The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 12.14 Why People Are Freaking Out About New Nudity Rules, Hasan Piker, Biden Impeachment, & Saudi Takeover

Episode Date: December 14, 2023

Use code PHIL for $20 off your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code DEFRANCO $10 off! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL Go to https://incogni.com/defranco and use code DEFRANCO to get 60% off an annual Incogni plan.      Go to https://BeautifulBastard.com for up to 90% OFF and $10 Mystery Items. –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Twitch Updates Policy Following New Viral Meta 04:02 - Cartels Are Using a Police Database to Track and Target Their Enemies 06:15 - FTC Filing Exposes Data Broker’s “Staggering” Sale of Sensitive Info  09:28 - Sponsored by SeatGeek 10:42 - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Reshape Global Sports Via Massive Investments 18:09 - Sponsored by Incongi 19:04 - House Republicans Approve Impeachment Inquiry Into Biden 22:19 - Your Thoughts on Yesterday’s Show ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxx Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve  ———————————— #DeFranco #Hasanabi #Twitch ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's up, you beautiful bastards? Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. I got a jumbo size one for you today. So buckle up, hit that like button, and let's just jump into it. Starting with, today is a glorious day. It is a fantastic day for me, and that is because I can now finally live my truth

and live my best life. Because Twitch just changed their terms of service to say that I can now twerk and grind on their platform. The Philip DeFranco Show about to look so different. No, but yes, no to me doing it. Yes, this is a thing that's happened. But the streaming platform now unveiling major policy changes regarding sexual content.

And this notably coming as, you know, there's been a controversy on the platform, though there's always a controversy on that platform. But specifically, there's been an increase in mostly female streamers appearing topless. So usually just because like the cameras frame to show like the upper part of their chest or that their nipples aren't exposed. Well, technically this falls in line with Twitch's

nudity policy because no nipples are seen. Many thought that it was pushing the limits, right? People arguing, you know, they're using a loophole. They're skirting the rules. They're making sexually suggestive content. Others saying, you know, think of the children that might have access to it. And actually with this criticism, we ended up seeing one streamer, Morgpie, whose topless streams went viral, getting banned from Twitch this week. For her part, she claimed she was never actually topless, even though it looked like that on camera. But still, there were more calls for action to be taken, and Twitch did respond, but they went a different route. Rather than cracking down, they were like, hey, maybe let's loosen things up. And so while

porn and full nudity is still not allowed on Twitch, you can do a lot more. With Twitch explaining that because they recently rolled out content classification labels, where they allow streamers to label sexual content, the platform can now actually ease some of the restrictions since the content will come with a warning. So any kind of sexual content or depictions of nudity, it's going to need one of these labels. But also some previously bannable actions are going to be allowed, with this including content deliberately highlighting breasts, buttocks, or the pelvic region, with Twitch saying that their former policy was out of line with industry standards and resulted in female presenting streamers being

disproportionately penalized. They're also now okaying erotic dancing, including disrobing as well as body writing on breasts and buttocks, regardless of gender. Also, you know, you have this thriving community of artists on the platform. And so now for them, it'll be acceptable to show fictionalized depictions of fully exposed breasts, genitals, buttocks, regardless of gender. Though they're augmented reality avatars, they do not count as animated. So they're supposed to abide by the same entire rules as humans. So there's a little bit of chaos on that front right now from people trying to get away with nudity. And of course, with everything we talked about, these things need to be flagged with a sexual themes content classification label. And notably with that, content that has a sexual themes label will no longer appear on homemade recommendation shelves.

Though, there are also actions that do not need the label, like twerking, grinding, and pole dancing. Though, asterisk, you cannot do that if you are inside an adult entertainment venue. And so in response to these changes, you know, some have accused Twitch of turning into a cam girl site. Though you had others defending it, like Asmongold saying, Hot take, Twitch isn't and has never been a safe space for underage people. Everyone fixates on boob streamers, but the reality is that many Twitch streams cover topics and have conversations that would be wildly inappropriate for minors to be involved in. New Twitch changes, RW. You also had streaming creators like Hasan Piker concerned not about how streamers are going to handle this, but how Twitch will.

