The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.12 I Got Tricked by Fake News! Ugh. Youtube Rewind Cancelled, Twitch DMCA Failure, & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards! Some quick things before we get started. One, if you have not seen yesterday's show, which looks like this, ooh, so fancy, graphics. That'll be the top link down below. It's incredibly important. It was on track to be one of our best videos in probably the last few months,

Starting point is 00:00:12 but then YouTube crashed for two hours. I'm not angry about that or anything, but yeah, you can check that out. And or, if after today's show you want something lighter, I just posted a brand new podcast with Dr. Mike over at youtube.com slash ECW. But with that said, let's hit them with a classic. Sup you beautiful bastards.

Starting point is 00:00:26 Hope you've had a fantastic Thursday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Buckle up, hit that like button, otherwise we'll punch you in the throat and let's just jump into it. And today we start with a story that makes me both love and hate the internet equally. So if you haven't seen over the last week,

Starting point is 00:00:42 people have been receiving their Xbox Series X consoles and all of a sudden we started seeing a number of users making complaints. And among those complaints you had people saying, my Xbox Series X is smoking, it looks like it's gonna catch on fire. Which, obviously not the best news when you just dropped $500 on a new console. But, thanks to a number of internet users making their own videos, it turns out that it is fake. It was actually just people trolling the internet by blowing vape smoke into the bottom of the console, and then it comes out the top,

Starting point is 00:01:08 which resulted in this absolutely amazing that this is a real statement from Xbox. We can't believe we have to say this, but please do not blow vape smoke into your Xbox Series X. But also, now you know the internet, this is gonna happen even more now. But yeah, for me, this is kind of just a fun story on the internet because it feels like it's the first bit

Starting point is 00:01:26 of fake news that we've covered on this show that doesn't directly attack democracy. So fun, I'm putting this in the win column, baby. That's where we are right now. And then we should definitely talk about Twitch and their recent handling of copyright strikes on their platform. And this story actually begins back in June

Starting point is 00:01:39 when we saw several popular Twitch streamers revealing that they had received multiple copyright strikes. But some of those strikes oddly coming from videos that were more than a year old. And actually one of the first people we saw several popular Twitch streamers revealing that they had received multiple copyright strikes. But some of those strikes oddly coming from videos that were more than a year old. And actually one of the first people we saw speaking about this was a streamer by the name of Fusli. And in a Twitter thread, she said that she had been issued two copyright strikes,

Starting point is 00:01:54 one for playing cake by the ocean and another for seven rings. And notably with that, she was told in these messages that if she received one more strike, her account would be terminated. And after speaking with Twitch staff, she said that they recommended that she delete all of her clips, but also noting,

Starting point is 00:02:06 "'On top of it being near impossible for me "'to delete over 100,000 clips, "'the creator dashboard isn't loading any of my old clips. "'How am I supposed to protect myself here?' "'Saying I'm willing to do anything to keep my channel, "'I feel so helpless right now.'" And of course, even then, she was far from the only streamer getting these kinds of music copyright strikes.

Starting point is 00:02:22 Though, I will say, as someone that used to stream on Twitch a lot, right, I used to do it almost after every Philip DeFranco show, being able to play music during a live stream, and at worst, when you were done with the stream, you know, a section of the video that was created, that being muted, that was one of the biggest perks. But as far as what's been happening since June,

Starting point is 00:02:36 is it seems that music companies were sending Twitch takedown notices related to the DMCA, right, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Notices that Twitch has no choice but to respond to unless it wants to be sued. But also, not to completely take it off of Twitch, as streamers Digital Millennium Copyright Act, notices that Twitch has no choice but to respond to unless it wants to be sued. But also, not to completely take it off of Twitch, as streamers like Fuseli pointed out, Twitch wasn't doing a really great job of explaining

Starting point is 00:02:51 what they could do to fix the situation. Especially because Twitch has historically been so relaxed around music, all of a sudden you have this huge archive and it can be very easy for you to get hit with three strikes at once. Now, as all of this was unfolding, we saw Twitch support tweeting that it had, in fact, received a sudden influx of DMCA takedown requests

Starting point is 00:03:07 with them mostly being related to clips from 2017 to 2019. Also advising the removal of old clips, saying we know many of you have large archives and we're working to make this easier. A few days later, we see Twitch say that it would begin to use a program that could identify clips that might contain copyrighted music, noting that it would delete those clips

Starting point is 00:03:22 without penalty for the streamer. Also saying that it was building a tool that would help streamers to be able to more easily delete all clips at once. And from there, things actually got pretty quiet until we get to October 20th, when we see another massive round of DMCA takedown notices. With Twitch then writing to affected streamers

Starting point is 00:03:37 that had identified and deleted any clips that were flagged, adding, "'We recognize that by deleting this content, "'we are not giving you the option "'to file a counter notification or seek a reaction from the rights holder. In consideration of this, we have processed these notifications

Starting point is 00:03:49 and are issuing you a one-time warning to give you the chance to learn about copyright law and the tools available to manage the content on your channel. All while also not including any information about what copyrighted work had been violated, who the claimant was, or how to possibly contact them. And this really didn't appear to be something

Starting point is 00:04:05 that just affected small creators. Even large creators were confused. Others who have also not gotten hit yet saying they were just gonna take down their old clips out of fear. In fact, we even had massive creators like Pokimane saying that she deleted more than six years of clips and memories.

