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What if no one misses TikTok?

nytimes.com

101–110 of 157 posts

Re: What if no one misses TikTok?

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China doesn't claim that free speech and personal freedom are part of their core values

This is a trade issue. If Country A bans imports from Country B, it's entirely reasonable to respond in kind.

As with trade issue so with this. If Country B bans imports they are actually hurting Country B not Country A.

China infringing on the inalienable rights of Chinese citizens is not a source of strength. It's weakness. It hurts China.

Responding in kind is me responding to my neighbors fire by dousing the living room with gasoline and lighting a match.

Re: What if no one misses TikTok?

#103
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but what would that have to do with this action here? TikTok isn’t being banned because of free speech or not but because the usage of their algorithms allows the app to influence how Americans think about different issues. China has recognized this as a threat and as such has banned foreign adversary social media companies from operating within its borders. Likewise the United States has recognized that this is…

> TikTok isn’t being banned because of free speech or not but because the usage of their algorithms allows the app to influence how Americans think about different issues. China has recognized this as a threat and as such has banned foreign adversary social media companies from operating within its borders. The “personal freedom” part would be most immediately salient here. Free speech wouldn’t apply if the app wasn’…

I can't get over how widely accepted this paternalistic thinking is. "People might be viewing and think in the wrong things and must be stopped!" It's textbook censorship, with a bunch of legal tap dancing to attempt to justify it against the obvious unconstitutionality.

We can hardly claim to have a democracy while acting like the population at large needs to be controlled in such a way. It's contradictory.

Re: What if no one misses TikTok?

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gen Z will have a rude awakening if they think the Chinese government is in anyway better

They do not But also I care a lot less about the CCP because they have very little impact on my day to day

Well aside from producing probably 95% of the goods you use day to day. Other than that, very little impact.

Re: What if no one misses TikTok?

#105

I'm not sure it's the right thing to ban TikTok, but I'm not surprised people aren't protesting in the streets. My feeling is that most people are addicted to these apps, not using them for the utility or pleasure they bring. These users have a deep down sense that they'd be better off without these apps. Instagram won't be banned, but if it were I think there might be a similar non-reaction.

That doesn't characterize me or any of the folks I know who use the app. I know what it feels like to be addicted- I used to drink quite heavily and often. Why are you theorizing about people you don't know engaging in an activity which is foreign to you? Can you state some of your media consumption preferences so we can deconstruct them and find their problematic aspects via a struggle session? If you're not up for…

Exactly. I know people who have TikTok as the lifeline of their business and they're rightfully pissed off that it's taken from them on a whim.

Re: What if no one misses TikTok?

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China doesn't claim that free speech and personal freedom are part of their core values

This is a trade issue. If Country A bans imports from Country B, it's entirely reasonable to respond in kind.

Then the US acts like China.

Re: What if no one misses TikTok?

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is that insane? We should lead by example if we value free speech.

Arguing for individual humans to have freedom of speech to express their views is one thing, arguing for mega-corporations (look at the valuation estimates for Tiktok) to have freedom of speech for profit is quite another.

That is like saying we have freedom of speech but it doesn't apply if you are wealthy enough to afford a printing press. It is just a sleight of hand to avoid saying "we really don't".

Re: What if no one misses TikTok?

#109

India banned TikTok and a whole host of other Chinese apps and after a few days of moaning they moved completely on. So the evidence indicates that no one will actually care. And TikTok is even less sticky than say Twitter. TikTok isn’t about the relationship graph you painstakingly built. It’s about the algorithm and the FYP it populates. That can be recreated instantly. Moving away from Twitter was hard because one…

This is scary because it also means that every foreign app can be banned and it will be fine in no time.

Foreign in UK, France etc means Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.

The social graph isn’t a big deal if can be forced. People can just find the same people on the new thing. A few days of pain and its all fine, people who get locked out of their accounts or get banned do it all the time.

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