Especially when it comes to the content labels. I can foresee this becoming a major problem where Twitch starts literally labeling female content creators who are not trying to appear sexually suggestive because people are mass targeting them or some shit with big ass honkers, even if they're not fucking talking about their big ass honkers at all. And then they just get slapped on with that penalty, hitting you with the marker you know what i mean it's like slut shaming right since twitch will actually apply these labels if the streamers forget he thinks they might end up abusing them by throwing them on streams that don't actually need them right arguing that there are so many women on twitch who don't even do anything sexual but they're still viewed that way by the community just because they're women pokemon comes to mind and yet for her entire career for her entire career people are like oh look, oh, look at this slut.

Look at this slut. Classic. You know, we're gonna have to wait to see how things play out. I mean, Twitch is always an interesting one when it comes to rules. I feel like it's one of those platforms where like people so actively and transparently try and like, you know, work around the rules. Like, for example, their no nipples rule. They say you can't have female presenting individuals breasts with exposed nipples unless they're actively breastfeeding a child. But here's the thing,

there's going to be some random 20 year old dude that's like, I'm someone's child. There's like an 80% chance that's going to happen. Because you know, there's always this talk about the Twitch meta, like what are people doing now? The meta is trying to skirt around the rules. And personally, I kind of respect it. And then we've got intelligence and security software that's being used by world governments, also being used by organized crime. Which you might say, what's the difference between the two? I'm with you, brother. No, I'm not. I was joking. Please don't put me on another list. But specifically, in Mexico, there are reports that indicate that cartels are using intelligence and security software to help them with their crimes. And the specific software in question is called Titan.

And as far as how they're using it, not only is it helping them track down their rivals, it's also helping them cover up their crimes. And as far as intelligence software goes, Titan's actually especially scary because it doesn't even pretend to have any safeguards. And you've even got places like Vice reportedly getting access to the platform from a cartel operative,

with it finding that they can track people in real time. We're talking updated every minute. They can also grab their official IDs and a ton of other private information. And all of that's possible because allegedly Titan gets its information directly from government databases, which if true means it could be used to delete criminal records or post fake crime reports to police platforms. And as far as like how this whole system works, the advice reporting that there are services being offered via WhatsApp groups managed by a council, which they say, according to one of the groups admin speaking

with them, includes members of criminal organizations and Mexican state officials. Going on to say that in addition to approving services, they approve who's in these WhatsApp groups. And access to the information, apparently pretty cheap. Not like skip a few coffees cheap, but I mean, you have Vice saying that it's between $600 and $9,000. And also with this in a like darkly genius move, these same groups also sell signal jammers.

So that when someone is kidnapped using Titan, that same software can't be used to track them. Now, when it comes to actually processing a request for Titan info, it's often done by a state police commander who then delivers the information on an agreed upon time. Or it can reportedly be a huge source of income for commanders who buy up bulk licenses of the software and then sell the access directly to the highest bidder. With all this, you have Vice claiming that they've spoken to people at a number of organizations who obtained information through Titan who told them the platform is Mexican. It was developed here in Mexico, but people from Israel worked on the back end. Which, if true, would not actually be surprising since many Israeli firms are on the forefront of this kind

of technology. Right, with that including Pegasus, which the Mexican government's known to use. But still, even Vice admits they do not know for sure who actually made Titan. This is the worst part, is that this database, despite being made for the government, is allegedly being used far more often by organized crime. And so for privacy advocates, right, all of this is just yet another example of how such large data collection platforms and these databases, they're far more dangerous than they have benefits. But with all that said, I got to ask you, what are your thoughts here? And then every detail about your life is up for sale. And I feel like this is one of those open secrets that we all knew, but weren't quite sure how to prove.

And well, the FTC actually just won a small legal battle to publish its case against the data broker Kochava, and holy shit, doesn't even begin to cover how crazy this all is. Though backing up a bit, the FTC has accused Kochava of violating the FTC Act for collecting, quote, a staggering amount of sensitive and identifying information about consumers. At the heart of the issue is the fact that the FTC is pretty sure that Kochava's products and databases are capable of identifying nearly everyone in the United States, down to extremely personal details. Also making it even worse is pretty sure that Kochava's products and databases are capable of identifying nearly everyone in the United States down to extremely personal details. Also making it even worse is the fact that Kochava then allegedly sold this information to customers, most of whom are assumed to be advertisers. Now that said, collecting data on consumers and then selling

it to advertisers isn't exactly anything new. You know, we know that's how Google, Facebook, and pretty much every social media platform stays in business. But Kochava is accused of going above and beyond when it comes to data collection, where people who bought their data could allegedly track someone's movements with the data Kochava was collecting. This including things like when you visited a hospital, or maybe you were down on your luck and you had to live at a temporary shelter, or what about when you went to church? And this information was accurate down to a few meters. Also, outside of tracking your movements, they also keep an ongoing tab of what apps you use, how long you've used them, and how much you've spent on them. That information might not seem like that big of a deal,

