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Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr. 

Our top stories today are about: A new conspiracy theory featuring Etsy that you don’t wanna fall for, how Mark Zuckerberg is infuriating actual artists because he used AI to illustrate a kid’s book, how a penguin named Baby Pesto is taking the internet by storm, and how The Simpsons flummoxed fans with its season 36 premiere. 

After that, our Senior Politics and Technology Editor David has got a “Deplatformed” column for you. 

See you tomorrow! 

— A.W. 

⚡ Today in Internet Culture

🔍 CONSPIRACY
‘It’s giving Wayfair 2.0’: Why is Etsy the center of a new Pizzagate scandal?

Now Etsy is at the center of yet another child trafficking conspiracy theory. Don’t fall for it. 

➤READ MORE

🤖 TECH
Zuckerberg illustrated a kid’s book with AI—actual artists are infuriated

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is facing backlash from artists online after illustrating a children’s book with artificial intelligence (AI).

➤READ MORE

🐧 MEMES
Move over Moo Deng, Baby Pesto the gigantic king penguin is here

Baby Pesto is a nine-month-old king penguin who has taken the internet by storm by being huge and already grown taller than his parents.

➤READ MORE

📺 POP CULTURE
‘The Simpsons’ flummoxes fans by airing the show’s series finale as their season 36 premiere

The 36-year series continues to take risks in its fourth decade of existence. The reactions from the Internet were all over the place on this one. 

➤READ MORE

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By David Covucci
Politics & Technology Editor

Hurricane Helene’s secret destruction aims

Deplatformed is a weekly column that looks into the nether reaches of the internet—outside the big few that everyone already covers—to tell you the political discourse online. It runs on Thursdays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.

🕸️ Crawling the Web

Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.

📦 An Amazon customer received a special surprise with a recent delivery.

🦟 If you’ve noticed a swarm of tiny gnats invading your home or apartment recently, one content creator recently shared a tip for how to get rid of them. 

🍔 Foodies are pumped about McDonald’s newest menu item, the Big Arch, which some say is the fast-food chain’s best burger yet.

💸 If you’re one of those people who never reads the receipt, you might want to start. This customer says she got scammed after reading the receipt before leaving.

🛍️ A scene straight out of a culinary crime drama: Falling food, split mystery liquids, and disappointed faces. But this isn’t just your average “unscripted,” episode of Hell’s Kitchen. Rather, a TikTok posted by a New Jersey local about a DoorDash Order gone wrong. 

🌐 From the Daily Dot archive: Is there a First Amendment right to assemble in the metaverse?

📝 Question of the Day

Everyone’s got opinions, and we want to know yours. Just click a button below to answer the question, and tomorrow we will let you know how fellow web crawlers like you answered. 

ARE YOU PLANNING ON WATCHING ANY HORROR MOVIES NOW THAT IT IS OCTOBER?

To answer questions like this in the future, sign up for web_crawlr here.

🤳 Today’s Viral Video

Chimpanzees aren’t so different from us after all…especially in politics.