Starting point is 00:04:18 But also of note, with this notice, you had Twitch issuing a deadline saying, hey, if you are a streamer, you have until October 23rd to find and delete any possible copyrighted material. Essentially saying this is the grace period because after that we will resume the normal processes of DMCA takedowns.

Starting point is 00:04:33 And with all of that, we saw massive pushback from streamers like Devin Nash who said, it is insane that Twitch informs partners they deleted their content and that there is more content in violation despite having no identification system to find out what it is. Their solution to DMCA is for creators

Starting point is 00:04:47 to delete their life's work. This is pure gross negligence. And keep in mind, you also had examples of streamers actually getting banned, people like Squishy Muffins. And while I will say that ban was overturned in a couple of hours, we still see people getting scared. And with all of this, even with the difference

Starting point is 00:05:01 between the Twitch ecosystem and the YouTube ecosystem, I get the anger from streamers here. They have been operating for, depending on how long they've been streaming, for weeks, months, years, on kind of an understood set of systems and rules. And then boom, all of a sudden, a number of people's livelihoods are at risk

Starting point is 00:05:17 because of the platform. Because they did not do enough anticipating for this, which makes absolutely no sense. They are in a similar ecosystem to YouTube, who of course has had to deal with so many hurdles regarding DMCA takedowns. And it's not like there's some little bootleg company. It's been six years since Twitch was purchased

Starting point is 00:05:34 for about a billion dollars by Amazon. So understandably creators have the right to go, how did this slip through the cracks and ultimately crash down on our heads? Now, all that said, it brings us to yesterday when we saw Twitch finally issuing an apology for how it's handled DMCA takedown. Starting with creators, we hear you.

Starting point is 00:05:49 Your frustration and confusion with recent music related copyright issues is completely justified. Things can and should be better for creators than they have been recently. The company adding that it should have made the October warning email much more informative and helpful, admitting that it provided

Starting point is 00:06:02 frustratingly little information. And saying, you're rightly upset that the only option we provided was a mass deletion tool for clips and that we only gave you three days notice to use this tool. We could have developed more sophisticated user-friendly tools a while ago.

Starting point is 00:06:15 That we didn't is on us. And adding, we're truly sorry for these mistakes and we'll do better. But also at the same time, it appeared that Twitch was kind of saying, we just didn't expect this. Noting that before May of this Year streamers received fewer than 50 music related DMCA notifications each year on the platform since then they've been receiving

Starting point is 00:06:31 Thousands of DMCA notifications each week for major record labels and they do not expect that to slow down and while after seeing that I will Say I credit them in owning the situation I still have massive issue with the fact that apparently no one at the company had enough Foresight to see that this could be a Thing that was coming but also here I do want to pass the question off to you What are your thoughts with this situation and also regarding my opinion on it? Do you think it's just right? Do you think it's too hard? Is it I don't think it would be too soft. Hey, don't you be fair? I will also give you that option. What are your thoughts here?

Starting point is 00:07:00 I'd love to know then in big internet news I regret to inform you that you cannot hate on YouTube Rewind this year. And not because that will be illegal in Joe Biden's America, but rather because YouTube announced that they are just not doing it this year. Releasing a statement saying we've done this since 2010.

Starting point is 00:07:17 And whether you love it or only remember 2018, I respect that, I respect the call out. It's Rewind time. Rewind was always meant to be a celebration of you. 2020 has been different and it doesn't feel right to carry on as if it weren't. So we're taking a break from rewind this year. We know that so much of the good that did happen in 2020

Starting point is 00:07:32 was created by all of you. You found ways to lift people up, help them cope and make them laugh. You made a hard year genuinely better. Thank you for making a difference. And that elicited mixed reactions. Some creators like Hank Green saying, yeah, this sounds like the right call. Also creators like JonTron tweeting out, turns out there is a difference. And that elicited mixed reactions. Some creators like Hank Green saying, "'Yeah, this sounds like the right call.'"