but you would be surprised what a bunch of data scientists can do with that. And they're able to make all that happen by either buying data from other brokers or by striking deals with 235,000 mobile app developers to sneak in data collection code for a pile of cash. And no one really ever notices because no one's out there reading terms of service. And that info is scary enough, but when you add to the fact that it's been collecting this info for a long time, you realize that anyone buying their data could build a realistic profile of your entire life. And this type of data collection from a Kochava, and let's be real, pretty much every company that does this, has led to a massive increase in hyper-specific advertisements. You know, have you ever felt like an ad you just got

on your phone was a little too relevant to your life? Well, that's because this data could be used to build out so-called audience segments. Normally, they're supposed to be broad things like age ranges or gender, but with Kochava's data, they can pinpoint it down to something like, you just looked at baby clothes specifically. So, according to the FTC, advertisers can use this data to make profiles of, quote, all the pregnant Muslim women in Kochava's database. With the FTC going on to say in their complaint, Kochava's use and disclosure of this precise geolocation information invade consumers' privacy and cause or are likely to cause consumers substantial injury. The FTC also has an issue with the fact that Kochava seems to not care about how much sensitive information it is collecting and said that the company could blacklist sensitive location from its data feeds or remove sensitive characteristics from its data but didn't.

In fact, it's actually the opposite. It promotes the usage of such data and touts it as a way to dodge user privacy choices. And it's also why the FTC is seeking a permanent injunction against Kochava. Now, initially, Kochava countersued, and a judge agreed, finding that the FTC didn't adequately allege a substantial injury to consumers, which is actually why the FTC was like, okay, and they came back with everything we just talked about. But even that led to a series of legal battles with Kochava, actually trying to get the FTC sanctioned by the court for bringing claims that were, quote, knowingly false. So the judge disagreed, saying that he couldn't actually find any claims that were actually false or misleading. Instead,

saying that the FTC could make its filing and claims public. Now, all that said, it doesn't mean that the judge completely ruled in the FTC's favor, just that on the surface, the evidence and allegations seemed legit and that the lawsuit could proceed. And if this does go the FTC's way, it could change the landscape of how our data is collected and used against us. However, without proper changes to the laws, just about everything about you is 100% known to companies and advertisers out there, and there's nothing you can really do about it. And then we've got football, basketball, hockey,

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enterprises in recent years. With this, of course, being a huge point of discussion during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, as well as with the merger of PGA with the Saudi-backed Live Golf League. And you know, with those stories, there's always a conversation about sports washing, or the idea that these countries are using sports investments to improve their international reputation and deflect from the mass human rights issues that they perpetuate. Things like their treatment of women, migrant workers, the LGBTQ plus community, and many, many others. And when it comes to Saudi Arabia specifically, that hesitancy goes even deeper. Or you have things like the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, and of course, the small matter of the country's connections to 9-11. But apparently, billions of dollars can make a lot of people forget those little tiny details,

especially as those big deals that you hear about in the news, the live mergers and the World Cups, those are just the tippity tip of the iceberg. And with these investments just rapidly accelerating, experts say that the consequences of all this, right, accepting this money, it's going to go far beyond just sports washing. We're talking about a total revolution in the global sports power structure that will concentrate much more geopolitical influence into the hands of these questionable governments. And that's actually something that was detailed in an absolutely stunning report by the Washington Post that drew from interviews with over 50 governing bodies, stakeholders, and experts. And to really understand the scope of this situation, we have to first get

a little bit more of a better look at the massive scale that we're talking about here. For a while now, there has been a major focus on soccer. With all three of the Gulf nations slurping up some of the best-known soccer franchises in the whole world, with that including Paris, St. Germain, Manchester City, and Newcastle United, among many other European teams. Saudi Arabia's sovereign public investment fund, or PIF, has also spent obscene amounts of money signing top soccer players, in fact, making it the second largest soccer spender in the world last year, with Saudi clubs reportedly spending $957 million just in the 2023 summer transfer window to attract more top-tier players, ultimately adding 94 players from abroad. But it also goes beyond soccer, and keep in mind, I can't hit on everything.

