You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
70 percent
Percentage of Germans who support a new law that would make tech giants like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram liable for fines up to a staggering 50 million euros. They’d earn those fines for leaving “manifestly unlawful” content up for more than 24 hours. Facebook has 28 million Germans on it, but the company has a bit of an image problem there because of the role it played in bringing attention to far-right nationalist groups, a political faction with which many Germans have some substantial historical problems. [The Atlantic]
$600 per month
That’s the top average rate in New York and London to rent a parking space. Investing in parking spaces — buying them for thousands of dollars, renting them for hundreds, and years later flipping them for hundreds of thousands — is a legitimate financial strategy, with all the benefits of owning real estate and none of the problems of dealing with tenants. [The New York Times]
4,000 members
Number of adherents to Ásatrú, a religious movement in Iceland that worships pre-Christian pagan gods like Thor, Odin, and Freya. It’s the largest non-Christian religion in Iceland. However, the group is now contending with an unfortunate problem: international white supremacist groups are attempting to co-opt the iconography of their faith. [The Atlantic]
41,000 blood samples
A study of a cohort of 6,700 children over 12 years analyzed 41,000 blood samples and discovered why people who have had dengue fever once will sometimes have a far more severe form if they get it a second time. Antibodies made to fight the first infection can fall to a low level, imperiling those people if dengue strikes again. [STAT News]
361,000
Number of people, according to new Nielsen data, who watched all nine “Stranger Things” episodes within the first 24 hours of their release. Each episode of the season has had over 4 million viewers per episode and 8.8 million viewers on average. Netflix disputes Nielsen’s numbers. [Variety]
$1.5 trillion
House Republicans have released their tax cut plan. Businesses benefit the most, with about $1 trillion in tax cuts coming from a reduction in the corporate rate cut, and another half trillion coming on the individual side through a realignment of tax brackets, the elimination of the alternative minimum and estate taxes, and an increase to the standard deduction. To pay for this, the bill caps the deduction for state and local taxes, limits the mortgage interest deduction, and gets rid of tax breaks for student loan interest, adoption, medical expenses and more. [The New York Times]
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