Earlier quoted context omitted.
You know it's a weak argument when it starts with "but China does it, so we can too"
It's not a rationale, it's a commonly used trade strategy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocity_(international_rel...
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Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok
351–360 of 445 posts
Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok
#352This is going to be popular with the MAGA base and unpopular with the young voters that are critical to the left. It doesn't matter if it passes, or even who the credit/blame gets assigned to, there's no scenario where this is good for Joe Biden politically.
Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok
#353Hope it passes. I want that malicious social engineering tool purged from civilization and anyone involved in the creation of it thrown in prison.
Agreed, but only if we do the same for Facebook, Twitter et al.
Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok
#354Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ah, it's the old slippery-slope argument again. I'm fine with banning all apps from countries that require their app-makers to share data with the government. If that requires an international treaty to codify when a company must share data (e.g. only with a criminal warrant), then great, let's do that. China would refuse to sign that treaty? Even better.
So, you will ban apps from ~all other countries.
Being in the US, I don't think that would affect me too much, except for, of course, TikTok, which I don't have anyway.
Finally, this hypothetical would say "a recipient country may ban the app." It wouldn't say "shall ban the app." So your country can just decide to keep using whatever they like.
Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok
#355Earlier quoted context omitted.
Snapchat, YouTube and Instagram already provide alternatives that are nearly identical in functionality.
If TikTok was to actually get banned I could see IG Reels scooping up most of that userbase. Though they can replicate the functionality, replicating the algorithm is going to be difficult. One of the things that's made TikTok such a phenomenon is that their algorithm is crazy good at figuring out what you like and boosting small content creators.
another big thing, last time I checked IG was way less family friend than Tik Tok though.
Tik Tok won't give you NSFW content even if you search for it. They made an excellent job filtering it.
Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok
#356"national security concerns" and "what about children" have always been used by government to pass useless bills. Instead of banning Tiktok, how about enforcing proper rules and regulations that every social media should follow? Why not make a proper privacy that every people in US deserves. Many people are probably glad that they are banning Chinese tech, but at the end it is gonna be superseded by Instagram which s…
I totally agree with your main point but it is very wrong to equivocate the three letter agencies to the threat authoritarian governments gaining knowledge and thus power over a nation pose.
Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok
#357This is going to be popular with the MAGA base and unpopular with the young voters that are critical to the left. It doesn't matter if it passes, or even who the credit/blame gets assigned to, there's no scenario where this is good for Joe Biden politically.
Doing the right thing despite being hurt by it. Very refreshing to see
Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok
#358Earlier 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.
HN posters are in love with the "people are too stupid to think for themselves and need me to protect them" narrative. Nowhere else do I see that line of thought as frequently as I see it here. Not even Reddit pushes that justification for controlling the ability of others to access whatever media sources they want as much as it is pushed here. We truly must be the intellectual giants of humanity to know so consisten…
What's weird is when people imply that opinions form from the ether, rather than from interaction with the cultural conversation.
There's nothing that can be done about that reality, so we have to worry about people and mechanisms that have control over that conversation.
It should not sound unreasonable to worry about an adversarial country possessing what amounts to a gigantic, unauditable mind control machine.
Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok
#359Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, and the CCP has banned Instagram and Facebook because they understand that those are ultimately tools for subtly shaping mass opinion, regardless of whether it's clear that they're used for that purpose. Why would the US not do the same with TikTok?
> Why would the US not do the same with TikTok? Millions (?) of Americans have freely chosen to receive and interact with the app, wouldn't their freedom of speech allow them to enjoy the content they choose?
But they're not choosing the content. Algorithm -> Tiktok -> China -> Communist party is.
Re: Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok
#360Earlier quoted context omitted.
If TikTok was to actually get banned I could see IG Reels scooping up most of that userbase. Though they can replicate the functionality, replicating the algorithm is going to be difficult. One of the things that's made TikTok such a phenomenon is that their algorithm is crazy good at figuring out what you like and boosting small content creators.
another big thing, last time I checked IG was way less family friend than Tik Tok though. Tik Tok won't give you NSFW content even if you search for it. They made an excellent job filtering it.
They filter out everyone the CCP doesn't like. No sex, no politics, no provocative expression.
Just wholesome clips of happy citizens dancing and living joyful lives under the communist regime.
Such content isn't inherently bad of course, but if you're an adult and that's the only media you're consuming, it's a bit like eating fast food for every meal.