According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, over $4.5 billion has been allocated to various sports properties by Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds in the region just in the last three years alone. There's, of course, the $2 billion Saudi Arabia spent to launch Live Golf and the billions more they're expected to spend with the PGA merger. But you also have the post saying that the Saudi PIF is also eyeing entire leagues as well and writing that the fund reportedly has attempted to purchase Formula One, WWE, and Qatar based broadcaster BN Sports, and that has made overtures that could remake women's golf in the men's and women's tennis tours. And since the World Cup in Qatar last year, which was the most expensive ever, the Gulf nations have been

increasingly working to host some of the biggest sporting events in the world, like championships and Formula One races. What's more, there's also been talk of a possible Summer Olympics in Qatar. And it seems pretty likely that Saudi Arabia is going to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup after Australia backed out of the bidding process, making Saudi Arabia the lone bidder. In fact, more recently, these countries have also made more of a foray into the American sporting industry. You've got the Qatar Investment Authority spending an estimated $200 million to take a minority share in Monumental Sports, which notably controls both of Washington, D.C.'s NBA and WNBA teams, the Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics, as well as the city's NHL

team, the Washington Capitals. And according to the Post, that investment, which was approved by the NBA and NHL this summer, made Qatar's sovereign fund the first ever to purchase a stake in a team in the top four U.S. sports leagues. And notably, since then, the NBA has said that it is open to more investment from wealthy Middle Eastern countries, with the league also hosting games in the UAE. You also have the UFC dipping its toes in the oil money waters, hosting an event in the UAE the same month as the NBA, and announcing plans for fights in Saudi Arabia next year. And all of that's on top of the money for sponsorship and events for multi-billion dollar corporations in these countries, particularly their national airlines. But analysts and key stakeholders who spoke to the Post said it was that decision by the NBA and NHL

to allow Qatari investment that really moved the needle here, opening the floodgates for oil dollars to pour into American sports and create a new era of foreign funding, with many experts saying that what we are seeing now, this is just the beginning. And Mark Gannis, a sports consultant who works in these kinds of deals, saying, to use a sports analogy, we're not even midway through the first quarter. This is a megatrend, one that is going to be growing for the next decade or longer and will crescendo probably in two decades or so. But this, as many officials in the industry and the U. the US government are worried that we don't know yet the full ramifications

of accepting that oil money from these nations. And again, experts say that these consequences will go beyond sports washing with one explaining. Sports washing is a moral claim and it has merit, but it fails to capture the full scope of their ambitions. They are angling to be global players and they're trying to achieve this in a few different ways. First, just the very surface level sports

have long been an incredibly important geopolitical tool. They foster patriotism at home, they promote diplomacy abroad, and they're a massive part of the global economy. And so as a result, power in international sports translates to influence in world politics. But experts say that investments in sports also bring about economic changes that allow countries to consolidate their power even more. With Gannis here saying those changes are going to alter the region forever. It's enormous, and it's going to keep getting bigger and more significant as time goes on. It's transformational what is happening right now. This is actually something that we've seen in the past. For many, many years, Europe and North America were really the major powerhouses

in sports, hosting events and setting rules for the rest of the world. But then the 1988 Olympics in South Korea changed a lot. Not only did those games essentially rebrand South Korea and the eyes of the West, which helped its rise as a geopolitical player, they also prompted China to pursue the Olympics. And after that, China put a ton of investment in sports, eventually leading to the country hosting the games in 2008 and 2022. And that gave it tremendous power in the global economy

with its rise in the sports power structure happening at the same time as becoming a powerful global trade partner, which is why you have experts saying that the Middle East is using the exact same playbook as China, a playbook that can result in incredible economic and geopolitical benefits. Success brings return on investments. Building stadiums and infrastructure stimulates the economy.

Those stadiums and infrastructure attract tourism and foreigners who want to live and work in these countries, which grow their economies even more. And with building out their economies, it also opens doors for these nations to engage in more global trade and commerce. And so the combination of increased trade, tourism, and foreign workers gives them a seat at the global table and a lot more influence as a result. And again, that is on top of the influence they already attained by being a major sporting powerhouse. And of course, with all that power comes the ability to distract from all the bad shit going on within their borders and them rebranding themselves. But sportswashing is just one of the many elements at play here. In fact, Mohamed Bonsa made that abundantly clear in an interview he did on Fox News in September

where he literally said, When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill. When the in-laws decide that,

actually, they will stay for dinner. Instacart has all your groceries covered this summer so download the app and get delivery in as fast as 60 minutes plus enjoy zero dollar delivery fees on your first three orders service fees exclusions and terms apply instacart groceries that over deliver i'm gonna increase my gdb by one percent and then i will continue doing sport washing. You're okay with that term? I don't care. I have 1% growth of GDP from sport, and I'm aiming for another 1.5%. Call it whatever you want. We're going to get that 1.5%. It's all about building up that economic power and utilizing it to get more geopolitical influence.