Starting point is 00:07:46 Also creators like JonTron tweeting out, "'Turns out there is a God.'" While at the same time, you had other creators like JerryRigEverything saying, "'Whoa, I disagree. "'2020 has been different, "'but you should still have a rewind. "'Come on, there are plenty of things

Starting point is 00:07:58 "'to be positive about.'" And I will say I'm a little bit torn because I do think for YouTube, they are this big, giant company rather than kind of a beloved personality So it is a very hard tightrope to walk You know because you might want to make something that shows people doing the best they could in hard situations Be uplifting and hard times, but you do so at the risk of appearing potentially

Starting point is 00:08:17 Incredibly tone-deaf to the harshness of reality right now You might not want to see a bunch of mainstream creators doing tick-tock dances like woo 2020 when grandma just died from COVID. But also I was very specific with my words there, as far as a company doing this. I do believe that because of this announcement, we are going to see a number of creators do their own versions.

Starting point is 00:08:34 I think creators doing this have far larger shields and safety nets, but that's just the story, my personal opinion when I see it. And now of course I pass the question off to you, whether you agree or disagree, and I'd love to know your thoughts here. And the last thing that we're going to talk about today is President-elect Biden, his plans for office,

Starting point is 00:08:48 and what the near future might look like. And a lot of this story boils down to three things, executive orders, what the hell is the Senate going to look like, and what is his cabinet going to look like? And where we'll start here is with executive orders, because that is the least up in the air. And among the executive orders that President-elect Biden

Starting point is 00:09:04 has promised on his first day in office, you have reentering the Paris Climate Accords, which I know we haven't talked about in a while, but Trump actually took us out of officially last Wednesday. Biden is also set to sign a series of clean energy orders with the goal being there to make the United States carbon neutral by 2050. Also pouring money into infrastructure for new initiatives

Starting point is 00:09:19 that will quote, rebuild the nation and ensure that our buildings, water, transportation, and energy infrastructure can withstand the impacts of climate change. Outside of climate change, Biden has promised to rescind the travel ban Trump instituted on seven majority Muslim countries back in 2017.

Starting point is 00:09:33 We've also seen Biden promising new government reforms, almost all aimed as a direct response to the Trump administration. That reportedly including an executive order stating that, quote, no White House staff or any member of his administration may initiate, encourage, obstruct, or otherwise improperly influence specific Justice Department investigations

Starting point is 00:09:48 or prosecutions for any reason. Biden saying that he will fire them if they do. But of course the most immediate crisis that Biden and his administration will face is the coronavirus. And there, that actually brings us to the conversation about the Senate. Because there, close aides to Biden and economists

Starting point is 00:10:02 who have helped advise the campaign have said that if Democrats do win both seats in Georgia, Biden will try to push through a large stimulus plan for the flagging economic recovery. Most likely along the lines of the $2.2 trillion that House Democrats approved this fall. With that plan specifically including billions of dollars for state and local governments,

Starting point is 00:10:18 extended unemployment benefits, and another round of funding for small businesses. But again, understand all of that depends on a Senate that under the control of Republicans has failed to pass any kind of stimulus package since the very first one in March. While the runoff elections on January 5th in Georgia will ultimately decide the makeup of the Senate,

Starting point is 00:10:34 let's talk about just what Joe Biden wants to accomplish through Congress. For example, Biden has said that within the first 100 days, he will be pushing Congress to pass the Equality Act, a bill that would add federal sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination protections by amending the language in the Equality Act, a bill that would add federal sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination protections by amending the language in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Notably, the House actually passed that act last year,

Starting point is 00:10:51 but of course it was blocked by the Senate. Also, among other policy, Biden has pushed for an expansion of the Affordable Care Act. And if his plans as they stand were to pass the Senate, that would essentially mean that every person legally living in the country would have healthcare. For example, a dozen states have refused

Starting point is 00:11:04 to expand Medicaid through Obamacare, which has unfortunately left around 4 million people in or near poverty uninsured, but under Biden's plan, they would automatically be enrolled. Also, notably under that plan, most of the existing US healthcare system would remain in place, right? So you can still get your health insurance

Starting point is 00:11:19 from your employer. Likewise, Medicare and Medicaid would be preserved. But of course, remember that healthcare bill is pretty much dead on arrival if Republicans retain control. Right, it's important to know the difference of what he says he wants to do, what he wants to accomplish,

Starting point is 00:11:30 and what he can actually do depending on the makeup of the Senate. And then finally in this section, let's talk about Biden's tax plan. And there we see that Biden's tax plan would only raise taxes on people bringing in more than $400,000 a year, right? About 1.8% of the country.

