TOGETHER WITH

It's Thursday and a battle of the billionaires is brewing. After being challenged to a “cage match” by Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded with three simple words: “Send me location.”

EXCEPTIONS, EXCEPTIONS

TikTok discusses “exceptions” that cause it to send U.S. data to China

Back in March, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before Congress that the data of U.S. TikTok users is stored on servers in Virginia and Singapore—not China. Now, the Bytedance-owned app has reveals some exceptions to that policy. The data of users enrolled in its Creator Fund, for example, has been routed to servers outside of the U.S. and Singapore.

That statement was issued in response to a letter authored by a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, who accused Chew of making “incorrect claims” that contradicted information provided by TikTok Head of Public Policy Michael Beckerman in October 2021.

TikTok’s rebuttal: users and creators aren’t really the same thing…right?

While non-creator user data is stored in Virginia and Singapore, TikTok says videomakers who participate in monetization features are required to share some personal data with the platform, which can then be routed to servers in other regions.

The short-form app didn’t specify where, exactly, that data is stored—but according to an investigation performed by Forbes, “tax forms, social security numbers and other information from creators and outside vendors has been stored in China.”

So, did TikTok’s CEO commit perjury?

The Bytedance-owned platform doesn’t think so. According to TikTok, it had already ironed out “limited exceptions” while negotiating the details of Project Texas with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), including cases in which “a creator voluntarily signs up for a commercial program to be supported by TikTok in reaching new audiences and monetizing content.”

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Heading to VidCon today? Be sure to add these must-attend panels to your Day 2 itinerary:

It’s Thursday and that means VidCon is in full swing! Today’s schedule is jam-packed with everything creators and industry pros need to grow their careers—including these two can’t-miss panels from Viral Nation:

🏀 ​How Sports Creators Are Changing The Game​ 🏈 
June 22 @ 11.00AM PT • Industry Track • Room 303 AB 
Learn how sports creators are becoming key for brands. 
Panelists: Pro dunker and creator Chris Staples, basketball influencer-turned-actor Ant Hamilton Jr, Range Sports Director of Basketball K.J Smith Jr., and Viral Nation President/CGO Jonathan Chanti.

🌟 ​Mainstream Celebrity In The Age of Social Video​ 🌟 
June 22 @ 12.00PM PT • Creator Track • Room 211 AB 
Learn how studios turn mainstream celebs into digital stars. 
Panelists: TV personality/model and women's empowerment influencer Amber Rose, Executive Producer and Director Trip Taylor, VP & Head of Talent Strategy @ UTA IQ Stephanie Smith, and Head of Creator Studio @ Viral Nation Dylan Scance.

Stop by at 11 AM and 12 PM to catch the full panels—and don’t forget to meet the team behind the world’s #1 influencer agency!

​Learn more about Viral Nation Talent →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Patreon is introducing a new “Commerce” tool that will facilitate direct-to-consumer sales through its fan-funding platform. (Tubefilter)
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• Per CEO Adam Mosseri, Instagram is launching a feature that will give users “the ability to download Reels shared by public accounts.” (Engadget)
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• Twitter CEO Elon Musk has announced that the terms “cis” and “cisgender” are “considered slurs” on the platform. (Forbes)
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• Netflix will now rank the popularity of films and shows by “the “number of hours viewed divided by the total run time” rather than “hours viewed.” (The Verge)

DATA • STREAMERS ON THE RISE 📈

This streamer is bringing something new to online gaming: “basic empathy”

As far as joshseki is concerned, toxic behavior has no place in the gaming world. The Twitch creator only began playing online games about two and a half years ago—around the same time he started streaming—but he’s since become a prominent voice against in-game toxicity.

When joshseki first began playing Valorant, the prevalent online abuse led him to avoid the first-person shooter for a solid six months. Eventually, a friend convinced him to give Valorant another try and he was “quickly addicted to it.” The game became a constant in his streams—but despite his passion for playing, the misogyny of some users continued to weigh on him.

So, joshseki decided to bring attention to the issue himself. After being berated by a particularly aggressive player, the creator posted a clip of his experience to TikTok.

It went viral almost overnight.

That video was the start of joshseki’s ongoing battle against toxicity in online gaming. Since then, uplifting women gamers has become a major part of his presence on Twitch (where he has 250,000 followers), and he’s become an established gamer on TikTok and YouTube as well.

Of course, joshseki’s advocacy isn’t the only reason he’s become a massively successful streamer. The full-time creator keeps viewers hooked with in-game pranks, dramatic play-throughs, and flawless comedic timing. He has a gift for fashion, too: according to joshseki, his first clothing line will be released “later this year.”

SHOP ‘TIL YOU DROP

YouTube’s first official live shopping hub is coming to Korea

Google’s video platform is bringing its first-ever live shopping channel to South Korea. Per Yonhap News Agency, the Korean-language channel will be a 90-day experiment featuring 30-odd brands, which will participate by presenting live-streamed content using YouTube’s ecommerce tools. Those shopping segments aren’t too far in the future; according to Yonhap, “people familiar with the matter” forecasted a June 30 launch date.

YouTube is staying tight-lipped about its ecommerce aspirations.

A representative for the company told Reuters only that it “may experiment with a variety of YouTube Shopping features from time to time.” Those experiments could put YouTube in direct competition with existing ecommerce giants, including Korean empire Naver and TikTok’s parent company, Bytedance.

So far the markets seem to be betting on Google: Reuters noted that Naver’s stock fell by 4% after YouTube announced its Korean live shopping channel. TikTok, on the other hand, has a competitive edge in Asia, where its live shopping initiatives led parent company ByteDance a $25 billion profit last year.

Luckily, Google’s video platform isn’t putting all its eggs in one basket.

More than 100,000 YouTube channels are currently linked to stores, and the company recently announced an expansion for its U.S.-based YouTube Shopping affiliate program. VidCon attendees will be able to see the results of those American ecommerce efforts at this week’s Anaheim convention, where YouTube will be hosting a “Drop Shop” featuring items endorsed by creators like Allyiah Gainer, Cassey Ho, Christen Dominique, and Sydney Morgan.

WATCH THIS 📺

Zoey 101 fans are in for a serious nostalgia trip

If you were a kid during the early 2000s, there’s a good chance that you watched at least the occasional episode of Zoey 101. The Nickelodeon Show ended (tragically) in 2008 without much of a resolution—until now. After 15 years, Paramount+ has dropped a trailer for Zoey 102, a spin-off film centered on the wedding of the one-and-only Quinn Sanders.

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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.