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ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists’ physical location

forbes.com

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Re: ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists’ physical location

#331

Post by alwayslikethis »

Max-Ganz-II wrote: post #322
remarkEon wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting in and of itself that ByteDance allows this. Perhaps PLA believes that bleeding Russia dry via America expending all of her reserve weaponry means that that American combat power can't be used in the Pacific. If you squint hard enough, it might actually be in CCP's interest for Russia to extend itself in Ukraine because it means that the Americans spend infinity dollars and burn through stocks of key…

I may be wrong, but to my eye, China has a direct interest in Russia being successful in its invasion of Ukraine : the invasion of Taiwan. China is and has been - as Russia did, prior to its invasion - massively expanding its armed forces. To my eye, there is absolutely no defensive need for this - India is not about in invade, for example. There is only one use for all this weaponry; Taiwan. I swim a lot, and I meet…

China also has a direct interest in seeing Russia defeated. In the event of a full on Russian defeat, Moscovite power over the vast territories of Russia will weaken greatly, which can allow China to expand its influence in the Russian Far East. Russia has a lot of resources that China needs, such as natural gas, oil, and fresh water. Already, we are seeing Russia selling resources to China at below market rates. This is why I believe the US will take actions to prevent a full collapse of the Russian state.

Re: ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists’ physical location

#332

Post by robocat »

phpisthebest wrote: post #134
bioemerl wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends hugely on who you are and what happens with the politics. CIA and FBI are very big threats to you, which is why you vote regularly to ensure that your rights are represented and those agencies aren't able to abuse their power. China is a much more distant and abstract, but much more serious threat. If the FBI or CIA fucks up, they will put let's say 10% of people in prison for opposition to the state. If Chin…

>>which is why you vote regularly to ensure that your rights are represented and those agencies aren't able to abuse their power That never works out in practice as the administrative state (which includes the FBI and CIA) are soo far removed from representative government they are basically unaccountable at this point, that is with out even getting into the idea that 1 vote in a nation of 350 million plus holds no r…

> “Democracy" is more or less an delusion

The primary strength of democracy is removing people that mistreat us, and it is a real power in a properly run democracy. Lose that power, and democracy dies.

I do generally agree voters have little influence on policy.

Re: ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists’ physical location

#333

Post by tgv »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #168
bigmattystyles wrote: post #9

Were the journalists foolish enough to install the app (not victim blaming but come on) or does the TikTok app scan for other wifi signatures in the vicinity and that’s how they correlated the locations?

Of course we should blame the victims here. They are supposed to know what to do in a hostile world, if they don't they are not good journalists. It is like staying that a company that got hacked because it did not put in place basic security gets a free pass because Russians/Chinese/NKs are bad. If the journalists were targeted by a sophisticated back I would be completely sympathetic. Here they were simply careless…

You know you shouldn't install that app. You know you shouldn't enter that neighbourhood. You know you shouldn't wear that skirt. You know you shouldn't have said that. You're simply careless.

Re: ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists’ physical location

#335

Post by drumhead »

alwayslikethis wrote: post #331
Max-Ganz-II wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I may be wrong, but to my eye, China has a direct interest in Russia being successful in its invasion of Ukraine : the invasion of Taiwan. China is and has been - as Russia did, prior to its invasion - massively expanding its armed forces. To my eye, there is absolutely no defensive need for this - India is not about in invade, for example. There is only one use for all this weaponry; Taiwan. I swim a lot, and I meet…

China also has a direct interest in seeing Russia defeated. In the event of a full on Russian defeat, Moscovite power over the vast territories of Russia will weaken greatly, which can allow China to expand its influence in the Russian Far East. Russia has a lot of resources that China needs, such as natural gas, oil, and fresh water. Already, we are seeing Russia selling resources to China at below market rates. Thi…

The west will never allow a break up of Russia, it serves as a useful bulwark against China. So they won't allow the Chinese to expand their influence to the Russian far east either.

Re: ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists’ physical location

#336

Post by mschuster91 »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #300
Yiin wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see UA before Zelensky and after as two completely different countries politically. Most of the things UA gov was criticized for seems to be mostly an effect of Russia's influence.

Out of curiosity, what has Zelensky done to improve Ukraine before the war, other than not being a Kremlin puppet? As I understood it, before the war he was sliding down in the polls, becoming unpopular because there haven't been the massive crackdowns on corruptions he was campaigning for (like in his TV show), with him also being uncovered in the Pandora papers as having various hidden assets [1] and only his resis…

> Out of curiosity, what has Zelensky done to improve Ukraine before the war, other than not being a Kremlin puppet?

Incremental progress. Getting rid of Kremlin influence and corruption is enough for one presidential term.

This is also why I hope for Zelenskyj to step down after the last Russian has been driven off Ukrainian territory. There is no greater feat a President can achieve than saving the country from such an aggression - if he steps down, he'll be remembered for the rest of his life in the glory he and the defenders of Ukraine deserve. If he stays in office, his legacy will be tarnished by the everyday muck throwing of politics - no matter if legitimate or not.

