Instagram Instants Flop, Bumble Removes Swiping & Elon Musk Trial Juror Speaks Out - NEWS ROUNDUP

There Are No Girls on the Internet is a weekly podcast hosted by Bridget Todd. Every week we drop our news roundup — the tech and internet stories that don't get enough attention, the ones about AI, power, gender, race, and who actually gets hurt when systems fail.
This week: A racist streamer livestreams from a stretcher. A mother goes to prison for a Facebook grief post. Elon Musk's USAID cuts may kill 9 million people. And Peter Thiel found a way to let anyone punish journalists for $2,000.
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📰 Here's what we were watching this week:
Black Google employees said the company called them "not Googly enough" — Google just paid $50M to settle the lawsuit. A 2022 class action alleged Google hired Black employees into lower-paying roles, hazed them in interviews, and retaliated when they spoke up. The $50M payout comes with promises of pay equity audits and limits on forced arbitration. 🔗 AP News
A woman posted about her stillbirth on Facebook. Police showed up and sent her to prison for 2 years. A broke single mom in Nevada was charged with manslaughter after an online grief post tipped off a deputy. Her conviction was eventually vacated — but the deputy who investigated her went to the funeral home, took her baby's ashes, and brought them to her own home in Texas. The mother still doesn't have her son's remains. At least 412 women have faced criminal charges related to pregnancy loss since Roe was overturned, even in states where abortion is legal. 🔗 CNN
A female Twitch streamer's fan tried to break into her room. She broadcast the whole thing live. Streamer Jinny was cycling through Poland when a man she'd briefly met in her hotel lobby showed up at her door that night trying to get in. She barricaded herself with a chair, cried quietly on stream, and called emergency services while her chat contacted police on her behalf. He fled before they arrived — and was never caught. 🔗 Dexerto
Elon Musk bragged about feeding USAID "into the woodchipper." Scientists now say 9 million people could die because of it. USAID was the world's largest humanitarian aid agency before DOGE shut it down in 2025. A study published in the journal Science found the cuts triggered an immediate spike in violent conflict across Africa — in the places that needed the aid most. Scientists say even if USAID were restarted tomorrow, the trust is gone for good. 🔗 The Independent
George Floyd's 11-year-old daughter is being bullied at school by classmates repeating right-wing talking points about her father — as MAGA figures push to pardon his killer. Gianna Floyd is being mocked at her middle school by kids repeating false claims about her father's death. Right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro is leading an online campaign to pardon the police officer who killed George Floyd — falsely claiming Floyd died of a drug overdose despite the medical examiner ruling his death a homicide. A pardon would free the man currently serving 22½ years for his murder. 🔗 BET
Peter Thiel used his billionaire money to destroy Gawker. Now he's backing a startup that gives anyone that same power for $2,000. A new billionaire-backed startup called Objection lets anyone pay $2,000 to have a panel of AI models rule on whether a news story about them was fair. The journalist doesn't have to participate — a verdict gets published either way. Critics are calling it a censorship tool disguised as accountability. 🔗 TechCrunch
A racist streamer shot a Black disabled veteran and was shot himself in the altercation. He livestreamed from the stretcher. Dalton Eatherly, known online as "Chud the Builder," films himself hurling racial slurs at Black people in public. Last week he was arrested for refusing to pay a $370 restaurant bill after being kicked out for livestreaming racist content. Days later, he shot a Black disabled veteran outside a courthouse, was shot himself, and livestreamed from the stretcher. He's been arre...