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As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

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Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#311
post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah Russia has been totally hands off in Latin America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara#/media/File:CheinM...

Russian Federation != Union of Soviet Socialist Republics More so: Russian Federation != Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

USA during Reagan in 1980s != USA today

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#312

I am really annoyed at how we (EU) and the US treat chinese companies and citizens. We (europeans and americans) cant do really anything in China, we have essentially no rights and cant really conduct business. Unlike chinese who are pretty much granted all of that when they want to immigrate or conduct business in EU/US.

The idea that when entities from two countries interact we have to apply the norms of the least free country to the interaction seems counterproductive. Are we going to ban Afghani women from driving in the US because US women can't drive there? It seems like a race to the bottom.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#313
post #28

85% of US teenagers use tiktok. That's 85% of the future generation of US senators, Cabinet members, and Supreme Court justices, of police chiefs, civil rights activists, mayors, CEOs, etc. in their bedrooms right now consuming content curated by, and filming their lives and that of their friends, and uploading the video to data centers, that are controlled by a strategic adversary of the United States. This is, to p…

But that knife cuts both ways; usage numbers for YouTube internationally are I presume quite similar, and that is content curated by a US company in US datacenters &c.

You cannot have an open free global internet without having it be the case that people will use foreign services. If you do not think that's worth the tradeoff then state clearly what you want: for the internet to be cut up into disjointed silos along geopolitical lines.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would be surprised if you polled non-US, non-China citizens about what country is the biggest geopolitical threat to the world. Wait, I don't even need to talk in conditionals. I Googled it and apparently it has indeed been done several times, and the results are what I expected. https://brilliantmaps.com/threat-to-peace/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/05/us-threat-demo...

Quoted post unavailable.

It's exactly 1 and 2 why the world largely considers the US such a threat.

Any disagreement is discounted as "you're just ignorant and don't have a real opinion" followed by "you need to trust The Experts, but only the ones that agree with us".

It has been a hoot to watch the US Democrats and all their useful idiots turn these arguments against the rest of the US over the last 6 years.

Probably ends as well as Afghanistan, Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, etc.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#316
post #85
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, abortion is legal in China[1], the last time a police officer killed someone was in 2019[2] and their incarceration rate is 5x lower[3]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_China [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforc... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarcera...

The police in China doesn't kill with guns. It kills by preventing people from demanding better healthcare. The same goes for incarceration. In US 3M people can't use Internet due to being incarcerated, but in China more than 1.5B have significant restrictions. (This is just an example for the idea of total restricted freedom)

> It kills by preventing people from demanding better healthcare.

If you're American, this is the most "throwing stones in a glass house" accusation to make about another country.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a non-US, non-Chinese citizen, is there something that makes TikTok espionage and Facebook not? Or is it just "china scary"?

Yes. China and Russia are the biggest geopolitical threats to the world. It is surprisingly that simple. While the US and the western governments have their issues, they are still largely law abiding. China, however, is not. Additionally, under Xi, it has become more authoritarian and more willing to undo the rules based order that has someone kept the world somewhat sane since WWII. I don’t know why anyone would be…

> While the US and the western governments have their issues, they are still largely law abiding.

This is absolutely untrue. The CIA operates in clear violation of both US and foreign law and flaunts it, and they suffer no consequences whatsoever.

The US is corrupt at the highest levels, with entire governmental organizations totally exempt from the laws that apply to everyone else.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#318
post #231

I'm not a fan of china controlling such a popular app, but at the same time, I don't see how it could be a security risk. I guess in the same way fake news and deceptive political advertising was used on Facebook to elect Trump, for example? I'm really puzzled by how the US believes in free speech, but when speech comes from another country, it's a security risk. Now I totally get that China can use propaganda for "b…

> Now I totally get that China can use propaganda for "bad ideologies", but again, isn't propaganda part of free speech?

Not coming from a country who considers themselves at war with us.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#319
post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While most people on HN would agree that they would like more regulation of their data on FB and Google, these are largely still separate actors from the US government. You can even indicate that something like Cambridge Analytica is starting within a party, rather than the actual governing body. There is too much sharing, IMO, without a doubt. That being said, they are not near synonymous as TikTok is. Data regulati…

> these are largely still separate actors from the US government Yes they're separate actors, but programs like PRISM suggest that they're still on a very short leash

Not just PRISM: Apple has actually been (presumably) forced to not publish e2e encryption software that the feds didn't want deployed, an example of prior restraint that is blatantly unconstitutional.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusiv...

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#320
post #45
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"the US and PRC are equally authoritarian" isn't particularly compelling either

Indeed, abortion is legal in China[1], the last time a police officer killed someone was in 2019[2] and their incarceration rate is 5x lower[3]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_China [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforc... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarcera...

Do you actually believe China?
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