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Hello fellow citizens of the internet! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of Internet Insider.
Today’s top stories include reports about Netflix’s Heartstopper sparking a meme about the legacy of queer TV and film, and how those mental health and prayer-focused apps are bad when it comes to data privacy.
Plus, our Politics Reporter Claire dives into the social media history of a candidate looking to be in Nevada’s state assembly in her weekly “Dirty Delete” column.
That’s a lot, so let’s get right to it.
— A.W.
REDDIT: The leaked Roe v. Wade draft decision has reignited a debate about striking on the popular r/antiwork subreddit. A post about a Roe general strike has become very popular, with some users trying to organize a strike or protest. Check out our full report on how the post on r/antiwork is attracting widespread attention.
MEMES: Netflix’s coming-of-age romcom Heartstopper (which many of you might remember from a newsletter last week) is being praised for its heartfelt depiction of two teen boys falling in love. The film is now inspiring nostalgia for the legacy of queer stories that came before with a ‘This was my heartstopper’ meme, where users are sharing the queer movies and TV shows they watched in their own formative years.
PRIVACY: It turns out that mental health and prayer-focused apps have terrible protection for user and data privacy. Mozilla, the company behind the popular Firefox browser, released a report as part of its “Privacy Not Included” series, noting that the collective slate of apps “worse” than almost any other group of products they’ve reviewed.
This QAnon supporting candidate wants to be in Nevada’s State Assembly
Mindy Robinson is the QAnon girl next door.
Robinson is a reality television personality turned wannabe politician who’s running for Nevada State Assembly. This isn’t Robinson’s first political rodeo. She previously ran for Congress as a Republican and lost.
So now she’s trying again.
Seeing as the GOP failed her, this time Robinson’s seeking office as a member of the Libertarian Party.
Robinson is a real charmer online, where she posts delightful musings like, “They could’ve also titled this ‘Why are communist leftists always fat pieces of shit?’” and rails against the Muppets adding an Asian-American character. “Can kids just be kids without you inserting your pointless, divisive wokeness on them?” she wrote—because apparently being Asian-American is divisive.
She’s a huge fan of conspiracy theories, so much so that her pinned Facebook post falsely claims that there was more than one shooter behind the Las Vegas mass shooting. She even made a two hour “documentary” about the supposed coverup, which YouTube has hidden behind a warning that it contains content some find “inappropriate.”
Posts like one where she falsely claimed that Dr. Anthony Fauci helped create COVID-19 as a “bioweapon to control the world” routinely get Robinson in trouble with social media platforms.
She doesn’t let that slow her social media roll, however. Robinson has a huge following across Facebook (236,000 followers), Instagram (60,000), Gab (90,000), and YouTube (5,000). There’s a Telegram channel with 15,000 subscribers that appears to belong to her, which uses the equally creative and charming handle @BidenSucksBalls. It’s well paired with her sporadically updated website, which has “red white and f u” in the URL.
Other than the ghost town that is Truth Social, there is one place online you won’t find Robinson: Twitter. She was permanently suspended in January 2021, shortly after she was in the crowd at the protest that became the Capitol riot.
Archives show that before she lost her account and its 250,000 followers, Robinson used Twitter to post lies about election fraud, claim antifascists were behind the Capitol riot (but also falsely insist it was “peaceful”), and call for former President Donald Trump to use the Insurrection Act to somehow remain in power.
Robinson also reportedly subscribes to the QAnon conspiracy theory that the world is run by Satan-worshiping pedophiles addicted to a chemical they harvest from children’s brains. Last June, she confirmed to Newsweek that she’s a QAnon supporter, but insisted it’s not a conspiracy theory to be convinced that the world is run by Satanic pedophiles.
“I’m pretty sure the whole Jeffrey Epstein situation proved how very real the problem was. It’s also not a ‘conspiracy theory’ to think compromised government officials protect and cover up child sexual trafficking rings,” she reportedly said.
Robinson hopes to take ideas like this to the Nevada State Assembly.
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👀 TODAY ONLINE
Here are some key dispatches from across the ‘net.
💼 A TikToker said she was unable to get a job after telling potential employers about her pregnancy, so she lied in an interview and is now hiding her pregnancy from her employer.
🏊 A person’s video advising against getting into pools with swim-up bars has gone viral for noting that “one girl didn’t understand why some people were leaving the pool to use the washroom.”
🎤 Video has gone viral that appears to show the moment someone rushed the stage and attacked Dave Chappelle during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
🗣️ People online are lashing out at Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) after he responded to the leaked Roe v. Wade draft decision that signaled the Supreme Court would overturn the landmark decision.
✈️ A couple was filed getting kicked off of a plane after yelling racist and homophobic slurs. In the video, the woman says “free speech is dead” while arguing with a flight attendant.
🤩 For the celeb-obsessed mom in your life, a video from her fave will be the perfect Mother’s Day gift. Here’s your guide to the best celebrities on Cameo.*
🚗 Yikes. A TikTok showing the aftermath of a hit-and-run, with the alleged perpetrator damaging the user’s car in a mall parking lot before parking next to her and going shopping, has gone viral.
🥝 Lizastian shares how she built a following of over 6 million by creating satisfying lunch box-packing videos. Want more stories like this? Sign up for Passionfruit, the Daily Dot’s weekly creator economy newsletter, for more coverage.
📱 In “Viral Labor,” the Daily Dot explores the way workers are fighting for their rights and using the internet to advocate for themselves.
*The Daily Dot may receive a commission in connection with purchases of products or services featured here.
👋 BEFORE YOU GO
A video showing shelves for Plan B being empty at a Target location has gone viral and sparked considerable discussion. While it was posted last week, it one again went viral in the wake of the Supreme Court draft decision about overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked. The video has nearly 2 million views.
Now Playing: 🎶“American Girl” by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers🎶
