Live data from Hacker News

China Discusses Sale of TikTok US to Musk as One Possible Option

bloomberg.com

21–30 of 41 posts

Re: China Discusses Sale of TikTok US to Musk as One Possible Option

#21
post #19

Many TikTok users are signing up for RedNote, an actual Chinese social media app. US users consider this a better option than American offerings such as Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube. While Chinese developers are focused on building great products, US developers are focused on pushing politics. As a result, the Chinese apps are clearly more desirable for users.

> While Chinese developers are focused on building great products, US developers are focused on pushing politics. As a result, the Chinese apps are clearly more desirable for users.

What specific features does Rednote have that beat US competitors?

Where do you think that US users heard about Rednote? If you are not a TikTok user, then you would had never heard of this app. Clearly, TikTok used their algo to "raid" Rednote, like a Twitch stream raid.

Re: China Discusses Sale of TikTok US to Musk as One Possible Option

#22
post #5

If this deal happens, it could redefine how the US-China tech standoff is negotiated... Musk’s involvement would be fascinating - not just for the data implications, but for the precedent it sets: Can a single entrepreneur navigate and mediate two global superpowers’ interests? It also raises the question of whether TikTok, under any ownership, can ever truly escape concerns about data security and political influenc…

[deleted]

Re: China Discusses Sale of TikTok US to Musk as One Possible Option

#23
post #19

Many TikTok users are signing up for RedNote, an actual Chinese social media app. US users consider this a better option than American offerings such as Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube. While Chinese developers are focused on building great products, US developers are focused on pushing politics. As a result, the Chinese apps are clearly more desirable for users.

> While Chinese developers are focused on building great products, US developers are focused on pushing politics. As a result, the Chinese apps are clearly more desirable for users. What specific features does Rednote have that beat US competitors? Where do you think that US users heard about Rednote? If you are not a TikTok user, then you would had never heard of this app. Clearly, TikTok used their algo to "raid" R…

It's much simpler than that! You just have to recognize that this is basically the Streisand effect, or, hell, even just the Boston Tea Party!

1. A government/center of power imposes a unilateral decree to deprive many people of something they used to have a right to

2. The affected hear: "shut up about your rights"

3. This act of deprivation itself becomes the uniting common issue for the affected, and then they become a self-organizing body politic

3. The body politic then naturally becomes suspicious of any solution that appears to comply with the government's wishes

If you're surprised that people in this country protest when they feel their right to protest has been encroached upon - or if it seems surprising that using Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts would not be interpreted as protest but using Rednote would be (or, and this also seems very likely: if news organizations would ever NOT pick up the story of some number of users flocking to yet another Chinese app WITHOUT making it seem like a big protest) - I don't know what to tell you.

Re: China Discusses Sale of TikTok US to Musk as One Possible Option

#24
post #4

I can’t even imagine how many weird decisions would get made in Elon’s TikTok. I guess this would have been a Twitter-style blessing in terms of killing it, if only its Facebook/YouTube-powered alternatives didn’t exist and we could get rid of short form video for good.

You would disempower people far more than empower them. You would be denying them the right to free speech and the free exchange of ideas. It would basically result in the wanton destruction of probably hundreds of thousands if not millions of established little pockets of community for self-expression that people had worked to build and maintain*. Name one other type of media that does not then also deserve the same ban on the same grounds you had in mind for why short form video is inherently evil.

* By freedom of speech here I basically mean the usual social norms about what things are generally not prohibited. I say this to avoid being misinterpreted as my position being one of "all speech is permitted no matter its content" because that's not what society has decided.

Re: China Discusses Sale of TikTok US to Musk as One Possible Option

#25
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is google not blocked in China anymore? You might want to check in on how western social media is treated by CCP government first before making such statements.

Look, when you do business in a country, you obey that countries law. If you think the law is backwards and incompatible with your business, you don’t operate there, this is what google, fb did. They CHOOSE to not operate in china because they are not able to meet the requirements. TikTok has met all requirements to operate based on the us law. It still got banned. That’s a big difference. If data security is a conce…

>TikTok has met all requirements to operate based on the us law. It still got banned.

Completely false. They were told not to send user data to China, did so anyway, got caught, and then continued to do it again.

Re: China Discusses Sale of TikTok US to Musk as One Possible Option

#27
post #19

Many TikTok users are signing up for RedNote, an actual Chinese social media app. US users consider this a better option than American offerings such as Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube. While Chinese developers are focused on building great products, US developers are focused on pushing politics. As a result, the Chinese apps are clearly more desirable for users.

> While Chinese developers are focused on building great products, US developers are focused on pushing politics. As a result, the Chinese apps are clearly more desirable for users. What specific features does Rednote have that beat US competitors? Where do you think that US users heard about Rednote? If you are not a TikTok user, then you would had never heard of this app. Clearly, TikTok used their algo to "raid" R…

I'm not even a U.S user, and I heard about rednote on... Threads! From Meta. Kinda ironic.

Re: China Discusses Sale of TikTok US to Musk as One Possible Option

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While Chinese developers are focused on building great products, US developers are focused on pushing politics. As a result, the Chinese apps are clearly more desirable for users. What specific features does Rednote have that beat US competitors? Where do you think that US users heard about Rednote? If you are not a TikTok user, then you would had never heard of this app. Clearly, TikTok used their algo to "raid" R…

I'm not even a U.S user, and I heard about rednote on... Threads! From Meta. Kinda ironic.

I heard about Rednote on Bluesky, from the biggest non-employee code contributor.

TikTok is the most popular platform for the youths. They make waves everywhere.

People choosing to go there makes my head explode. The world is a big joke, and I ain’t laughing.

Re: China Discusses Sale of TikTok US to Musk as One Possible Option

#29
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look, when you do business in a country, you obey that countries law. If you think the law is backwards and incompatible with your business, you don’t operate there, this is what google, fb did. They CHOOSE to not operate in china because they are not able to meet the requirements. TikTok has met all requirements to operate based on the us law. It still got banned. That’s a big difference. If data security is a conce…

>TikTok has met all requirements to operate based on the us law. It still got banned. Completely false. They were told not to send user data to China, did so anyway, got caught, and then continued to do it again.

I'm not from the U.S, so I'm genuinely asking, is there a law that states which countries it can't send data to?

If so, that means that every other foreign app is also illegal?

Post reply on HN