning survivable income and ensuring their viewers aren’t put off by the sponsored content they choose to do.

The takeaway: It’s not an easy balance to maintain. CreatorIQ and influencers.club found that two-thirds of creators make under $10K annually, while just 5% clear $100K per year.

Brand deals, of course, contribute a significant amount to those earnings. 43% of respondents said they’re doing a mix of one-off deals and long-term partnership, while 42% said they’re doing primarily one-off deals, and 12% said they’re doing primarily long-term partnerships.

But 35% of respondents said a lack of consistent brand deals is the #1 barrier to growing as a creator, and more than 50% said their personal earnings from brand deals have only increased slightly from 2025 to 2026, or stayed flat.

Together, all this data points to a concerning pattern. Creators feel they have to get brand deals to survive making content long-term—but they’re facing both stagnant compensation from brands (21% said “low pay or undervaluation of creator content” was another big barrier to entry) and “tension” from viewers over endorsements.

WATCH THIS 👀

The creator collab: DoorDash’s CringeMart is “for things you’d rather not make eye contact buying.” An announcement from the delivery company introduces its latest in-app storefront as a “campaign designed for life’s most awkward, intimate, and ‘TMI’ essentials.”

In addition to saving consumers from the embarrassment of publicly buying products like hemorrhoid cream and plungers (two of the examples cited in DoorDash’s announcement), the CringeMart campaign includes a three-episode “CringeMaxxing” content series starring creator Tana Mongeau.

Check it out here if you can handle a generous helping of secondhand embarrassment.

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