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As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

economist.com

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Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#471

Post by aivisol »

fabianhjr wrote: post #238
Calvin02 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I am from latin america and at least neither China nor Russia have participated in coup d'etat to install a military junta to then torture and massacre anyone slightly left of the US "Democratic" Party. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2khAmMTAjI

I am from eastern Europe and right now Russia is invading a democratic country to install its own government, tortures and massacres everyone left and right.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#472

Post by tonymet »

nindalf wrote: post #54
tonymet wrote: post #5

they mention data harvesting and influencing public relations as risks, and both are worrisome . another more subtle but pernicious concern is the trivialization of entertainment (which started from a low bar ) tiktok is addictive and much of the content is low bar , slapstick and sexually suggestive thirst traps . there may be a good share of high quality content , but we all know time spent is on garbage. our grand…

This comment follows a pattern common in other comments criticising TikTok - the person says “this content I saw isn’t very good. Why would anyone spend their time watching X?” > sexually suggestive thirst traps Not realising that only they (and people with similar tastes) are seeing X. And it says more about them than it does about TikTok. There’s plenty of room for thoughtful critique of TikTok and it’s current/pot…

somehow hackernews is full of saints who never check out soft porn on tiktok .

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#473

Post by KMag »

crisdux wrote: post #359
Calvin02 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

These days, the United States has proven they mainly follow the rules when it benefits them. So much for rules based international order. It's all unraveling as we return to a multi-polar world. History will probably look back and see the United States' global regime as starting off well. But it quickly engaged in the same brutalilty, lawlessness and arrogance as every other failed empire.

There are certainly manifold shameful aspects to US foreign policy. However, it does humanity a disservice to disregard the degree to which the US has tried to promote self-determination in the past 40 years. The US really tried to run free and fair elections in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Taliban and Al-Sadr-aligned parties were allowed to stand in elections. The majority Shia and Kurdish minorities in Iraq now have much more political representation than they had under the Ba'athists. The elections in Afghanistan showed that the US installed government was closer to majority opinion than the Taliban regimes before or after.

The many shameful aspects of US foreign policy absolutely should be brought to light, but that doesn't mean retreating to defeatist nihilism. There can be something new under the sun, and US occupations of the past 40 years have been markedly different from previous empires. It's not enough progress as a society, but it is progress.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#474

Post by stevenhuang »

davesque wrote: post #247

I'd be in favor of banning TikTok just so I don't have to see those mind-annihilatingly stupid ads for it on YouTube anymore. And before people comment, I'm seeing ads because I like using the YouTube mobile app.

Checkout YouTube Vanced, it's shutdown but latest version still works well. Blocks YouTube ads.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#475

Post by mdale »

colinsane wrote: post #279
mkl95 wrote: post #212

TikTok is the most successful espionage operation of the 21st century so far, and it is based on a simple idea - people will happily give away their data and privacy if you consistently entertain them. In my opinion the application should be shut down as soon as possible, but there are many lessons to learn from it. And most of them have little to do with technology.

> it is based on a simple idea - people will happily give away their data and privacy if you consistently entertain them. there’s the individual-level view, and the state-level view. i, as an individual, don’t really care if China has my location data or shopping data. what are they going to do with it? they can exert soft power over me: propaganda; distort my worldview a bit. meanwhile, if my own government has acce…

It's certainly not direct physical violence to citizens of an established world power that is a concern. It's pushing things in one direction or another politically.

See well documented: Intelligence community v.s Trump v.s Facebook v.s Russian propaganda campaign v.s traditional "manufactured concent" of citizen.

How these players interplay is what is at stake.

If helps tremendously if some of the actors are "trying" have enough independent thought and don't suffer too much when they push things in more liberal & egalitarian direction.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#476

Post by fumar »

xwolfi wrote: post #362
Calvin02 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I am a bit unnerved each time I read an american using this self referential logic that the US are good because the US are good. We dont all want to live in a theocratic bi-party corporatist paradise, crushed by personal loans to cure grandma s broken leg, to exgaerate a bit. I live in China and while I dislike the communists just as much as the next guy, I'm quite unsure what's so good about the US. It's just as muc…

I read this as “everyone is bad, so it is not fair to say China is a danger to the world.”

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#477

Post by fabianhjr »

noisy_boy wrote: post #450
fabianhjr wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am from latin america and at least neither China nor Russia have participated in coup d'etat to install a military junta to then torture and massacre anyone slightly left of the US "Democratic" Party. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2khAmMTAjI

China has learned from US policies and has instead opted for more insidious and less "noisy" approaches like hard to repay soft-loans, mass buying of agricultural lands, starting vice businesses like casinos etc which also result in societal changes once the businesses started by Chinese start bringing a sizable influx of Chinese to work in them. See northwest Laos for a direct example (this is not an armchair commen…

I would much rather have that over the Jakarta Method.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#479

Post by moneywoes »

winternett wrote: post #22

I don't think it's the privacy issues that will defeat TikTok, I think it's the deception of a success economy being possible on the platform. In the past few weeks I've been observing a lot of marginal content trending on the platform which indicates to me that a lot of the more quality posters aren't posting new content. The minute quality creators leave a platform is the minute it dies. TikTok has not really been…

Isn't TiKTok doing a better job than incumbents like Twitter, IG?

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#480

Post by bobthepanda »

SMVS wrote: post #470
bobthepanda wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China doesn't exactly limit its activities to people within its borders. There are reports of Uighurs speaking up who get harassed after fleeing the country and speaking up: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-56563449 Five men were charged with stalking and harassing Chinese dissidents in the US, including by seeking to derail the election bid of a congressional candidate: https://www.asiafinancial.com/five-ch…

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