this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2024
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They aren’t banning it because China can see what you put on it, they’re banning it because China can control what you see from it.
Uh reply to the wrong comment?
Except there's no evidence of that.
There's no evidence that China can control what's shown on a China-owned app?
In case you're still unaware, the China govt is the ultimate authority within China, even in private companies. More so after recent crackdowns on their oligarchs and billionaires. The idea that they have no control over tiktok is plain laughable.
TikTok has gone out of their way to show they've siloed American operations. There has been no evidence that the Chinese government could or would breach that.
So you're arguing that TikTok US, despite being fully owned and controlled by China, has full independence and decision making capability? Even regular western companies don't have that. What the home office says, goes. At most, their American operations are making sure they're abiding by US law with regards to data and such (and even then I'd highly doubt that, given all the forensic breakdowns about TikTok sending encrypted data to China).
If it sends encrypted data to China it would be the first I've heard of it. The worst the news could come up with last time is headcount data. And yes they went on an entire project to silo it. At the end of the day they want the money, and TikTok shop provides it. Other than that they sell the same info Meta does on the open market.
So? It doesn't matter what internal bureaucratic sleight of hand they pull. The bosses are in the CCP, and when they say 'jump', the answer is going to be 'how high?'. That's how private companies work.
TikTok wants money. The CCP wants other stuff. As long as the CCP isn't making demands, TikTok will make their money. The moment the CCP says to do something, TikTok will do it.
So all you have is supposition.
I really don't think China is nearly as interested in siphoning data as controlling the algorithm. Getting people to see more pro-Chinese videos, more anti-US videos, and some bias toward candidates they want to see win is completely doable without exfiltrating any data.
Basically, all the stuff people are pissed about Musk doing to Twitter (changing algo to push right wing content) are just as feasible for TikTok to do, with the main difference being China is a state actor, whereas Musk is a private billionaire.
We should be very worried about any social media app that's very popular and controlled by an org with political motivations.
I mean sure, if you can find any evidence they're actually doing that. We have the best intelligence agencies in the world, both domestic and foreign facing. So where's the meat?
Well, there's a law to block it, and our intelligence agencies are pretty secretive, so there's a good chance the proof exists.
I'm against banning it, not because I don't think China is manipulating the algorithm (they probably are), but because I believe banning it is a violation of the 1st amendment. I refuse to use it, but I also refuse to ban others from using it.
That's the problem though. Under that reasoning they can shut down any social media app. There's specifically a catch all in the definition to do this so they don't have to pass another law.
No shit. Do you think they would tell everyone? Do you think it would be easy to prove?
Easier than you think with the NSAs reported reach into back end Internet systems.
Do you think the NSA would tell everyone either?
I think they should be required to present their evidence if they want to 86 a company.
Except for the extremely obvious disparity between chinese tiktok and american tiktok.
Nothing at all.
So are you saying they run the algorithm in their country? On their internal mirror app? The exact same setup TikTok offered the US?
I don't see how that's the evidence you're looking for.
https://nypost.com/2023/02/25/china-is-hurting-us-kids-with-tiktok-but-protecting-its-own/
It's extremely well documented that TikTok offers extremely different experiences within China than it does elsewhere.
I'm just a bystander, China sucks, but referencing a NY Post opinion piece feels a bit like using a Fox News segment as a source. They're pretty trash.
There's individual sources for practically every paragraph in that article, so I'm not seeing the issue in this case.
OK, so lets say they moderated it the same way here as they did in China.... All good now?
I don't think it matters at all how tiktok is actually being managed or moderated in the US - Americans simply do not trust anything Chinese.
The cold war never ended.
By moderating, if you mean using the same algorithm for the content feed, it would make a significant difference to a lot of people I believe.
Not a chance lol
Most americans don't know a single thing about China, but almost every one of them would tell you that it's a anti-free speech hellscape.
The only thing that matters is that it originated in China. Nothing else they do could change the opinion of the american public.
Of course it does, and for two major reasons:
Inversely, they’re banning it because the US cannot control what is posted on it— regardless of whether the central party in China can (they can and they do though so I am not sure why you’re debating it).
Really? Then you can point to the news article that lays out evidence of that actually happening and not just quoting FUD?
What the government wants out of this is to make an example. Then whenever they want something from Meta, Google, Apple, X, etc, they're going to remind them of TikTok while pointing to the third section of the definition for foreign control. The catch all that says the app can be considered foreign if the government claims the owner has been unduly influenced by a foreign entity.
Meta is already a willing partner of the USSD, they don't need to 'make an example'.
SD?
Banning TikTok would actually help the Democrats though, so it will probably be reversed
Left vs Right is a distraction.
The fight for a better life is Top vs Bottom.
Sure, I'm just saying that Republicans are taking over and they rely on the disinformation machine to have a chance to get elected so banning TikTok goes against their interests.
They already have a massive disinformation machine across every medium.
Yes and TikTok is one of these mediums, why would they get rid of it when it's one of their main doorways into the mind of young people?