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Biden signs TikTok bill into law, starting clock for ByteDance to divest

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Re: Biden signs TikTok bill into law, starting clock for ByteDance to divest

#411

Post by mhardcastle »

returningfory2 wrote: post #38

The work "ban" is in scare quotes for a reason. The law doesn't ban TikTok. Rather, it bans TikTok from having Chinese owners. If the law stands, the end result will likely be that TikTok will be sold to US owners, rather than TikTok going away. It's surprising to me that this this pretty significant distinction has been glossed over both in media reporting and in general comments here on HN. To be clear, I'm not sup…

For what it's worth, "play money" betting site Manifold is currently at a 69% chance of sale versus 31% of shutting down.

https://manifold.markets/mint/conditional-on-the-tiktok-ban-...

Re: Biden signs TikTok bill into law, starting clock for ByteDance to divest

#413

Post by insane_dreamer »

ThinkBeat wrote: post #372

I hope this will show the severity of threats countries face from social media and that things are no longer business as usual. Every European country /and/or EU/ECC as a block, as well as every other nation or block, should follow this up as soon as permitted to have all social media apps operated by a foreign country be subject to the same legislation. TikTok will have to sel to the US, Netherlands, France, Germany…

Ironically, this sort of internet sovereignty is exactly what China has been preaching for years (though its so-called World Internet Conference), and of course has the most advanced state of the art implementation (aka Great Firewall) to ensure it. It likely didn't envision that this philosophy might one day come back to bite one of their own :)

Re: Biden signs TikTok bill into law, starting clock for ByteDance to divest

#414

Post by ein0p »

Reciprocity is a thing. I’m sure it won’t be difficult to suggest that certain US businesses operating in China “need to have Chinese owners” too. So I predict this will badly backfire.

But on the whole I’m in favor of any and all laws undermining the mind cancer that is “social media”, irrespective of who controls it, worldwide.

Re: Biden signs TikTok bill into law, starting clock for ByteDance to divest

#415

Post by latentcall »

MaxHoppersGhost wrote: post #366
jquery wrote: post #365

I don't use TikTok, but I strongly disapprove of this. Feels like we've stooped to China's level when it comes to free speech? All this has done is validate them banning Google and Facebook. What a petty move. I understand the theoretical security concerns, but this feels like total overkill.

They already banned Facebook and Google. We should reciprocate everything they do to us.

Why?

Re: Biden signs TikTok bill into law, starting clock for ByteDance to divest

#416

Post by devhead »

we'll see what the courts say with this. American government used to decry "the great china firewall" yet here they come all holding hands to raise up an American one, against the American people. This is not a Ban on TikTok, it is a blockage and suppression of our freedom of speech, and to freely associate.

The US government suddenly can find common grounds to do something and it's to restrict US? no thanks.

Re: Biden signs TikTok bill into law, starting clock for ByteDance to divest

#417

Post by insane_dreamer »

paxys wrote: post #409
dwnoble wrote: post #22

Fun fact: according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_ma... , tiktok.com has been blocked in mainland China since 2020.

TikTok is branded as Douyin in China. The international version is the one that is blocked.

No, it's not just a rebrand.

Douyin, like all social media in China, is subject to government censorship. Tiktok, like Google, FB, IG, etc., are not and therefore banned in China.

That's why they are two completely separate platforms.

Re: Biden signs TikTok bill into law, starting clock for ByteDance to divest

#418

Post by YoumuChan »

meowtimemania wrote: post #353
rfoo wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe TikTok decides to exit US in protest because they don't want to comply with the law. We've been seen this 15 years ago.

what happened 15 years ago?

I guess Google's exit from China.

Re: Biden signs TikTok bill into law, starting clock for ByteDance to divest

#419

Post by jtriangle »

rhaps0dy wrote: post #406
jtriangle wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It bans American companies from providing services that distribute, maintain or update any sufficiently popular apps where a company is headquartered in, or has more than a 20% ownership share of the company held, in a country that has been determined to be a foreign adversary. It is much, much broader than a 'tiktok ban', it applies to any company that fits that criteria. So to put it bluntly, if the CCP bought 20%…

Is this going to impact Riot Games' games (League of Legends, Valorant), the wildly popular American video game company which is owned by Tencent?

If the current president decides that they're a threat to national security, then yes.

Re: Biden signs TikTok bill into law, starting clock for ByteDance to divest

#420

Post by paulddraper »

cwyers wrote: post #389
nemothekid wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the end result will likely be that TikTok will be sold to US owners Why does everyone assume this is likely? The CCP has already said they would block a sale of TikTok. This happened a while ago - so the US saying TikTok must be sold is an effective ban. The misdirection of the wording of the ban is just dishonest.

Why are you framing this in such a way that treats one party as having agency and the other party as being immovable? The US is not banning TikTok, they are posing stipulations towards its use and you believe the CCP when they say they won't comply with those stipulations. But why is that a ban, versus "the CCP refuses to let TikTok comply with US law?"

It's mostly a first mover thing.

If I purchase a car with low gas mileage, and then the EPA requires cars to have minimum gas milage, that "bans" my car. Even though technically, I could figure out some way to rebuild it to comply.

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