TOGETHER WITH

It’s Tuesday and if you’re willing to put up with a little extra data harvesting, you too could join the waitlist for a free, ad-supported 55-inch TV.

MORE TOK DRAMA

An ex-ByteDance employee is casting (more) doubt on TikTok’s data security

TikTok is facing yet another challenge as it attempts to evade a U.S.-wide ban. A former employee of the platform’s parent company, ByteDance, has filed a lawsuit claiming that representatives from the Chinese Communist Party accessed TikTok’s U.S. user data.

The ex-ByteDance worker in question, Yintao “Roger” Yu, was employed between 2017 and 2018 and claims to have been fired for refusing to comply with “efforts to skirt legal and ethical lines.” Yu’s original lawsuit (filed last month) alleges that TikTok ran a “worldwide scheme” in which employees cribbed videos from Instagram and Snapchat, while ByteDance itself used TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin to run propaganda campaigns against Japan and Hong Kong.

That’s only the beginning.

In a second complaint filed on May 12, Yu adds that the CCP established a unit called The Committee, which monitored ByteDance and ensured its adherence to party ideology. Damning allegations like that one could seal TikTok’s fate in the U.S.—but ByteDance is already pushing back on Yu’s claims:

Given the timing of Yu’s employment, TikTok could claim that the ex-employee’s allegations are outdated—especially since the company is in the process of moving U.S. user data to Oracle-monitored servers as part of its Project Texas initiative. In combination with the departure of TikTok’s U.S. Head of Trust and Safety and apparent security flaws at the app’s Virginia data centers, however, Yu’s claims are not so easily ignored.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

What happens when industry experts invest $1 billion in creators? Colin and Samir teamed up with Spotter to find out.

In 2022, the experts at Spotter pledged $1 billion to support creator careers. One year later, the creator company has already paid out $775 million to more than 1,100 channel partners—and now, they’re joining forces with YouTube icons Colin and Samir.

Their mission according to the legendary duo: “educating and empowering the next generation of creators.”

Spotter knows that creating incredible content requires more than just immediate capital. That’s why every Spotter deal is tailored to meet YouTubers’ exact needs—with exclusive YouTube data insights, innovative optimization resources, and funding ranging from $100,000 to $50 million. Most importantly: creators maintain 100% control over their fresh capital and future content—meaning when you partner with Spotter, you’ll be able to use your new funds to grow your channel or business.

Ready to discover what you would do with an investment from Spotter? Hit the button below to find out.

Fund your future with Spotter → 

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Patreon has emerged as a useful funding tool for gaming podcasts, some of which are reaching more than 30,000 patrons.

  (Tubefilter)
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• TikTok is celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month with the launch of a Mental Health Media Education Fund and an in-platform hub meant to promote “positive mental well-being.” (TikTok Newsroom)
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• NBCUniversal has reportedly purchased national broadcast rights to the “first-ever exclusive live-streamed NFL Playoff game,” which will be available to viewers on Peacock. (The Verge)
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• The Illinois House will consider a child protection bill that would require creators to pay underage influencers who appear in “at least 30%” of their monetized videos “within 30 days.” (Gizmodo)

DATA • GLOBAL TOP 50 📈

Is this the cutest creator of all time?

If you’re a fan of fluffy white dogs, then the answer is an unequivocal yes. Luckily for the shaggy star of Pomeranian_Fox, there appear to be plenty of Pom lovers on YouTube. The Shorts channel has built up an impressive audience over the last four years, with more than 2 million subscribers tuning in to watch the misadventures of its mischievous canine star.

Whether Pomeranian_Fox fans would want to take the celebrity pup home is a different story.

The channel’s four-legged antihero is a cunning trickster who seems to know every prank in the book. That characteristic doesn’t always bode well for Pomeranian_Fox’s human creators, who often appear in the Shorts hub’s videos. Over the last few years, the dog’s two-legged caretakers have faced everything from ketchup attacks to brutal right hooks.

That reign of terror probably won’t come to an end anytime soon—but Pomeranian_Fox’s viewers don’t seem to mind one bit:

• Since 2019, the Shorts hub has scored more than 1.4 billion lifetime views.

• During the second week of May alone, Pomeranian_Fox increased its viewership by 16% week-over-week to reach #33 in our Global Top 50 chart.

• The canine channel’s seven-day total: 272.2 million weekly views.

NFTS + NOSTALGIA

LimeWire is back with $17.5 million in funding and an NFT-focused mission

LimeWire achieved both infamy and adoration as a music torrenting platform in the early 2000s—but the company is now headed in a different direction. Under Co-CEOs Julian and Paul Zehetmayr (who acquired the LimeWire rights from its previous owners), a new version of the platform will leverage artist collabs and NFTs to facilitate exclusive music experiences.

The key to that ecosystem is the LMWR token, which serves as a form of currency on LimeWire and comes with perks like community voting rights and early merch access:

LimeWire’s modernized mission has already gained plenty of support.

The newfangled platform has raised $17.5 million since April, when a private token sale netted $10 million and the support of musicians like Deadmau5 and Steve Aoki. Recent funding efforts have added to that nest egg: a community pre-sale in March 2023 generated a sellout, and it was followed two months later by the start of LMWR’s public sale. Nine days after opening that round, LimeWire reported its full fundraising total of $17.5 million and provided claim instructions for buyers.

That success doesn’t mean that LimeWire is relinquishing its status as a ‘00s cultural touchstone. The platform’s Co-CEOs have honored its torrenting roots by rolling out the LimeWire Game, a desktop-only competition that challenges players to revisit the old LimeWire by downloading as many early-aughts jams as they can.

WATCH THIS 📺

The rivalry between Gordon Ramsey and Uncle Roger is heating up 🔥

Gordon Ramsey isn’t letting Uncle Roger off the hook just yet. After enduring years of playful taunts from comedian Nigel Ng’s YouTube persona, the celebrity chef threw down the gauntlet by challenging Uncle Roger to cook one of his latest recipes.

Predictably, Ng’s colorful character didn’t exactly follow the recipe in question. Uncle Roger put his own signature spin on Ramsey’s crispy whole red snapper—so you’ll just have to tune into the video to see which chef did it best.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.Woul