The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.18 What Olivia Rodrigo Drivers License Exposed, The NYT is Worried, An Apology, & More News

Starting point is 00:00:00 So during these tense times, and as someone whose job is essentially breaking down these specifics about how the world is on fire that day, and someone who regularly has to talk about the worst of humanity on this MLK day, I thought it might actually be helpful to note that I am a cautious optimist. I actually have hope for our future over the long term, whether it be race relations, equality in general, progress in general. Because as people smarter than me have said, many of which don't possess the same privilege, I have change mother. I forgot.

Starting point is 00:00:33 Change is not a straight line. Progress is not a straight line is what I was trying to say. While I'd rather none of the negative, one of the positives that has come from the negatives is I can't remember another time in my life where people, especially young people, cared more about what was going on, were engaged in trying to be the change

Starting point is 00:00:49 they wanted to see in the world. But with that said, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. It is Monday, January 18th, 2021. And let's just jump into the news of the day so you can get back to yours. The first thing up today is entertainment news. And here we'll start with the least controversial

Starting point is 00:01:04 or jarring Olivia Rodrigo. If you don't know, she's a singer in high school musical The Musical The Series actress, which is a name for a series that is so ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as the wild numbers we have seen from Rodrigo. She released her debut single, Driver's License, on January 8th, just 10 days ago, and it is absolutely destroying records left and right across multiple streaming platforms. One of the first major milestones that it reached was setting the record for the most streams on Spotify

Starting point is 00:01:30 in one day for a non-holiday song, then beating her own record just one day later. Spotify also announced on Friday that it set the record for the most streams for a song in a week, and Pop Crave reported that the song hit 100 million streams and was the fastest song to ever do so. Then over on Amazon Music, the song broke the record

Starting point is 00:01:46 for the most globally requested song on Alexa in a day, as well as having the biggest global streaming debut. It's also notably a trending audio on TikTok, which is in no small part, one of the massive reasons that it has done so well. Whether it be from people just connecting to the song emotionally, talking about the drama or the theories

Starting point is 00:02:02 about why she wrote the song, who it's about, or of course just people dancing to it. Because it definitely does not hurt to have huge creators like Charli D'Amelio using the song in their videos. Which I think is also why the music industry in general has loved TikTok. I mean, after having used the app for just a year now, it is wild that you can essentially predict

Starting point is 00:02:19 what's gonna be on the top charts after you see a few TikTok trends. But also as someone whose primary release schedule involves YouTube first, it is so weird seeing the love for TikTok that the music industry has when you have people on YouTube that like hum a song and get their whole video taken down.

Starting point is 00:02:34 And that way, news like this is always a little bit weird to see, but main point for Rodrigo, she's gonna be someone that's really interesting to watch. Then we should talk about the news and updates around Armie Hammer. This because Hammer is now apologizing for referring to a woman dressed in lingerie as Miss Cayman on his private Instagram.

Starting point is 00:02:50 This after the Daily Mail shared photos and videos from Hammer's secret Instagram account. And in one of those videos, he said he's going to have sex with a woman he calls Miss Cayman. That resulted in the Miss Cayman Islands Universe Committee noting that they were aware of the video, that they were disturbed by it.

Starting point is 00:03:02 Also confirming that the woman pictured is not Miss Cayman Islands and has no affiliation to the pageant. Also saying that they were aware of the video, that they were disturbed by it. Also confirming that the woman pictured is not Miss Cayman Islands and has no affiliation to the pageant. Also saying that they reported the incident to the authorities and added, "'The role of Miss Cayman is in part "'to serve as a role model to young Caymanian women. "'The depiction of the woman in the video

Starting point is 00:03:15 "'goes against all that our organization stands for.'" With Hammer then giving a statement to the Cayman Compass saying, "'I would like to clarify that the person in my video, "'which was stolen from my private Instagram, "'is not Miss Cayman. "'I am genuinely sorry for any confusion my foolish attempt at humor may have caused."

Starting point is 00:03:28 Personally, I will say it's kind of weird, but also predictable that this became a news story. If you look at the actual post and in the caption itself, you have to make some leaps to think that he's referring to a contest winner. But at the same time, it's also not surprising that this became a news story because of his other controversies and allegations,

Starting point is 00:03:46 including the messages that appear to show him sending explicit sexual fantasies that include violence, rape, and cannibalism. Though, very importantly, I do wanna know that these messages are not verified. He has also called the claims bullshit. We've also seen people like Bella Thorne backing him up, writing on Instagram,

Starting point is 00:04:00 people are crazy to fake this kind of shit. This poor guy and his kids, like leave him and his family alone. No way, he is a freaking cannibal. You also have many people believing the messages, including the likes of Jessica Enriquez. She's one of his exes who have said that the DMs are real and we should not question victims.

