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TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges

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Re: TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges

#81
post #3

I'm starting to become fatigued by all this TikTok news. Either ban the app or don't. Causing anxiety over TikTok without any action is the worst of both worlds.

It's an interesting problem to solve though. For one thing, there are lots of US investors who will lose money. Should they be made whole?

Not an interesting question at all, IMO. The government is not required to protect you or make you whole, if you invest in an enterprise that the government later decides to prohibit, or makes illegal, or decides to regulate in some other manner.

I mean, think that through for a second: if the government had to compensate everyone for the negative impact of legislation, it would be almost impossible to pass laws. If my town says I can't burn tires in my back yard, do they need to pay me to shut down my tire-burning operation? What if I don't even have a tire-burning operation, but I could have started one, except now I'm prohibited from doing so... did they impair the value of my property by prohibiting a potential use? What about all the other things I could have done with my property, absent any pesky zoning restrictions, Clean Water Act rules, or just centuries of common law precedent? Do they have to pay me for the impairment of each of them, each time a law is passed that eliminates a hypothetical option?

No, of course not, because that would paralyze government and be ridiculous.

The government has no responsibility to make anyone whole if they decide someone's business model is counter to the public good and make it illegal. It's on my investors to take into account the risk of legislation that might impact the business and factor that into their investment decisions and subsequent valuation of the business. If they do that poorly, or fail to recognize a legal risk, that's on them.

This is literally why sovereign immunity is a thing.

Re: TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges

#82

Social media access to user data (whether foreign or domestic) is bad, but it is a distraction from the real evil: behavioral management at scale. When you can target specific demographics and control what they see 8-10 hours of the day, you can change what they think, say, do, and most importantly, how they vote. People are literally being programmed (euphemistically, "conditioned") by the specific triggers and stim…

> When you can target specific demographics

> control what they see

> People are literally being programmed [...] by the specific triggers

I hate marketing/PR as much as the next person, but have become part of daily life. How do we get rid of it? Outlaw the practice of trying to influence people by marketing?

Edit: Rereading your comment I realize you're talking about something else, but I guess the same applies nonetheless.

Re: TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges

#83
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The recent busts in multiple countries, including one prominent one in New York City? https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/04/world/china-overseas-police-s... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65305415 https://www.npr.org/2023/04/17/1170571626/fbi-arrests-2-on-c... https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-65537553.amp https://www.newsweek.com/china-overseas-police-service-cente... https://www.theguardian.com/world/…

I know there are about a billion articles in Western media claiming this, but what's the actual evidence?

Uh the FBI arrested people, evidence will come out in trials. What’s the point of your comment?

Re: TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges

#84

Social media access to user data (whether foreign or domestic) is bad, but it is a distraction from the real evil: behavioral management at scale. When you can target specific demographics and control what they see 8-10 hours of the day, you can change what they think, say, do, and most importantly, how they vote. People are literally being programmed (euphemistically, "conditioned") by the specific triggers and stim…

If you’re an adult watching TikTok 8-10 hours a day that’s on you to fix. When I was at my “peak”, I was watching 2-3 hours a day and that felt like a lot.

If a kid is watching TikTok 8-10 hours a day, that’s on the parents to fix.

This is like the hot dog man meme. “Who’s responsible for this?” Ultimately you are in control of your eyeballs and your time. Stop watching!

Or not. TikTok is awesome. Watch it 8-10 hours a day if you want.

Re: TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges

#85
> Yu is a former engineering lead for ByteDance in the US who worked at the company between 2017 and 2018.

This seems like an outrage bait lawsuit. The facts in the case are five years out of date, ByteDance has been through the wringer in the ensuing years and there’s no evidence that this backdoor exists in the current app.

Re: TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges

#86

Social media access to user data (whether foreign or domestic) is bad, but it is a distraction from the real evil: behavioral management at scale. When you can target specific demographics and control what they see 8-10 hours of the day, you can change what they think, say, do, and most importantly, how they vote. People are literally being programmed (euphemistically, "conditioned") by the specific triggers and stim…

FOX news and CNN don’t change what people think/how they vote?

Re: TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges

#87
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Chinese government, like the US government or any other large national government, is not monolithic. Having information available for easy perusal via a commercial channel (which is potentially not even illegal) is very different from having information accessible via use of national-asset intelligence capabilities. Information which can only be obtained the second way is almost certainly going to receive differ…

The Chinese government, like the US government or any other large national government, is not monolithic. In what meaningful way does one part of the Chinese government differ from another part of the Chinese government? Isn't Xi basically the supreme leader for life now?

Nah they a couple different factions. Shanghai is different from Beijing for example.

Re: TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges

#88

Social media access to user data (whether foreign or domestic) is bad, but it is a distraction from the real evil: behavioral management at scale. When you can target specific demographics and control what they see 8-10 hours of the day, you can change what they think, say, do, and most importantly, how they vote. People are literally being programmed (euphemistically, "conditioned") by the specific triggers and stim…

FOX news and CNN don’t change what people think/how they vote?

They're all doing it. Big tech, social media, left/right.

Re: TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges

#89
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Chinese government, like the US government or any other large national government, is not monolithic. Having information available for easy perusal via a commercial channel (which is potentially not even illegal) is very different from having information accessible via use of national-asset intelligence capabilities. Information which can only be obtained the second way is almost certainly going to receive differ…

The Chinese government, like the US government or any other large national government, is not monolithic. In what meaningful way does one part of the Chinese government differ from another part of the Chinese government? Isn't Xi basically the supreme leader for life now?

Xi is head of state as president, but not head of government (like King of England).

Li Qiang is head of government as premier and is chief executive of the Chinese government.

If you ask a Chinese citizen what their biggest problem is, many of them would say too much federalism. Individual provinces have more individual authority than even US States and most controversial policies (1 child, social credit, lockdowns) you hear about are provincial and not federal policies.

Re: TikTok Owner Had 'Backdoor' for CCP Access to US Data, Lawsuit Alleges

#90
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they are bringing awareness to an additional issue rather than dismissing this one

They might be trying, but the end result will be a petty destruction of progress. "In order to make any change you must fix my much larger and harder to solve issue" will ensure that nothing ever gets done. In the face of just how serious this risk is, this sort of stance is self destructive and nearly malicious.

Why can't you believe both are issues and be in support of the resolution of both?
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