Good morning. Sisters and creators Alexandra and Andrea Botez kicked off a weeklong “Chess Camp” event today, featuring eight female chess creators and players. The competition, which features a $17,500 prize fund, will play out at a mansion in Malibu—so if you see a group of streamers playing intense games of chess on the beaches north of LA this week, you now know why.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

Why Kamala Harris Videos Are Everywhere

Since President Joe Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for US president this past weekend, the internet has been awash with Harris video edits featuring clips of the VP set to trending music from Charli XCX and Taylor Swift. 

TikTok users call the surplus of edits “Project Coconut,” in reference to the meme of Harris talking about coconut trees.

Why now? Digital culture commentator Jules Terpak, who predicted the rise of video edits (also known as “fan cams”) back in January, said it’s a perfect storm: 

• “Kamala’s coconut tree quote, which has been mocked online since she said it during a press conference in 2023, unironically clicked for people when Charli XCX’s song ‘Apple’ off her new hit album Brat shared a similar sentiment,” Terpak told us. 

• “All of which coincided with the announcement that [Harris] would be the Democratic nominee…[it’s] just wild.”

The trend has made #kamalaharris and #kamala the top performing hashtags on TikTok over the last week, with a combined 14K posts and 130 million views.

Big picture: Video compilations are a growing edit trend, not just among music and film fans, but also users expressing their viewpoints and endorsements in education, politics, and religion. “TikTok edits might be the most captivating and persuasive form of media right now,” Terpak said in a video. Quoting tech exec Seyi Taylor, Terpak said “You can convince people of anything if you put it in a TikTok with a catchy sound.”

How Two Online Safety Bills Will Impact Creator Platforms

The US Senate is considering two online safety bills this week that are intended to change rules around parental controls and advertising to children—which could affect how creator platforms including YouTube and Snapchat operate.

Catch up quick: The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) were first introduced in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

• KOSA, if passed, would force platforms to limit features for minors, such as personalized algorithmic recommendations and video autoplay.

• COPPA 2.0 would prohibit the collection of personal data without minors’ consent and ban targeted advertising to users between the ages of 13–17.

Why it matters: The bills have bipartisan support and could pass the Senate as soon as this week before heading to the House of Representatives.

Should the proposals become laws, platforms will be expected to foster content that is KOSA and COPPA 2.0 compliant—which could impact when and where advertisers spend their budgets.

For example: A brand might be more willing to partner directly with a kid-friendly creator whose audience features a high percentage of returning viewers rather than a different creator whose viewership relies more on algorithmic discovery—which would be limited, at least for young viewers, under the proposed regulations.

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IShowSpeed’s EuroTrip Nets 2.5 Billion Views

Over the weekend, streamer Darren “IShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. concluded his summer trip across Europe, where he livestreamed his adventures—including a cheese-rolling race and fights with both a Viking and a wizard—to coincide with the Euro 2024 soccer tournament.

The result? The IRL livestreams (which started on June 16) notched over 2.5 billion views across Watkins’ YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and X, according to fan account Speedy Updates.

Analytics database Streams Charts also noted in June that Watkins’s streams from Europe were doubling his 2024 average viewership on YouTube.

Worth noting: While IRL streams have clear upsides, they also come with risks. Watkins revealed he paid $50,000 to repair cars that fans in Norway damaged.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Ludwig Ahgren and Mat Thomas are emceeing a Chessboxing event at the Paris Olympics.

• Ava Kris Tyson steps away as a MrBeast cast member.

• Keith Lee embarks on a Chicago food tour.

• Tech creator Eric Zhu raises $2.3 million for his startup, Aviato.

• Amelia Dimoldenberg shares part of her commencement speech from her alma mater.

• LTK drops a TikTok-like feed and Stories feature in its shopping app.

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