Starting point is 00:04:14 There's also another ex who furthered the claim, saying that he wanted to barbecue and eat her, also detailing allegations of emotional abuse. And actually on that note, as the discussion around these allegations continues, many are calling for the focus on a 2 Chainz. Right, as a lot of the public takeaway has been mainly jokes about Armie Hammer as a cannibal,

Starting point is 00:04:30 is he really that, or is he just, is it kind of like a kink? With many arguing that should not in any way be the main point with outlets like Jezebel putting out a piece saying that the public should focus more on the actual allegations of abuse instead. You also have people like Empress Wu, a professional dominatrix telling Rolling Stone that there are clear consent violations

Starting point is 00:04:45 in those messages attributed to him, which should be the core focus and issue. But they're noting that people should talk less about his kinks and more about that. But ultimately that is where we are and we'll have to wait to see what else comes from this conversation as well, as if there are any other developments or responses.

Starting point is 00:04:58 The last bit of entertainment news is that on Saturday, the New York Times posted a controversial article that details how children have increased their screen time during the pandemic. The article in question begins with an anecdote about a man who after a heated argument with his 14 year old son, James said, "'I failed you as a father.'"

Starting point is 00:05:12 This because reportedly his son used to focus his free time on mountain biking and playing basketball, but now reportedly devotes nearly all of his leisure hours, about 40 a week, to Xbox and his phone. The man even being quoted in the Times is saying, "'I'm not losing my son to this.'" But the times going on to say, "'Nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic,

Starting point is 00:05:29 "'parrots across the country and the world "'are watching their children slide down "'an increasingly slippery path "'into an all-consuming digital life.'" And noting that during the first nine months of 2020, the app Roblox saw an increase of 82% over the year before. However, the article has also received a hefty amount of backlash from other outlets.

Starting point is 00:05:46 Many saying that it glossed over the fact that video games and the internet have helped many people, kids and adults stay connected and sane during this terrible time. A reporter for Kotaku also writing, "'This seems strange considering how the world "'is falling apart and democracy is dying "'in front of our eyes, but yeah, sure.

Starting point is 00:06:00 "'Let's consider that kids might be playing "'too much Roblox.'" Also, of note, if you go through the actual Times article, they only twice directly get James's perspective on what's been happening. And even with how limited it is, I look at it and I go, oh yeah. First he explains that he started high school

Starting point is 00:06:13 this past fall, but because of distance learning, he didn't get many chances to make new friends. And second, he explains that after his family dog died New Year's Eve, he ended up playing video games with his friends to help him not think about the loss. But then the article immediately switches focus to his mother who says, "'What are you going to do when you're married and stressed?

Starting point is 00:06:28 "'Tell your wife you need to play Xbox?' And my answer is yes. As long as a relationship is fair, you shouldn't feel bad about me time. Sometimes I just need to decompress and be by myself. Sometimes that's me doing chores by myself. And sometimes that's me playing Rocket League or something with a story.

Starting point is 00:06:43 Also because I'm trying to be safe in a pandemic, it's one of the best ways I get to actually interact with my friends. And that's fine as long as you also have things that you can do together and you're giving them time as well to do whatever they wanna do by themselves. Relationships and marriage are a marathon, not a sprint. And while it's great to have a unit,

Starting point is 00:06:59 you never stop being an individual and it's important not to forget that. And secondly, fuck anybody else for judging how you are surviving during this time. Thank God so many of us have the technology that we have today. I can't even imagine how miserable this, like this has already been a horrible past year.

Starting point is 00:07:17 But if we didn't have the tools and crutches that we have thanks to the technology that we have in 2020 and 2021, it would have been a nightmare, on top of a nightmare. Then in news surrounding the debate around social media moderation and regulation versus is it just unwarranted censorship, we should talk about Twitter temporarily suspending Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's account

Starting point is 00:07:36 this past Sunday. According to Twitter, Greene's account was locked for 12 hours because of what they called multiple violations of our civic integrity policy. This notably following President Donald Trump's permanent ban in the wake of the attack on the US Capitol. So it's also not too surprising they did this, especially since Green's account includes a treasure trove

Starting point is 00:07:51 of false claims about voter fraud in Georgia, as well as peddling things like QAnon conspiracy theories. And this ended up being yet another story that continued the debate of, is this just censorship or is this a private company saying, hey, we're not gonna be complicit in spreading propaganda and lies. And would it actually be more concerning if a private company saying, hey, we're not gonna be complicit in spreading propaganda and lies? And would it actually be more concerning

