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Hello fellow citizens of the internet! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of Internet Insider.
It’s the middle of the week, and we’ve got something special for you. Besides today’s stories that are at the frontline of online, we want to share an early look at “The Voices Defining Web3,” a series of three stories about the future of the internet.
In these in-depth reports, the Daily Dot’s spring intern class highlights different aspects of Web3, ranging from activists to entrepreneurs to vigilantes.
I hope you enjoy!
— A.W.
SCOTUS: The revelation that the Supreme Court is poised to strike down Roe v. Wade—which would overturn a half-century of precedent around the right to an abortion in the U.S.—has conservatives obsessed with tracking down who leaked the draft ruling. Our Politics Editor David Covucci reports on the vigilante campaign to hunt down the Supreme Court leaker.
CONSPIRACY: A string of recent fires at food processing plants in recent weeks has sparked conspiracy theories. Our Contributing Reporter and conspiracy theory expert Mike Rothschild dives into some of the theories that have cropped up in the wake of the fires. Check out his full report here.
FANDOM: People online were upset after a fan-made recreation of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie that was several years in the making found itself removed from YouTube for several hours after it was flagged for a copyright violation, likely by Paramount Pictures. The recreation had hundreds of artists collaborate to re-record dialogue and re-animate the film in several animation styles.
From crypto to NFTs, Web3—a decentralized evolution of the internet as we know it—burst into the social media tech scene this year, raking in millions for experts and puzzling others.
In “The Voices Defining Web3,” the Daily Dot explores how this new augmented and virtual reality-based, heavily anonymizing internet can remedy some of the inequalities that life on the web has presented over the past two decades—or exacerbate them.
In these stories, college NFT pros pursue crypto-based entrepreneurship, activists aim to mitigate hate speech in the metaverse, and tech workers protest against a pivot to the web3 market.
Check out the stories below.
Is there a First Amendment right to assemble in the metaverse?
Will your digital rights be the same?
These students are ditching college to run an NFT business
Are NFTs better than college?
Meet the users fighting NFT-based hate speech on the new internet
“At the end of the day, the community is responsible for telling society what is and is not acceptable.”
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Here are some key dispatches from across the ‘net.
✈️ This TikToker and advocate for stuttering awareness alleged that he was pulled for additional screening by TSA agents in an airport because of his stutter.
📷 A Walmart employee filmed a woman she called a “Karen” yelling at her while she was at work and calling her a “little girl” and “trifling little hoe.”
🏠 More bad landlord news. A renter alleged in a viral video that the smell in her apartment’s carpet is making her sick. She alerted her landlord, but they have ghosted her.
📧 A TikToker is calling out the beauty store chain Ulta Beauty for sending an email promotion on May 1 with an “upsetting” subject line referencing Kate Spade. (This story contains depictions of suicide).
🤢 This woman posted a video of the conversation she had with a “toxic stranger” who sat next to her at a private club. In the video, he asks her out and berates her after she rejects him.
📦 A second union drive at an Amazon warehouse in New York City has failed just a month after a Staten Island warehouse became the first Amazon shop to ever unionize.
💝 The perfect gift for the MILS (mother I’d like to spoil) in your life is right here in this gift guide for Mother’s Day.*
🤨 A user on TikTok went viral after allegedly revealing a secret room in a Target location where employees can see customers.
🥝 Would you watch an 8-hour recap of Victorious on YouTube? 3.6 million people already have. Find out why by signing up for Passionfruit, the Daily Dot’s weekly creator economy newsletter.
*The Daily Dot may receive a commission in connection with purchases of products or services featured here.
👋 BEFORE YOU GO
In the wake of the draft of a Supreme Court ruling that would overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked, outrage has been directed toward people who responded to the news by calling for people to register to vote. The actor Josh Gad tweeted that and was immediately met with comments pointing out the futility of telling someone to just vote.
Now Playing: 🎶“Monday” by The Regrettes🎶