And that's also something that's backed up by experts with, for example, Simon Chadwick, a professor of sports and geopolitical economy at Schema Business School in Paris, explaining, What we are now beginning to see is this intersection of geography and politics and economics shaping sport. What countries are trying to do is to build identity, accumulate power, project that power, and exert influence through sport. And continuing, in policy terms, the United States and the European Union, Britain, France, and others need to start responding to what now confronts them in elite professional sport and saying, if they don't, they're going to wake up one morning and they'll find that they're in serious trouble.

Now, with all that said, some people have argued that there are some benefits here, where there are plenty of people who think that any money going in to prop up the sporting economy is good regardless of where it comes from. Even have others arguing the transformation these countries undergo help these nations become more progressive,

and some athletes have already seen that. But that said, the pessimist in me wonders how much will they actually change, especially given their societal power structures. And this is plenty of experts and officials are concerned about the implications of allowing oppressive regimes to gain so much power and influence in the world order. But with all that said, I gotta ask you, what are your thoughts here? And then, you know, I've been and will continue to shop a lot online right now. You know, I like to be sure that my privacy is protected from nefarious people spending all their time and energy gathering my data. Because, you know, all of us are at risk of having our data breached by third parties who spend their time trying to do just that, steal our information.

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Because Republicans have been investigating Biden for possible impeachable offenses for nearly a year now, with them specifically looking into whether Biden improperly benefited from his son Hunter's business dealings abroad, and if false or misleading statements that he made about those dealings amounted to obstruction. Beyond that, they're also probing whistleblower allegations that Biden interfered in the Justice Department's investigation into Hunter's taxes and gun use, which Hunter is currently facing criminal charges for. While the inquiry has raised some ethical questions, Republicans have so far produced zero evidence of any crimes, and certainly not anything that reaches the level of impeachment. But still, despite that, GOP leaders have accused Biden of acting corruptly and abusing power. Claims that, again, they have presented no proof of. In fact, they had so little of anything

to go on that more mainstream moderate Republicans were hesitant to back an impeachment inquiry or even outright opposed it. Which is why we saw former Speaker Kevin McCarthy taking the unprecedented move of unilaterally directing three House committees to open an impeachment probe into Biden back in September. With it widely believed that he did this on his own because he wanted to appease the same far-right members who ultimately ousted him, but he didn't have enough support from the rank and file. But that whole sentiment, it has changed recently for a few different reasons. First of all, Republicans have been bolstered by pretty explosive new allegations against Hunter revealed in a new indictment.

Now, very notably here because we're talking about the potential impeachment of Joe Biden, not the impeachment of Hunter Biden. That indictment never mentions the president or connects him to his son's alleged misdeeds, but it has helped Republicans who are leading this effort to convince their on-the-fence colleagues that there's no harm in just making sure for certain that the president wasn't involved. With also increased pressure from Trump and his allies in Congress playing a big role. And beyond that, the White House basically dared Republicans to take this step last month. When a special counsel to Biden wrote a letter challenging the legitimacy of the probe because it hasn't been launched by a full House vote.

And pointing out that Republicans leading the effort had themselves argued that impeachment inquiries without a full floor vote are illegitimate, calling it an abuse of power when Pelosi unilaterally launched an impeachment probe into Trump and demanding that subpoenas and requests for interviews be rescinded. So in response to that, you had GOP leaders arguing

that a full floor vote was necessary to give them the full authority to investigate Biden without the White House stonewalling or bringing legal challenges. And that also helped another argument that they made to convince skeptical moderates, saying this is not a vote to actually impeach Biden, but a vote to continue the investigation with full legal force. That's an argument that was echoed by multiple GOP lawmakers who were leading this investigation after the House vote yesterday, saying, hey, this is basically just a procedural step.