Starting point is 00:08:06 if a private company was forced to further propaganda? But of course, over the last week and a half now, moves like this have been increasingly scrutinized. In fact, this past weekend, we saw Poland's hard right justice minister proposing what they called a new freedom of speech protection law. And notably, if it passes,

Starting point is 00:08:21 that law would prevent social media platforms from deleting content or banning users who don't break Polish law. And if a platform were to refuse to comply with an order to restore either a banned user or deleted content, it would face fines of anywhere between $13,000 to $13 million. However, domestic regulations on their own

Starting point is 00:08:38 are likely to be ineffective. And that's why we've also now seen reports that the Polish prime minister is lobbying the European Union to regulate the issue. And on the other side, over there, critics of the law have argued that the over removal of content on social media is a non-existent risk, especially when compared to hate speech,

Starting point is 00:08:52 targeting LGBTQ plus communities, Muslims, and refugees. Also another angle and part of this debate in a recently released interview with the Associated Press, singer Selena Gomez criticized social media companies for allowing misinformation to fester online ahead of the attacks on the US Capitol, saying, it isn't about me versus you, one political party versus another.

Starting point is 00:09:08 This is about truth versus lies, and Facebook, Instagram, and big tech companies have to stop allowing lies to just flow and pretend to be the truth, and adding, enough is enough. And in a tweet, Gomez also called out CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Susan Wojcicki to take action, saying that they have failed

Starting point is 00:09:23 the American people. But also, a thing to note is we're just now seeing the implications of what happens when social media companies crack down even harder. In fact, we're now seeing that in the week since Trump was first banned on Twitter, election misinformation has plummeted by 73%. So those numbers coming from the San Francisco-based

Starting point is 00:09:37 analytics firm, Zignol Labs, which also found the conversations about election fraud dropped from 2.5 million mentions to 688,000 mentions across several social media sites. With reports also finding that hashtags and phrases used by QAnon supporters declined over the past week. This likely the result of Twitter banning more than 70,000 accounts associated with QAnon.

Starting point is 00:09:55 With the director of one digital forensic research lab saying, bottom line is that de-platforming, especially at the scale that occurred last week, rapidly curbs momentum and ability to reach new audiences. That said, it also has the tendency to harden the views of those already engaged in the spread of that type of false information. Also, I think it is important to note,

Starting point is 00:10:11 and this is just me saying this, there is a reason to believe that this kind of curbing may just be temporary. It takes time to migrate to all the other platforms, get it all figured out. I mean, we're seeing a lot of people downloading new apps, which of course, among those, we saw Parler getting hit

Starting point is 00:10:25 with its own crackdown though, there is some news there. Parler looks like it's once again showing signs of life. In an update on the site, CEO John Mates posted a message saying, hello world, is this thing on? And then in a note below addressed to both lovers and haters saying that the platform is working to resolve any challenges, AKA Apple and Google removing them from the app stores as well as Amazon's decision

Starting point is 00:10:44 to de-host the platform. Also in this whole space, it's gonna be interesting to look at lawsuits. You know, last week we talked about Parler suing Amazon, but another lawsuit that I wanna talk about is just this past Sunday, we saw a DC based nonprofit suing Apple in an attempt to actually get it to remove Telegram

Starting point is 00:10:58 from its app store. And for a key note here, after Trump's various bans, there were a surge of pro-Trump conservatives signing up for Parler, but as Parler faced those challenges, we then saw among other things, many people moving over to Telegram.

Starting point is 00:11:09 However, Telegram thus far has not received the same level of scrutiny, which is why the nonprofit Coalition for a Safer Web has filed for this lawsuit, arguing that Telegram now hosts white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and other hateful content, all of which violates Apple's terms of service or its app store.

Starting point is 00:11:22 And with this, if you're wondering, why is this group not also suing Google? The answer is they actually plan to. Though these lawsuits could be long shots for actually kind of a fairly ironic reason, Section 230. The same article that Trump wants repealed because he thinks that it is unfairly being used against him is also the same article that could protect Telegram.

Starting point is 00:11:39 And that's because the main thing about Section 230 is that it grants platforms broad immunity from responsibility for most of the content that they host. And the last things I want to talk about today are around the inauguration happening Wednesday and the Capitol in general. And where I'll start is with just two days to go until the inauguration,

Starting point is 00:11:54 security has been massively ramped up in the nation's Capitol. And while the inauguration is usually a high security event, Washington has now instituted security measures not seen since the Civil War. With this obviously following the insurrection, but also with intelligence agencies warning of threats for more violence.

