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Hello fellow citizens of the internet! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of Internet Insider.
We’ve got a whole bunch of news for your today including data privacy in femtech, yet another vaccine conspiracy theory, and why Dracula is all over your feeds.
Plus, my weekly “Tech Analysis” column breaks down the FTC’s recent settlement with an ISP over claims that it misrepresented its internet speeds.
Let’s dive in.
— A.W.
DATA PRIVACY: In the wake of the leak of a draft decision from the Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade, concerns have been raised about the data privacy of femtech apps that allow people to track their periods, body temperature, fertility windows, ovulation dates, and more. As our contributing writer Agnes Arnold-Forster writes, this tech presents “a serious potential risk to users’ privacy.” You can read the whole story here.
CONSPIRACY: Conspiracy theorists are once again misinterpreting data on the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine after a batch of documents were recently released. The release sparked a viral hashtag where conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccine advocates spread sensational claims. Check out our report on their claims here.
DRACULA: You may have noticed that “Dracula” was trending online this weekend. No, it wasn’t a new movie announcement or anything like that. Our Culture Reporter Gavia digs into why “Dracula Daily” is all over your timelines and feeds.
FTC approves massive settlement with ISP over allegations that is misrepresented internet speeds
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and two California law enforcement agencies approved a multi-million dollar settlement with Frontier Communications after it the internet service provider was sued last year and accused of misrepresenting its internet service speeds.
In May of last year, the FTC and six states alleged that Frontier advertised and sold internet speeds based on download speeds, but it did not provide customers with the speeds they were promised. In fact, the FTC alleged the speeds “often fell far short of what was touted in the plans” that customers purchased.
Under the proposed order, the FTC said that Frontier will “be prohibited from tricking consumers about its slow internet service” and would be “required to support its speed claims.” The ISP will also need to provide current customers with a free and easy way for them to cancel their service when it fails to meet the promised speeds.
“Frontier lied about its speeds and ripped off customers by charging high-speed prices for slow service,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “Today’s proposed order requires Frontier to back up its high-speed claims. It also arms customers lured in by Frontier’s lies with free, easy options for dropping their slow service.”
The order will also require Frontier to substantiate its internet speed claims at a customer-by-customer level and notify customers when it is unable to do so; to ensure it can provide the internet speeds it advertises before signing up, upgrading, or billing new customers; and pay $8.5 million in civil penalties to two California law enforcement agencies.
Additionally, Frontier will need to deploy fiber-optic internet service to 60,000 residential locations in California over the next four years, which the FTC says is estimated to cost between $50 million and $60 million.
In a statement to CNET, Frontier said it settled the lawsuit “in good faith” so it could “focus on our business” because it was in the “best interest of all our stakeholders, and especially our customers.”
When the FTC first announced the lawsuit against Frontier in 2021, then-acting FTC Chairwoman Rebecca Slaughter said it showcased why the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) needed to regain its authority over the broadband industry, which was stripped away when the Republican-led agency repealed net neutrality rules in 2017.
That sentiment is still relevant. The FCC still doesn’t have a full five-member commission as the nomination of Gigi Sohn, President Joe Biden’s pick to fill out the agency, has not yet received a vote in the Senate.
Once the FCC is fully-staffed, it is widely expected that it would look to reestablish net neutrality rules and the agency’s authority over broadband.
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👀 TODAY ONLINE
Here are some key dispatches from across the ‘net.
📱 People are using a trend on TikTok to discuss the sexual trauma that caused them or their relatives to turn to or consider abortion. (This article contains graphic descriptions of sexual assault).
💲 One TikToker claims they got 257 people to Venmo request Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) for reparations for his “crimes against women.”
🍕 A series of tweets from right-wing pundit Jack Posobiec has inspired a wave of right-wing nostalgia for… Pizza Hut.
☎️ A viral video that purports to show a woman scheduling all of a man’s jail visits for a day then canceling them so that he can’t see anyone is stirring up controversy online.
🐢 A TikTok showing a man saving a turtle stuck in a pond has gone viral on the platform, rapidly gaining more than 24.4 million views. Despite the happy ending, viewers have a lot of thoughts about it.
🃏 Everyone’s favorite NSFW party game has expanded to over 50 decks, but not all expansion packs are created equal. These are the Cards Against Humanity expansions packs that are totally buy-worthy. *
🥝 Nikita Dragun begins a “new chapter” with her new Amazon radio show. Want more stories like this? Sign up for Passionfruit, the Daily Dot’s weekly creator economy newsletter, for more coverage.
🥄 A video from an alleged Panda Express worker putting customers on blast for eating food from the restaurant for breakfast has ruffled some feathers.
🤨 TikTokers are using Rogaine to regrow their eyebrows. Apparently it works!
💻 If there is one word that sums up the Trump years, it’s disinformation. With “The Trump Disinformation Project,” the Daily Dot takes you behind the scenes with nine different stories that expose how disinformation was weaponized.
*The Daily Dot may receive a commission in connection with purchases of products or services featured here.
👋 BEFORE YOU GO
A TikToker went viral after she posted a video of her putting a condom on her leg to prove that some men’s excuses for not wearing them—like “It won’t fit,” “It hurts,” and “I’m too big”—are invalid. As she points out, rather than condoms being too small, the opposite has been shown to be true.
Now Playing: 🎶“Zoning and Placing City Services in a BRAND NEW City! | Cities Skylines” by City Planner Plays🎶