But this is Democrats have widely pushed back against that. This is all a political charade to appease Trump and that Republicans have zero evidence that are just abusing the impeachment process for their own political means. But, you know, that said, here's the thing. It is a tactic that is being used. The situation is going to drag into the 2024 election cycle. You even had Biden himself chiming in with a rare statement on the matter saying, instead of doing anything to help make Americans' lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies. Instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done, they are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts. You know, possibly the most simplistic way of

understanding like what's going down here is to watch this interaction between a reporter and Republican Representative Troy Nels. Representatives, what are you hoping to gain from an impeachment inquiry? All I can say is Donald J. Trump 2024. A political stunt or not, campaign strategy or not, this is where we are right now. So just buckle up for the ride that is going to be 2024. And then let's talk about yesterday today, where we dive into the comments yesterday. And for the first time ever, I'm going to start with my own comment that I left on yesterday's show. Oh, dang it. I'm so dumb. It's been so long since I watched the last season.

Alice in Borderland is a Japanese show, not South Korea. Comment stands, though. It's a fantastic watch. And 99% of people were like, hey, it's great that you caught yourself. Ha ha. It is a great show. There's also as one psycho on Twitter took my little slight gaffe, said you reached Fox News levels of research on this one, which one?

How dare you? This was Fox News levels of research. I'd be saying the Japanese were storming our shores in caravans. And two, the show is research. We have a whole team working on the show, but they're focused on like the news news and not, you know, me going on some random nerdy rant about foreign language films and TV shows that I enjoy. The person that would have called that was just out sick yesterday.

You know, with this, here's what I say, and I usually have to say it about like way more important stuff, not me misremembering a show that I watched a year ago. No one's perfect. You're not always going to get it right. I'm glad that the mistakes I make are like little like this. And even then, I do what you're supposed to do when it's a much more important situation. I immediately update the situation where I can. And so actually, I think where I'll end this is by saying thank you, not to the person that compared me to fucking Fox News because of the slightest gaffe, but to everyone else that corrected me on that point or were about to and they saw my comment, who chose

not to be dicks about it. I appreciate that and you. But anyway, as far as comments about the actual news, one of the biggest standouts to y'all yesterday was on the Luke Combs story. People horrified that while not in Florida, there are states where you can actually serve someone over email. With Chrissy saying, honestly, serving any lawsuit by email is ridiculous. The amount of spam, dumb ads, and scam emails that get important emails buried every day, something as important as a lawsuit shouldn't be trusted in email format alone. Others also chiming in, as a cybersecurity professional, the lawsuit story is so damn sketchy. Email is the number one place we're trained to reject things that look shady, and serving legal action via email is super high

on the behaviors that we use to identify spam and scams. Think of all the scams that start with, there's a warrant out for your arrest, etc. Making this sort of action appropriate to deliver via email defeats a ton of that training and automated protections that have been put in place to protect people from scammers. Which, yeah, I mean, if I'm missing texts from even my favorite people in the world, I'm missing some fucking emails. There were also a number of comments focusing specifically on Nicole. Pretty much everyone relieved that Luke Combs, once he found out about what was happening, he's handling things the way he's handling it. Are people happy that not only does it seem like, you know, the bad stuff's not going to happen to Nicole, but maybe this has somehow turned into a good thing for her. Because in addition to Luke

Combs giving her money, there's that whole Tumblr sale that's going to be going towards her medical bills. You also had a number of people saying she should have really known better. And it's great that it's not going to ruin her life, but that she really should have known better. But there, I kind of have to argue a different point. And I probably am only thinking of this because my TikTok algorithm has just been feeding me so much bullshit that people are trying to sell me. Like ever since TikTok shop was introduced, I feel like one in five things I see, it's like, hey, did you know this shirt? Whatever. People try and get their back. But like the sheer amount of what seems to be unlicensed merch being sold, it's like through the roof. It's like, okay, that's just a photo of Taylor Swift and something she said. Where'd you get the fucking photo? There's a lot of people

playing with fire. And so I think that there's two things. People are obviously benefiting from the situation and it feels like, you know, while it may be wild westy now, eventually a crackdown's got to come. And then two, the more people get fed that content, I think you're gonna, the more likely that you're gonna have other people thinking, oh, I guess this is okay. But yeah, be careful out there, because while that Luke Holmes story had a seemingly happy ending, I very much feel like that's the outlier. But that is where your daily dive into the news is gonna end today. As always, thank you for being a part of these. For more news you need to know, I got you covered right here. Maybe you missed it, click or tap to watch. I got links in the description. But hey,

my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces and I'll see you next time.