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Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok

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251–260 of 445 posts

Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok

#251
post #184

Why not? China doesn’t allow our social media. Why should we allow theirs? We can easily copy the best parts of the platform and let our companies take their users. Plus, social media can be used for mass political manipulation, and what justifies letting them hold that power over our population? It’s good for our companies, it’s good for our people, and it takes away a dangerous tool from a country that is more and…

Because we are a democracy with freedoms protected by the government. If we copy their tactics on digital democracy, where do we draw the line? Should we also start locking people in their houses if they have covid?

The people who have access are making boatloads of cash. Full stop. Trade is a little different, enable equal access to markets or reply in kind. I fail to see why it's in the interests of the West to do any trade with nations that don't share values. Why enable these authoritarian countries? Would this be a compelling argument for 1930s Germany? "Well, we may not agree with how they're doing things, but the prices are unbeatable!"

Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US law seems to have a Homer Simpson approach to protecting its citizens. "Nobody ruins my family vacation but me, and maybe the boy!"

That’s no different from any nation, though.

Which is probably why we'll slowly see the slow Balkanization of the internet. South Americans will go to South American properties. North Americans will go to North American Properties. Europeans will go to European properties. I even expect the Africans to see this Balkanization as a way to solve some of their problems with, at once, unemployment and security.

Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok

#253
post #174
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has nothing to do with user data. People are influenced by the content they see on social media. Allowing a foreign adversary to run the main information network for an entire generation of the population is not a wise move.

What is a "main information network?" Are websites ok? Podcasts?

TikTok has 138 million MAU (in the U.S.) and the average TikTok user spend 95 minutes per day in the app. I'm unaware of a podcast that has that type of reach.

Source: https://wallaroomedia.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-statistic...

Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok

#254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the biggest concern is still Chinese ownership of US customer data. Not just the addictive features within the app.

I'm not any more comfortable with Facebook owning that data than the Chinese government. We've already seen the harm that comes from that.

Unless you are of Chinese extraction, with relatives still in China, and are politically active.

Not a small group, and a very vulnerable group.

Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok

#256
post #238
post #7

Why not regulate how the data is used or stored, like the EU does, but ban? I'm really hoping this doesn't become a reality because if it does, we will end up with partitioned internet and stagnation. People often forget that the US companies are foreign entity for most of the worlds population and with the WikiLeaks revelations we know for a fact that the US government has access to the data of American tech compani…

Because the americans are smarter with eliminating competitors Huawei - ban TikTok - ban EVs - subsidize tesla

China heavily subsidizes industry. The reason they can't compete on EVs is just because they don't make anything that would be viable on the US market. They make a HUGE number of EVs, but they're primarily for the domestic market. Almost half of the EVs in the world are in China.

Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok

#258

Why not? China doesn’t allow our social media. Why should we allow theirs? We can easily copy the best parts of the platform and let our companies take their users. Plus, social media can be used for mass political manipulation, and what justifies letting them hold that power over our population? It’s good for our companies, it’s good for our people, and it takes away a dangerous tool from a country that is more and…

Think about who is being restricted here, because it's not just TikTok. Why are you ok with the government dictating which apps you can and cannot install?

>Why are you ok with the government dictating which apps you can and cannot install?

Well, whether you agree with this statement or not. If an adversarial government is basically controlling what information people see.. especially young impressionable people who might not know any better, isn't that potentially a problem that needs to be addressed?

Sounds like the government should have a say when it's literally trying to protect it's own interests and doesn't want a foreign power being able to so easily push their own agenda.

Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok

#259

It’ll be fun in 10 years when you need the equivalent of calling cards to access foreign sites. In the end it’s hilarious how the American government thinks of its citizens as being so clueless to need such a paternalistic policy. I wonder how many tiktokers even care about the fact that the app is Chinese.

> thinks of its citizens as being so clueless to need such a paternalistic policy.

Half the US voters in 2016 voted for Trump. So ... yeah. Am I taking crazy pills? Why is it suddenly okay in modern times that a geopolitical rival controls a major communication medium for your own population? It's as if people still haven't learnt anything from Russia invading Ukraine (or really, all of history).

Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok

#260
TikTok is too entertaining to go anywhere.

Instead, I'd prefer

1. Turn TikTok US into a company owned by a number of bidders

2. Force TikTok CN to share algos and other stuff from TikTok US

3. Have TikTok US pay some % of revenue to TikTok CN

The same arrangement that US companies have to do in CN.

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