Re: ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists’ physical location

#337

Post by mschuster91 »

remarkEon wrote: post #316
nier wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was surprising to me seeing the news with Ukrainian soldiers using TikTok out in the field.

It's interesting in and of itself that ByteDance allows this. Perhaps PLA believes that bleeding Russia dry via America expending all of her reserve weaponry means that that American combat power can't be used in the Pacific. If you squint hard enough, it might actually be in CCP's interest for Russia to extend itself in Ukraine because it means that the Americans spend infinity dollars and burn through stocks of key…

> Perhaps PLA believes that bleeding Russia dry via America expending all of her reserve weaponry means that that American combat power can't be used in the Pacific.

They are seriously mistaken. Unlike Europe whose capacity in manufacturing anything from ammo to tanks and jets has gone downhill over the last thirty years and who haven't seen an actual fight since the Balkan wars and the early years of Afghanistan, the US has logistics nailed down and is in well-trained condition from the adventures of the last twenty years. Should China ever decide to enter war against the US, it won't end up pretty for them.

Re: ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists’ physical location

#338

Post by squarefoot »

rsj_hn wrote: post #230
squarefoot wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In that world without American support, Russia would probably have been occupied or severely weakened by the Nazi in WWII, and history would have been way different. Just nitpicking, I agree on principle.

That is a very curious reading of history not shared by the majority of military historians in either the West or East. For example, according to the US military (See The West Point Military History of the Second World War which is available on Kindle), without US support, WW2 would have lasted 1-2 years longer but the Soviets could have defeated Germany all on their own, both without lend/lease and also without any…

I agree on the importance of timing also regarding the then new weapons the Germans had, like the V2 and the first jet airplanes. We'll never know, but it is possible that having one more year of research and production at disposal could have changed things.

Re: ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists’ physical location

#339

Post by BrandoElFollito »

tgv wrote: post #333
BrandoElFollito wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course we should blame the victims here. They are supposed to know what to do in a hostile world, if they don't they are not good journalists. It is like staying that a company that got hacked because it did not put in place basic security gets a free pass because Russians/Chinese/NKs are bad. If the journalists were targeted by a sophisticated back I would be completely sympathetic. Here they were simply careless…

You know you shouldn't install that app. You know you shouldn't enter that neighbourhood. You know you shouldn't wear that skirt. You know you shouldn't have said that. You're simply careless.

Pfff. If you are a professional, fail at your job, and blame the adversary then it you are an incompetent professional. Incompetent because you do not understand where the problem is.

I wonder how my boss would say if my answer to being hacked was "hey, blame the attacker - I am the victim here and should be consoled. It does not matter that I should have known!".

Then there is the "skirt case" - something as a French I am sadly aware of. My personal perspective is that the police should aggressively react to such harassment. And punitions should be drastic. And that deep changes in the way we handle ghettos we built ourselves should be undertaken (this is much more difficult than the first two ones but effectively the only way forward).

With this said, I will not go to a cité (more or less a ghetto) with a "Fuck Allah" shirt and wonder why my head was chopped.

We live in a world where there seems to be a contradiction between "common sense" and "justice". Justice and equity is the most important but it does not mean that we should not think WHEN WE KNOW that the world is not ideal yet.

Re: ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists’ physical location

#340

Post by manholio »

lannisterstark wrote: post #285
vanadium1st wrote: post #184

I was really pro open internet. I remember the old internet and feel nostalgia about it that probably won't ever completely fade. I am Ukrainian, and when some years ago my government banned the most popular social network at our country - Russian-made VK, I felt strange about it. I kind of understood some of the security concerns, but didn't feel like they were enough to turn off my open internet fantasies and free-…

I mean, your govt is banning enough of the shit with some real questionable reasons(while keeping some actual questionable things/traditions alive) that being skeptical is probably still the best bet. and let's not pretend that the UA govt has had a history of transparency lol. Being better than Russia has been a low bar in the eastern bloc. -30 is better than -70 but it's still far below 0.

> I mean, your govt is banning enough of the shit with some real questionable reasons

I love advocates of democracy and freedom of speech always taking up the time, in the middle of a brutal war no less, to show us the righteous path.

Well guess what: war is the absolute worst enemy of democracy, there can be no polite debate and pluralism while the enemy is blowing your children up. A country defending from a aggression is a fascist state where everybody has an assigned post and maintaining the chain of command is an existential duty. Democratic armies do not exist.

It's no coincidence that all authoritarians and fascist tend to start wars or invent enemies, they long for this state of total control where the whole nation is forced to rally behind them. For Ukraine, that enemy is very much real and the resulting fascism is the only way forward as an independent nation. There is nothing "questionable" about it.

As for advocating for freedom of speech, yes, there is place for that after the Russian aggression ends. Or one could try to setup a booth in the Kremlin square and promote those ideas into a country that, allegedly, is not at war with anybody.

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