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ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say

reuters.com

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Re: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say

#41

Post by somenameforme »

next_xibalba wrote: post #27

India banned TikTok (without the option to divest) and everything was fine. And they didn't limit the ban to TikTok: "TikTok wasn’t a one-off case. Today, India has banned over 500 Chinese apps to date." [1] If ByteDance won't sell, let them shutdown. It is truly baffling to me that anyone would defend a company's right to operate freely in the U.S. when it is controlled by a brutal autocracy that is also an emerging…

In India users that had it installed could continue to use it. And downloading it in India is trivial. On iPhone it's as simple as changing your region, on Android you just need to install the APK (installer) - which TikTok makes conveniently available on their website. I learned this from a quick search of 'how to install TikTok in India' which is apparently quite the common search in India. [1] I tried to dig up some data on how many Indian TikTok users there are. Probably unsurprisingly, that's not available. It seems fairly safe to say it's going to be quite a hefty number though!

So it was a toothless ban. By contrast, US wanted to have their cake and eat it too - keep TikTok and gain complete control over it. And while I know basically nothing about Indian law I'm fairly certain they have a much better legal argument in the US as well. So I don't think the situations have much in common.

[1] - https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=IN&q=H...

Re: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say

#42

Post by Obergruppen »

AlexandrB wrote: post #6
simlevesque wrote: post #3

It never was about ByteDance. It's the Chinese government who will decide. From their point of view, the right strategic move is to shut it down. Even if every other country bans the app it doesn't impact them much. Also they hate doing things that make then look weak. If they sell, they lose their influence. If they shut down, same thing.

> It never was about ByteDance. It's the Chinese government who will decide. This makes for a pithy statement, but is it actually true? Obviously the Chinese government has a lot of influence on Chinese companies, but do they actually dictate strategic direction like this?

[flagged]

Re: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say

#43

Post by hdlothia »

It's a shame. TikTok is a well engineered platform and has brought a lot of fun, good content and community to a lot of people.

I do think it's a national security threat, and agree with the ban.

I just wish humans could figure out how to get along better, so that everything didn't have to be so politicized.

Re: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say

#44

Post by shmatt »

LZ_Khan wrote: post #37
shmatt wrote: post #13

Who even knows what the buyers are buying? The major investor groups that have shown interest so far didn’t seem that savvy. TikTok would sell the user base and basic functionality, but no way they will sell the magic algorithm that no other company STILL has yet to replicate It would be on the buyer to prove / challenge it’s not the same algorithm and that would be almost impossible to prove Who knows what TikTok is…

Is the algorithm that much better than Shorts/Reels?

Reply All did a pretty good episode about it. It’s just really good at pushing the exact content you will interact with, 1000x better than anything Meta owns

https://gimletmedia.com/amp/shows/reply-all/z3h78d6

Re: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say

#45

Post by pennybanks »

xvector wrote: post #7
simlevesque wrote: post #3

It never was about ByteDance. It's the Chinese government who will decide. From their point of view, the right strategic move is to shut it down. Even if every other country bans the app it doesn't impact them much. Also they hate doing things that make then look weak. If they sell, they lose their influence. If they shut down, same thing.

It's completely sensible - Why would you just hand over your crown jewel to a competitor? (At the same time, it doesn't seem like China really cares for its tech industry, given how many times they've sabotaged it. It is possible they don't care about what happens with TikTok.)

its not that they dont care, they care a lot. chinese way of thinking is if you know how its made/how it works you can always make more, make another. no company is above the govt, china.

Re: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say

#46

Post by somenameforme »

geraltofrivia wrote: post #25
bogwog wrote: post #10

US businesses that try to compete with big tech don't stand a chance no matter how innovative because they'll either be bought and killed, or killed/suppressed through some illegal business practices from big tech that government won't or can't stop. When an innovative foreign company comes in that Facebook/Google/Microsoft/Apple/Amazon/etc can't buy, the government ends up killing it. Optimistically, this will creat…

In India, tiktok ban migrated the people off to instagram, and in my (subjective) opinion we are worse off for it.

Can you elaborate? I was looking up information about this and saw Indians could continue using the app if already installed, and that there are trivial workarounds to download it if not installed. I would have expected a ban like this to have had a relatively small effect.

Re: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say

#47

Post by jahewson »

simlevesque wrote: post #3

It never was about ByteDance. It's the Chinese government who will decide. From their point of view, the right strategic move is to shut it down. Even if every other country bans the app it doesn't impact them much. Also they hate doing things that make then look weak. If they sell, they lose their influence. If they shut down, same thing.

Not really. ByteDance is based in Singapore. They can sell it to whoever they like, but most of their operations are based in China and even if they could be sold, who in their right mind would buy that? Because it doesn’t solve the real issue - 100,000 employees in China is a dead end for any acquirer.

Re: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say

#48

Post by AlexandrB »

jedberg wrote: post #17
AlexandrB wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It never was about ByteDance. It's the Chinese government who will decide. This makes for a pithy statement, but is it actually true? Obviously the Chinese government has a lot of influence on Chinese companies, but do they actually dictate strategic direction like this?

Yes. They own the company. Any medium/large company in China has a government representative embedded in the exec team.

> They own the company.

> Any medium/large company in China has a government representative embedded in the exec team.

These two aren't the same thing. Obviously if you go directly against the Chinese government you're liable to disappear for a while, like Jack Ma. I just don't think the Chinese government gives that much of a shit about a social media company. Despite all the hysteria about TikTok being uniquely corrosive to society you can see most of the same content and trends on homegrown competitors like Instagram.

Re: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say

#49

Post by AlexandrB »

next_xibalba wrote: post #27

India banned TikTok (without the option to divest) and everything was fine. And they didn't limit the ban to TikTok: "TikTok wasn’t a one-off case. Today, India has banned over 500 Chinese apps to date." [1] If ByteDance won't sell, let them shutdown. It is truly baffling to me that anyone would defend a company's right to operate freely in the U.S. when it is controlled by a brutal autocracy that is also an emerging…

When I disagree with a "TikTok ban", I'm defending my right to install what I want on my phone/computer/etc. I don't even use TikTok, but I think this sets a shitty precedent.

If the problem with TikTok is data collection, we should legislate bounds on all data collection and make everyone safer. If the problem with TikTok is addictive algorithmic feeds, we should legislate limits on those for all platforms and probably improve everyone's life.

Re: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say

#50

Post by pennybanks »

AlexandrB wrote: post #49
next_xibalba wrote: post #27

India banned TikTok (without the option to divest) and everything was fine. And they didn't limit the ban to TikTok: "TikTok wasn’t a one-off case. Today, India has banned over 500 Chinese apps to date." [1] If ByteDance won't sell, let them shutdown. It is truly baffling to me that anyone would defend a company's right to operate freely in the U.S. when it is controlled by a brutal autocracy that is also an emerging…

When I disagree with a "TikTok ban", I'm defending my right to install what I want on my phone/computer/etc. I don't even use TikTok, but I think this sets a shitty precedent. If the problem with TikTok is data collection, we should legislate bounds on all data collection and make everyone safer. If the problem with TikTok is addictive algorithmic feeds, we should legislate limits on those for all platforms and proba…

think it sets a shitty precedent that anyone from any country and distribute whatever weird product they want to and as long as people want it. if it isnt addressed.

maybe i would think differently if it wasnt banned everywhere else. and china didnt ban every western tech company.

isis recruitment apps, wholesale fent stright from china apps. whatever its my right! going against something blindly just because you want the freedom to do it whether or not you will is odd no? shouldnt you use context.

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