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

Post by tedd4u » Thu, Apr 25, 2024, 12:07 AM UTC

hot_gril wrote: post #395

intellix wrote: post #64

if you've been to China, you'll know that they ban all western products: facebook, google, etc etc and replaced them with their own variants. If they want to run around free-range without any restriction with their own products then they should respond by loosening restrictions in their own country. This is an absolute no-brainer. If you want Tik Tok in the US, lower your middle finger. Am I missing something?

I was always in favor of banning it for this reason, but I'm concerned that Biden is now banning it for a different reason. The timing is interesting. Certain lobby groups have been urging Congress on this due to TikTok videos about the war in Gaza. Then again, Trump was also trying to ban it for his own reasons.

    Yes: 155 D + 197 R
    No:   50 D +  15 R

    "We do not want to ban apps like TikTok. What we want – and what the 
    legislation we support would do – is ensure that TikTok becomes owned by an 
    American company so that our and our children's sensitive personal data stays 
    here instead of going to China and so that Americans' understandings and 
    views can't be manipulated by algorithms potentially controlled by the PRC."

Post by holmesworcester » Thu, Apr 25, 2024, 12:08 AM UTC

georgeecollins wrote: post #548

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…

A US company would never be allowed to own any kind of social media company in China. You can't own a broadcast station in the US as a non-US citizen. Rupert Murdoch had to become a US citizen to buy Fox. I don't know if I agree with this but you can't say there is no precedent for it in the US or in China.

Post by BobbyTables2 » Thu, Apr 25, 2024, 12:09 AM UTC

wmf wrote: post #311

danieltanfh95 wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because it doesn’t say “ban” doesn’t mean its not one. It is well known that China lists algorithms and AI models trained on citizen data as a non-export so tiktok will never be able to sell to anyone other than a Chinese company unless they retrain the model etc. The CEO has mentioned that they will simply pull out of the US market.

So not only does TikTok have to be sold but they also have to remove the addiction algorithm? This deal just gets better and better!

Post by markus_zhang » Thu, Apr 25, 2024, 12:12 AM UTC

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #534

markus_zhang wrote: post #461

Since we are already being controversial, can we simply ban or regulate all short videos -- similar to the duration cap the Chinese government put up for gaming for people less than 18? My wife has been doom scrolling for hours every day. At least get something good in return. Even if Tiktok decides to leave US, there are a whole lot of other short video apps that can fill in the blank.

This isn't about making anything "better for society", this is about nation state power games. That's why there's been no movement on data privacy legislation in 15+ years: because it would hobble a heavily US-centric profitable industry (with the side benefit that the data can be mined by US law enforcement and intelligence - which is directly the problem the US government has with TikTok / China)

Post by tijtij » Thu, Apr 25, 2024, 12:13 AM UTC

andy99 wrote: post #602

I'm very late to this - how do you ban something on the internet? Can't they just keep operating and people will learn how to sideload the app or use a VPN to get it or whatever they need to do? Presumably it will mean some friction but couldn't the company just call the bluff?