Starting point is 00:11:42 Though notably, several independent tax groups have estimated that over time that some of the tax Burdens from Biden's increase would fall into people who make less than four hundred thousand dollars It's possibly because of indirect effects like lower wages or investment returns But they did know that these hits would be small so small In fact that the tax policy center estimated that people making twenty six thousand dollars a year or less They might on average see an impact of about $30 a year. People earning between 52,000 and 93,000

Starting point is 00:12:07 would maybe see about a $260 a year impact. With all that said, we then move to Joe Biden's cabinet, which actually still involves the Senate because that is the sole body task with approving cabinet secretaries and other high ranking administration officials. Right, so with a Republican controlled Senate, Biden might have a harder time getting more progressive

Starting point is 00:12:22 or left leaning nominations through. For example, you have the likes of Bernie Sanders, who has said that he's interested in being Labor Secretary, or Elizabeth Warren. She's reportedly talked about wanting to be Treasury Secretary. While the Senate runoffs could obviously limit who Biden picks here, all the same,

Starting point is 00:12:34 it's been reported that his team is still moving forward, choosing finalists for those nominations, and many of which reportedly will be announced before the Georgia runoff. And actually, kind of to that point, we actually saw Biden announcing his first appointment of his administration, though, notably here, one that does not need to be approved by the Senate,

Starting point is 00:12:48 with him officially selecting Ron Klain to be his chief of staff. And as far as who Klain is, he's actually a lawyer who served as Biden's chief of staff during his first term as vice president. He was also the chief of staff for Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration, and he's also worked on Capitol Hill

Starting point is 00:13:01 in a number of other roles. And very notably, Klain was also tapped by Obama back in 2014 to be the Ebola czar. And his leadership there is also why we saw many big Democrats applauding this announcement, saying that he would be a huge asset in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. But also on the other side,

Starting point is 00:13:15 you saw a number of conservatives and specifically Trump supporters arguing that Klain has downplayed the virus in the past. With many pointing to a clip I'm gonna play here that was tweeted out by the Trump campaign that showed Klain speaking about the pandemic at an event on February 11th. Serious epidemic.

Starting point is 00:13:28 Now, the coronavirus may be that, it may not be that. The evidence suggests that it's probably not that. But also with that, you had people pointing out that this clip was spliced out of a much longer explanation saying that the full context is not there. When you watch the full clip, you see Klain very clearly warning that we need to do more to prepare.

Starting point is 00:13:43 But fundamentally, the world remains unprepared for a serious epidemic. Now the coronavirus may be that, it may not be that, the evidence suggests that's probably not that, but it will come sooner or later. And the world really lacks the detection systems it needs, the response tools it needs, and the leadership it needs to really deal with that. But others also pointing to an interview Klain gave around the same time where he said there's not a reason yet to panic or be fearful. But also, literally in that same clip that people were using to say that he was downplaying the pandemic, he also says we don't know much about the virus yet and how lethal it is. Also emphasizing the need to be prepared and even explicitly saying that the Trump administration needs to be doing more and be more aggressive in their response.

Starting point is 00:14:23 But also, there were criticisms beyond coronavirus, where we saw a number of conservative voices again, including the Trump campaign circulating a tweet from Klain back in 2014. And there, Vox tweeted out an article titled, "'68% of Americans think elections are rigged' and Klain responded, "'That's because they are.'"

Starting point is 00:14:36 And so you had a lot of Trump allies saying, "'Oh, he's making our argument. "'He also thinks the elections are rigged.'" But when you actually take a moment to look at the article that Klain was referring to, he was commenting on, it isn't about election fraud. It's about how a majority of Americans think elections are slanted toward incumbents,

Starting point is 00:14:51 noting that the reelection rate for congressional incumbents is 90%. Saying that this is because they get a voice in gerrymandering, thus getting to effectively pick their voters, and also because they have political leverage and ties to influential people. With the article even explicitly saying in the second sentence, the term rigged might go a tad far.

Starting point is 00:15:07 The problem here isn't fraud. In elections, like in so much else, the scandal is what's legal. But ultimately, that is where we are with this story now. And keep in mind, this is a developing situation. We're gonna see new names, new developments in general. That in addition to the noise and chaos that we've been discussing these past few weeks,

Starting point is 00:15:24 and while I keep my eyes and ears open for that, today, that is where I'm gonna end today's show. As always, thanks for being a part of my daily dives in the news. If you're new here, hit that subscribe button. Also remember, if you missed yesterday's show, I cannot recommend it enough for at least the first eight minutes.

Starting point is 00:15:36 And hey, if you're also looking for something lighter, you should definitely check out that brand new podcast I did with Dr. Mike. You can click right there, or the links are in the top description. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you next time.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.12 I Got Tricked by Fake News! Ugh. Youtube Rewind Cancelled, Twitch DMCA Failure, & More

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