Can somebody explain to me how TikTok in iPhone is worse than Facebook? The say "TikTok collects a large amount of personal information, which has raised concerns about data mining and potential misuse of user data." - what information they collect and Facebook does not collect?
TikTok is now banned in Montana
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Re: TikTok is now banned in Montana
#512I live in a country where such a ban on certain "enemy" social networks was implemented a few years ago. What will happen is this. Teens will download a shit ton of VPN applications, the vast majority of which are specifically produced and marketed by the enemy to circumvent said ban. Then all users' phone traffic gets routed via the enemy VPN instead of just the social app's requests. Win-win for both sides: - the g…
My wife is an 8th grade social studies teacher at a public school in Texas. I spent yesterday in her classroom as the resident technology expert and answered questions about semiconductor manufacturing, neural networks and cryptocurrencies in discussions about trade-offs with technology. For one, the kids don’t really use TikTok that much and use a handful of apps. Different cliques used different apps more than othe…
This may be the case for the subset polled but TikTok is wildly popular with teens and for good reason, it’s the most “organic” feeling social media app with an addictive algorithm. Also TikTok allowed the expression of a lot of speech and ideas that had previously been more suppressed on other social media outlets because of political reasons, for example. YouTube and instagram are far more moderated in favor of American bias compared to TikTok, and it shows by how careful YouTube creators are with what they say. Instagram was found to suppress political speech of, for example, Palestinian rights activists during the removal of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah by Israeli forces.
Re: TikTok is now banned in Montana
#513Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If it's because of China, then ban TikTok and subsidize a competitor app - but be serious about it. Be ready to spend hundreds of ..... Domestic competitors have already published their equivalents though, no subsidied required. It's not a very complicated app - they had clones up in months. Most popular Tik-Tokers already repost their content on these anyways. Why do we need to subsidize naything? This already exi…
> Why do we need to subsidize naything? This already exists. Because the problem presented here is: government bans TikTok, teenagers become experts at using VPN apps to work around the ban. Social media apps live on network effects - it's near-impossible to compete with a well-established giant directly. But this also means that, if you manage to pull a critical mass of users over from your direct competitor, most o…
Your argument rests heavily on "teens WILL overwhelmingly become VPN experts"
I don't understand why it can't instead be: banning will make domestic alternatives more attractive since now you don't even need a VPN to access it.
Sure some teens will use a VPN and continue to use TikTok, but I'm not sure it'll be to such an extent that we'd be forced to concede that banning was the wrong call.
Also you can do both: ban and subsidize.
Re: TikTok is now banned in Montana
#514I live in a country where such a ban on certain "enemy" social networks was implemented a few years ago. What will happen is this. Teens will download a shit ton of VPN applications, the vast majority of which are specifically produced and marketed by the enemy to circumvent said ban. Then all users' phone traffic gets routed via the enemy VPN instead of just the social app's requests. Win-win for both sides: - the g…
IMO this sounds a bit more like an argument for banning the "vast majority" of VPN apps on the Google/App stores apparently re-routing all traffic to enemies (though I'm skeptical) and less of an argument as to whether or not TikTok should be banned.
It's always been weird that the US border is legally 100miles thick around the USA, for customs and immigration, but the Internet cables don't have borders.
Re: TikTok is now banned in Montana
#515Can somebody explain to me how TikTok in iPhone is worse than Facebook? The say "TikTok collects a large amount of personal information, which has raised concerns about data mining and potential misuse of user data." - what information they collect and Facebook does not collect?
They can explain at you, but at the end of the day, it's all politics.
I find it a much more sensible position to criticize both together, along with the rest of proprietary digital socialization platforms.
Re: TikTok is now banned in Montana
#516Earlier quoted context omitted.
Massive data collection being funnelled directly to the benefit of an adversarial totalitarian state. Often coordinating to target intelligence and political targets. It’s a technological wing for a totalitarian intelligence department. That’s what it is. It also has social media functions, but it also has an intelligence function. If you think “well the US does it too” well I invite you to move to Shanghai and live…
> move to Shanghai and live the rest of your days there and tell me you feel just as free as in New York City. In what ways would your freedom be impacted in Shangai vs NYC? Because I know or a fact I'd able to live a normal life in Shangai. Work, grow kids, go out and enjoy entertainment, have good healthcare and so on. Is it the ability to vote your president that makes or break "freedom" for you? Well apparently ~…
> In what ways would your freedom be impacted in Shangai vs NYC?
if that's actually what you believe in, no difference. To most people the differences are obvious.
Re: TikTok is now banned in Montana
#517I hate TikTok and CCP, but banning an app from use is just wrong. Want to fight TikTok addiction or privacy issues with CCP? Sure, do it. But find other ways: banning users from using it, whereas especially everybody else can access it, is a huge punch on the rights of your own people.
The thing is, most people outside the "larger ethnic group" in the US couldn't care less about their data being funneled to the CCP. The anti china/russia/ seems to really be a WASP centric pathological obsession. Just my 2c
National security is not a uniquely "wasp" concern, which you would know if you were ever in the military. What an incredibly ignorant and racist thing to suggest.
Re: TikTok is now banned in Montana
#518Tomorrow's story: "Residents of Montana discover VPNs and how to use them!" Between Utah and Montana the awareness and use of VPNs is rising among the non-security-conscious, and this is a good thing.
Not really. VPNs don't help your privacy outside specific niche use cases.
The only reason to use a VPN is when you want to hide your IP address from the other end of your communication. You get effectively the same service from public WiFi at a cafe.
Most non-technical people I hear talking about VPNs get them completely confused with encryption. VPNs do not hide the content of your communication: that is already happening with SSL.
Re: TikTok is now banned in Montana
#519I'm a bit perplexed that there seems to be minimal discussion on the complete technical absurdity of this ban.
Within the USA, there might _possibly_ be sufficient technical infrastructure available to block app downloads at a national level. Maybe. And leaving aside the myriad circumvention routes.
But at the state level? It's simply not there in the way that the legislators think. Application-level data? Turn off location services. GeoIP? Nice try- mobile carriers don't reliably egress in the state from which the customer traffic originates. E911? Protected by other laws. Cell tower location? What about folks near state borders, and there's no reliable vehicle to get that data to app store operators right now anyway.
What's good enough for an advertiser trying to sell concert tickets is not necessarily good enough for enforcing legal prohibitions.
Effectively, to enforce this would require cooperation between government agencies, mobile carriers, and app vendors on a scale that has not be done in this country before- and with two of the three parties not even remotely interested in such cooperation.
This thing is pure political theatre.
Re: TikTok is now banned in Montana
#520I'm a bit perplexed that there seems to be minimal discussion on the complete technical absurdity of this ban. Within the USA, there might _possibly_ be sufficient technical infrastructure available to block app downloads at a national level. Maybe. And leaving aside the myriad circumvention routes. But at the state level? It's simply not there in the way that the legislators think. Application-level data? Turn off l…
the ban is more on Apple and Google - preventing them making the app available.
My guess is that it’ll be based on the billing address of the account tied to the device.
If the billing address resides in Montana, the app won’t be shown for download.
Aside from that, yes, I agree. Tough to do, and mostly theatre.