Happy Monday, everyone.

Not gonna lie, this weekend was pretty bleak. Ahead of a brutal snowstorm, news broke that Border Patrol agents shot and killed Veteran Affairs’ ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. While this is an internet and pop culture newsletter, those things are inextricable from politics. I have a few thoughts on the internet, narrative shaping, and people power below. 

Also in this newsletter, the TikTok outage, a missing teen Roblox user, and YouTube DJ sets to bring some energy to your snow day.

I started covering breaking news on the weekends at the top of the new year. In that time, I have covered the Trump Administration’s brutal campaign against immigrants and its killings of Geraldo Lunas Campos, Renee Good, and Alex Pretti. All of that damage has happened in the span of weeks.

Every time disaster strikes, government officials have popped out with the most absurd lies. By now, we are all aware that the Trump Administration’s primary tactic is to parrot the most bald-faced ad hominem attacks until it becomes record. It’s still jarring to hear the narrative be twisted in bad faith and for MAGA faithfuls to accept these stretches as truth. It pushes those of us living in the real world to review distressing footage over and over again to make sure what we actually saw with our own eyes is true. But seeing all of this online is nothing compared to what people are actually experiencing on the ground in Minneapolis and in ICE detention centers across the country. 

The internet has allowed us to bear witness to atrocities around the world, which at times can evoke a feeling of hopelessness. It's a powerful tool for shaping perception and spreading information, which is why there have been so many battles over tech ownership and policy. Because my algorithms — particularly on X for obvious reasons — are so inundated with right-wing propagandists, it can feel as though people are really believing the BS that Trump, JD Vance, Kristi Noem, Gregory Bovino, and the rest of the administration have spouted about ICE, the agency’s use of force, and its inhumane treatment of immigrants and allies. 

Couple this with growing fears over what an Americanized TikTok might look like, social media users are worried about losing access to critical information. TikTok’s US operations have officially been handed over to a majority-American board and the US algorithm will be retrained by Oracle. As the last platform to lean left in content, many believe that they will be suppressed for offering progressive perspectives. Creators say it’s already happening, with several reporting that they’ve been blocked from posting about Minneapolis. Although with an app-wide outage impacting all users this weekend, the actual effect of this ownership switch has yet to be seen and documented.

Despite crumbling trust in social platforms and constant misinformation campaigns, it’s clear through polling and protests that most people are seeing things for what they are. Trump has been losing support for his immigration policy, with a recent CBS News/YouGov poll finding that a majority of Americans believe ICE is making communities less safe, is too tough in its tactics, and is not targeting “dangerous criminals.” It appears that, despite what it often seems, Trump is not immune to public opinion, as he has notably softened his tone about Minnesota and thrown Homeland Security Secretary Noem under the bus. Whether or not this is enough to get ICE out of Minneapolis and our cities is unclear. What is clear is that voicing our dissent and taking action does work, and it’s necessary to combat the creep of fascism we are seeing now.

With that, here are a few resources to help people fighting ICE’s terror in Minneapolis and across the country:

Every Monday letter gets a playlist. I offer you respite from the bleak state of the world and the cold weather by sharing some of my favorite YouTube DJ sets of the moment. There is much pain in the world but not in this room!

In this week’s playlist:

Other things I want to share with you.