It's Thursday and Netflix has an early Christmas gift for football fans: three years of exclusive Yuletide NFL games.

CREATORS GO TO COURT

Eight creators have joined TikTok’s legal battle against the U.S. government

The suit: TikTok creators aren’t letting their favorite platform go it alone. Rancher Brian Firebaugh (pictured above), BookToker Talia Cadet, and football coach Timothy Martin have joined five other creators as co-petitioners in a lawsuit that challenges the U.S.’s newly passed Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversaries Act.

The argument: That case echoes constitutional arguments posed in existing suits from TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, both of which are fighting to derail the same “ban-or-divest” law.

• The basis of the creators’ suit is simple: since TikTok in its current form “provides a distinct medium for expression” that can’t be found on other platforms, the petitioners claim that banning or forcing a sale of the app would infringe on their First Amendment rights. The suit frames that “extraordinary restraint on speech” as a far more serious concern than “speculative” fears related to data security:

The context: Creators have long ranked among TikTok’s most ardent supporters—a group that appears to be shrinking rapidly under pressure from the U.S. government. While prominent advocacy groups like NetChoice have abandoned TikTok in response to criticisms from legislators, creators have repeatedly gone to bat for the app through lawsuits, protests, and media campaigns.

• If Bytedance does agree to divest in order to avoid a ban, however, one billionaire is offering a possible financial incentive to creators who take part in the sale. Frank McCourt has announced his intention to put together a “people’s bid” that would allow him to acquire TikTok.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Creator Danny Duncan has kicked off a partnership with Circle K that will bring his Matador Energy brand to more than 7,000 stores across the U.S. (Tubefilter)
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• Netflix announced yesterday that its ad-supported tier now counts 40 million monthly global users. (The Verge)

• The rollout of a new ‘Recent’ tab will allow Threads users to search and see posts in chronological order. (Engadget)
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• Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger revealed in a recent LinkedIn post that he’s joined AI-focused startup Anthropic as Chief Product Officer. (VentureBeat)

COLUMNS • STREAMERS ON THE RISE 📈

From “girlypop gaming” to political advocacy, this streamer does it all

How it started: Frogan decided to quit streaming just nine months after stepping in front of the camera. At the time, she was earning a master’s in public health, and her ability to graduate hinged on whether she could give up Twitch.

• So, Frogan stopped streaming—at least, until she’d completed her degree in the spring. By summer, she was back online.
  
  

• After that, two things happened in quick succession: a troll inadvertently rocketed Frogan into the public eye by calling her “a fake Muslim” in a viral Reddit post—and the creator’s longtime favorite streamer made an impactful show of support.
  
  

• The former event wasn’t easy to grapple with, but Frogan’s response led a new influx of viewers to her streams. Then, on the very same day she made partner on Twitch, HasanAbi organized a raid on her channel.
  
  

• According to Frogan, that simple act ended up “basically changing my career.”

How it’s going: Two-and-a-half years later, Frogan’s audience has grown to encompass nearly 60,000 Twitch followers and 13,000 TikTok followers. Her streams now cover everything from reaction content to Just Chatting, and she also hosts a podcast alongside creators CapriSunnPapi and Raffoul Ticket.

• All three Ayyrabs hosts are “active voices on social media.” Most recently, Frogan joined Creators for Palestine, a fundraiser that has gathered $560,000+ for aid to Palestinians.

What’s up next: In addition to advocating for human rights and public health, Frogan says she’s ready to “reshape” her content in 2024. Part of that rebranding will likely involve reality TV recaps, but Frogan also plans to take her content beyond Twitch:

DATA • U.S. TOP 50 📊

YouTube data just revealed the winner of Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s viral feud

The face-off: Since catching fire earlier this month, Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s musical rivalry has dominated YouTube’s trending tab, earned streamers like No Life Shaq “a ridiculous amount of money,” and even inspired a creator-made anime.

• Now, it looks like YouTube viewers have declared a winner.

The stats: Rap fans might have their own opinions on the victor of Drake and Lamar’s face-off, but the stats don’t lie. The latter artist’s three biggest diss tracks—“Euphoria,” “Meet the Grahams,” and “Not Like Us”—have each received at least 20 million YouTube views over the last two weeks alone.

• The result: Lamar more than doubled his YouTube traffic week-over-week by pulling in a whopping 146.8 million weekly views.
  
  

• That massive seven-day total shot the musician’s primary channel up to #29 in our U.S. Top 50.

The competition: Drake didn’t quite crack the Top 50 this week, but one of his recent videos did reach an impressive milestone. After only ten days on YouTube, the rapper’s final diss track, “The Heart Part 6,” has now earned more than one million dislikes.

WATCH THIS 📺

Google is putting its futuristic chatbot (and YouTube viewers) to the test

The reveal: The latest edition of Google’s annual I/O conference included some major news for academically inclined YouTube viewers. Thanks to a new update, Android users can now ask Google’s Gemini chatbot to test them on the material they see in educational videos.

• The reveal of those video-based quizzes was just one small part of Google’s big event. A 10-minute recap of the conference covers a wide array of AI-focused announcements—including everything Google users need to know about Gemini. Check out the video here.

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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.