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It's Sunday and here's a handpicked selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry. |
But first, a message from the President of Ghana: Speaking at the Zambia-Ghana Business Dialogue forum earlier this week, President John Dramani Mahama said S-tier streamer iShowSpeed's recent visit delivered global exposure for Ghana, noting "he did more advertising for us than we could have done ourselves." |
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CREATOR COMMOTION |
 | Hasan Piker is out of the dog house after his seventh Twitch ban. |
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Creators are getting banned, going pro, and selling soccer tickets |
The (temporary) ban: Hasan Piker got banned on Twitch and reinstated (again). The political streamer's seventh ban was the result of comments he made related to ICE, but he was only offline for a few days until the ban was lifted. If Piker gets to ten Twitch bans and fills out his punch card, does he get the 11th ban for free? |
The emote: Maya Higa had no idea she'd been a Twitch emote for years. Through the 7TV extension, thousands of Twitch channels have enabled an emote featuring Higa's laughing face, and she only found out about it recently. It's not the unexpected publicity that seems to be bothering her—it's the quality of the emote itself. "It's not even good," she said. "Is this my claim to fame?" |
The big game: The Sidemen sold 90,000 tickets to their charity soccer match in under three hours. The septet's fanbase has not tired of the group's annual trip to Wembley Stadium. If anything, the charity match is only getting more popular. This year, tickets sold out faster than ever before, so there won't be any empty seats when the fun kicks off on April 18th. |
The racing debut: The man behind one of YouTube's top car channels is hitting the pro racing circuit. Garrett Mitchell, better known online as Cleetus McFarland, is making his debut on the Craftsman Truck Series. As part of the Niece Motorsports team, Mitchell will race alongside another new recruit: extreme sports legend Travis Pastrana. |
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500K spectators are expected to watch the Open Masters Games Abu Dhabi. Will you be there? |
The Middle East's biggest multi-sport event in history began Friday, kicking off competitions in 38 sports across 20+ venues. |
Backed by the International Masters Games Association and recognized by the International Olympic Committee, the inaugural Open Masters Games Abu Dhabi unites 25,000 athletes of all skill levels and backgrounds. |
Are you among the 500,000+ spectators watching live from the UAE? |
Half a million in-person spectators are expected to attend the games—and Tubefilter is making sure creators are well-represented. |
As part of the Tubefilter creator program, cross-platform stars Stephanie Pena, Dalton Chandler, Jenna Sinatra, Peter Hollens, Natalie Cortes, and Evynne Hollens will watch in person as athletes in their 30s through their 70s and beyond demonstrate the lifelong value of sports. |
The 2026 Open Masters Games Abu Dhabi will run through February 15. Visit the website to learn more: |
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PLATFORM HEADLINES |
 | TikTok is facing a world of scrutiny. (Photo credit: lixu via Getty Images.) |
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Here's what TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch got up to last week: |
The positive report: Researchers say the U.S. version of TikTok is censorship-free—at least, for now. The publication Good Authority found that TikTok limited posts of all types, not just political content, when it transitioned to U.S.-based ownership. That supports the assertion that issues at a U.S. data center caused the technical difficulties many users experienced, but that explanation may not soothe all of the skeptics. |
The ultimatum: Across the pond, the E.U. has instructed TikTok to get a new algorithm after completing a two-year investigation into the platform. The probe took a long time to complete, but the results could be massive. The E.U. has ordered TikTok to help out younger users by developing a less addictive algorithm. If the app doesn't comply, it could face more national bans. |
The new tool: On YouTube, auto-dubbing is for everyone. A tool that can automatically translate videos into 27 different languages has now rolled out for all users. So if you've been getting jealous of those channels that have broken into our Top 50 charts by repurposing East Asian Shorts for Arabic-speaking audiences, now you can join them. |
The podcast: Dan Clancy is saying "Let's Chat" with new podcast. The Twitch CEO is never shy when it comes to sharing his opinions, and his new show will give him the sounding board for his far-reaching thoughts and beliefs. He's kicking things off alongside Cam Skattebo, the NFL star who moonlights as a Twitch streamer. |
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INDUSTRY BUZZ |
 | Disney is getting a new top dog. |
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This week in the digital media biz… |
The executive hire: Fandom has appointed the well-traveled Jay Sullivan as its new CEO. After stints at Mozilla, Groupon, Facebook, and X, Sullivan has taken the reins of the fan culture hub known for its deep archive of user-generated content. He said in a statement that he will relish the opportunity to build products that "millions of people use every day." |
The strategist: Rockstar is hiring a creator strategist ahead of the GTA VI launch. Yes, the next chapter of the open-world saga is expected to finally launch this year, and yes, its developer wants to position it as a Roblox competitor. To meet that goal, Rockstar will need to bring in enough creators to build up a critical mass of game worlds, and the incoming creator liaison will play a big role in the incubation of that community. |
The new CEO: How will Disney's next boss handle the digital entertainment business? Parks chief Josh D'Amaro has been named as Bob Iger's successor, and he will take over for the outgoing Disney head in March. Since the carriage dispute between Disney and YouTube ultimately cost ESPN $110 million in lost income, will D'Amaro retaliate by telling YouTube that it's not tall enough to ride Space Mountain? |
The signing: CAA signs Rebecca Zamolo for representation in all areas. On YouTube, Zamolo is a family-friendly juggernaut who reaches more than 21 million subscribers. Alongside her new reps at CAA, Zamolo will look to expand her offline presence, which includes lifestyle brand MOLO. Zamolo and husband Matt Slays continue to be represented by Eyal Baumel at Flywheel Management. |
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WATCH THIS 👀 |
 | Twitch viewers are feeling nutty. |
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Twitch can't get enough of TheBurntPeanut |
The nuthouse: Data from StreamsCharts showed that an out-of-focus peanut with human facial features was the most-watched streamer on Twitch in January 2026. |
With his "anthropomorphic food" approach to content creation, TheBurntPeanut gives us some serious Annoying Orange vibes—and his success reminds aspiring VTubers that they don't need fancy tech to strike it big. |
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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. |
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