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TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

reuters.com

461–470 of 1001 posts

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#461
post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US gov's intention was not at all to shut down TikTok. It was to force ByteDance to sell it. The fact that ByteDance is opting for a shutdown instead is a huge PR stunt, and their unwillingness to sell under the circumstances kinda proves their whole First Amendment claims are made in bad faith. Something deeper is going on, and it's not about your social security number.

I mean, the Chinese government was never going to let the US just take their company at bargain basement prices.

Do you think that ByteDance is primarily concerned with the economic considerations for TikTok, or do you think that it is something else?

Do you think that there is a price at which they would be willing to sell it?

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#462

US citizens do not want this. Every news article descending into tangents on any other point than that is part of why we can't have nice things. The whole country has turned into some sort of lower primate improv troupe where whatever stupid thing comes up gets a "Yes and let's" diversion instead of an adult in the room standing up and cutting the crap.

US citizens most definitely want this.

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#463
post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In English, it seems to be called rednote. But I doubt that it will be a real successor. At the moment it's a funny meme, and for some people satisfied cultural curiosity. But we already see the problems appearing, from the poorly localized interface, to people getting banned for reasons outside their understanding. My guess is, at the end we will see maybe some million users from the USA and some more millions from…

> In English, it seems to be called rednote. I know someone who speaks Chinese and uses that app. The name in Chinese Xiaohongshu clearly translates to "Little Red Book," and they're confused how anyone got "Red Note" out of it. > My guess is, at the end we will see maybe some million users from the USA and some more millions from around the world moving to this app, and maybe bringing a new interaction between the c…

Yeah but "little red book" (xiaohongshu) in mandarin is not actually how the original Mao Little Red Book is called in Mandarin, either formally or informally. Informally in mandarin it's called hongbaoshu (literally "red cover book" and formally, as you can imagine, is like Quotes from Chairman Mao).

So this is a case of translators with an agenda translating two phrases with different original mandarin renditions (hongbaoshu and xiaohongshu), and picking and choosing the style of translation (base on usage vs based on character) to get the English translation to merge both of them as "Little Red Book".

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#464
post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big issue isn't data security; it's propaganda. Irrespective of whether the government has control of the narrative on Facebook (I would argue they pretty clearly don't) there is no reason to let a foreign adversary have a deniable propaganda line to millions of Americans. Would we have let the USSR acquire a major television network? And even if you disagree with the national security reasons for disallowing Chi…

> propaganda It's so amusing seeing the society that lionizes itself as the paragon of open society and can't stop boasting about the effectiveness of free-speech soft-power compared to sclerotic communist propaganda now having panics over short video apps. Bush Sr. or Bill Clinton could never think that. Well, maybe we will be on yeltsin-on-supermarket stage soon?

We haven't allowed a foreign adversary to own a media company since 1934.

This is just updating the standard. TikTok is clearly a massive threat, how is that not obvious?

https://www.fcc.gov/general/foreign-ownership-rules-and-poli....

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#465

I'm tearing my hair out... how is the solution here not just better data privacy laws? Doesn't that solve all the issues, both domestic and international?

Privacy is irrelevant in this case. It’s a free line of propaganda for almost all our youth at their most vulnerable age.

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#466

I'm tearing my hair out... how is the solution here not just better data privacy laws? Doesn't that solve all the issues, both domestic and international?

Because the point is to funnel people to US apps where the US Govt has control of the narrative

Data privacy is not the concern, or else they'd have done what you suggest

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#467

US citizens do not want this. Every news article descending into tangents on any other point than that is part of why we can't have nice things. The whole country has turned into some sort of lower primate improv troupe where whatever stupid thing comes up gets a "Yes and let's" diversion instead of an adult in the room standing up and cutting the crap.

We certainly _do_ want this. I think the fact that we let a foreign company own a social media platform in the first place is preposterous. As others have said, we would never let the CCP own a TV broadcast, why should we let china own a major social media platform? That's just absurd.

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#468
post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In English, it seems to be called rednote. But I doubt that it will be a real successor. At the moment it's a funny meme, and for some people satisfied cultural curiosity. But we already see the problems appearing, from the poorly localized interface, to people getting banned for reasons outside their understanding. My guess is, at the end we will see maybe some million users from the USA and some more millions from…

> In English, it seems to be called rednote. I know someone who speaks Chinese and uses that app. The name in Chinese Xiaohongshu clearly translates to "Little Red Book," and they're confused how anyone got "Red Note" out of it. > My guess is, at the end we will see maybe some million users from the USA and some more millions from around the world moving to this app, and maybe bringing a new interaction between the c…

Little red book means something different in 1970s China. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotations_from_Chairman_Mao_T...

People are trying to do away with that association, but it still boggles my mind why the app is called LRB in the first place.

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#469
post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Teens are rebellious & want to be far away from parents. It disqualifies mainstream apps like Twitter, Reddit, BlueSky, Reels & now Snapchat as well. This leaves Tiktok and now international apps like Xiaohongshu as the obvious alternatives. The more the US govt. forces youths to use American mega-corps, the less they want to use it.

I don't think rebellion has anything to do with why kids use Tiktok. Nor do I think the US has any interest in forcing kids to use social media...

No, but rebellion definitely has to do with why there is a shift towards Xiaohongshu, which is obviously even more Chinese than TikTok ever was.

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big issue isn't data security; it's propaganda. Irrespective of whether the government has control of the narrative on Facebook (I would argue they pretty clearly don't) there is no reason to let a foreign adversary have a deniable propaganda line to millions of Americans. Would we have let the USSR acquire a major television network? And even if you disagree with the national security reasons for disallowing Chi…

> Irrespective of whether the government has control of the narrative on Facebook (I would argue they pretty clearly don't) Posting pro-Palestinian content on Facebook will get your account terminated for "supporting terrorism". The pro-western censorship regime on FB is extremely strong. US lawmakers specifically cited the amount of pro-Palestinian content on TikTok as why they were banning the app. Sources: https:/…

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