Starting point is 00:12:07 In an unprecedented move, the National Park Service announced on Friday that the National Mall, which usually hosts massive crowds watching the inauguration will be closed until at least Thursday. The inaugural ceremony itself will also be scaled down due to both security threats and the pandemic. Various barricades ranging from small metal barriers

Starting point is 00:12:23 to tall fencing reinforced with heavy concrete blocks that have been set up around the mall and in other parts of the city, such as federal buildings and businesses. This also includes the Capitol complex itself, which will be entirely shut off to the public on Wednesday and is currently surrounded by a seven foot fence topped with razor wire.

Starting point is 00:12:38 Also, as we mentioned last week, over a dozen Metro lines will be shut down and more than two dozen bus routes will be detoured around the security perimeter. Also, we've learned that car traffic in most of the city will either be banned entirely or limited exclusively to residents and businesses only. Several bridges that connect DC to Virginia

Starting point is 00:12:53 will also be shut down and all street closures are subject to change or can be extended at the discretion of the Secret Service. And in addition to the wide variety of military and law enforcement personnel who are normally involved in inauguration security, around 25,000 National Guard troops have also been deployed from all across the country. That is nearly two and a half times the number present

Starting point is 00:13:11 for previous inaugurations. And actually notably here, we've also seen reports that officials have been vetting all 25,000 coming to Washington because they're also worried about an insider attack. But also a thing to keep in mind, it is not just DC that is ramping up security. There have also been mass deployments

Starting point is 00:13:25 of the National Guard and other law enforcement officers to state capitals all across the country following calls for armed protests in all 50 states. Though so far, most of the activity that has been seen around state houses are small peaceful demonstrations by a few people, some of whom have also been armed. And most of the biggest armed rallies

Starting point is 00:13:40 have only included two dozen people or even less. Though notably all of the largest protests have been held by or included members of the Boogaloo Boys, which is a far right group that wants to start a second civil war. With the group showing up in some of the highest numbers in front of the Capitol buildings in Ohio,

Starting point is 00:13:53 Michigan and Utah. But as was the case with all the other demonstrations so far the people who have shown up have been far outnumbered by security officials and in some cases spectators. Then as far as Trump himself in his literal last day in office, sources have said that Donald Trump will grant pardons to around 100 people. With people familiar to the matter

Starting point is 00:14:10 having reportedly said among others, the president will grant clemency for white collar criminals and high profile rappers. With some of the names reportedly being floated around, you have WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, former Trump advisor and guy that would maybe be okay with Fauci's head being on a pike, Steve Bannon, as well as people like Lil Wayne

Starting point is 00:14:25 and Kodak Black. Also, in the last few weeks, we've seen several reports that Trump was considering preemptively pardoning himself, his top aides, and his adult children. But very notably there, it's not clear if he can actually even do that legally, especially because none of them have officially been charged with anything.

Starting point is 00:14:38 And as of right now, sources say that at least he will not be pardoning himself. But regardless of who ultimately gets pardoned, many have condemned Trump for potentially using his last day as president to grant clemency for so many people who have been charged with crimes, most of whom appear to be allies or supporters of him.

Starting point is 00:14:52 Especially because at this same time, Trump has been using some of his last fleeting moments in power to execute more people. Just this weekend, the Trump administration carried out its 13th execution since July on a man named Dustin Higgs. And actually with Higgs's death, Trump has now overseen more federal executions

Starting point is 00:15:06 than any president in over 130 years. And in fact, he will be leaving office having executed nearly one out of every four federal death row prisoners. Yeah, that is where we are right now. And I think it's kind of important that we just prepare for the next 72 hours because we should expect a massive news dump

Starting point is 00:15:22 because we're gonna have last minute pardons and moves from Trump and his administration. The Biden administration will then get installed. What are the number of executive orders that we should expect right out the gate? What's gonna happen with the legislation that Democrats wanna push through now that they have the House and the Senate?

Starting point is 00:15:35 But Trump was just impeached a second time. There's a lot that we're gonna have to go through, but I will be here for you every step of the way. And actually on that note, that's where I'm gonna end today's show. Of course, I'd love to know your thoughts on anything I covered today, but this is ultimately where today's show ends.

Starting point is 00:15:49 As always, thanks for being a part of this community, subscribing, liking, all the good stuff. It helps get us in front of more eyes to help spread some more common sense. Yeah, as always, thanks for watching news that matters for people that care. I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.18 What Olivia Rodrigo Drivers License Exposed, The NYT is Worried, An Apology, & More News

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