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U.S. opens a national security review of TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly

reuters.com

131–140 of 401 posts

Re: U.S. opens a national security review of TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly

#131
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, as a Canadian consumer using American social media platforms, we're subject to American censorship policies. Tumblr / Facebook / YouTube being most notable in their filtering of LGBT content and suspending accounts of LGBT users, because of the American governments stance on human sexuality. This argument of who censors makes sense for Americans, but it's more about picking your poison for people from other c…

>we're subject to American censorship policies. Tumblr / Facebook / YouTube being most notable in their filtering of LGBT content and suspending accounts of LGBT users, because of the American governments stance on human sexuality No, you're subject to corporate censorship policies. Let's not pretend that individual platforms regulating content is the same as government censorship. Please show me how their policies a…

Yes, Canada has bans on targeted gender-based harassment against individuals, not bans on LGBT content.

Re: U.S. opens a national security review of TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly

#132

TikTok is actually a great app. When I was a kid in the 00's my friends and I used to carry around a video camera to make music videos. With TikTok you can do it with your cell phone. They beat SnapChat, FB and Instagram on experience. Censorship is something serious to consider, but these are mainly kids making music videos. They aren't using it to organize campaigns.

> these are mainly kids making music videos. They aren't using it to organize campaigns. I think that's a dangerously naive interpretation of the platform (or any platform really), particularly when it involves children and young adult minds.

Go on.

https://bookandfilmglobe.com/education/youtube-kids-videos-a...

Re: U.S. opens a national security review of TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly

#133
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, as a Canadian consumer using American social media platforms, we're subject to American censorship policies. Tumblr / Facebook / YouTube being most notable in their filtering of LGBT content and suspending accounts of LGBT users, because of the American governments stance on human sexuality. This argument of who censors makes sense for Americans, but it's more about picking your poison for people from other c…

>we're subject to American censorship policies. Tumblr / Facebook / YouTube being most notable in their filtering of LGBT content and suspending accounts of LGBT users, because of the American governments stance on human sexuality No, you're subject to corporate censorship policies. Let's not pretend that individual platforms regulating content is the same as government censorship. Please show me how their policies a…

Let’s not pretend a monopoly regulating content is much different from government.

Re: U.S. opens a national security review of TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly

#134
post #75

Musical.ly was started by entrepreneurs in Shanghai. Although it may have had US and Japanese investors, I don't think it was an American company. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical.ly >"It’s the first company to be headquartered in China, designed in China, but popular in the US," said Greylock investor Josh Elman. "Finally we’re seeing talented people who live in that ecosystem in that world and actually transce…

Well the Reuters article says it's a US company, as does https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/musical-ly.

Re: U.S. opens a national security review of TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly

#136
post #44

US companies (Twitter, Facebook, Google) censor people all the time.

After all the political stuff going on, every country began seeing foreign communication companies as a national security threat. Russia and China were early on this but EU is also tightening the grip. We had a good go but since the politicians got involved I expect the internet to become separated into regional islands of regulations. Facebook probably had a dream of becoming a global political influence broker and…

I dont know, I really fear a world where the US blocks all chinese social media, and china blocks all US social media, in the name of 'national security'.

Re: U.S. opens a national security review of TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly

#137
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that non-US culture advocates that democracy is a threat to society, or that political re-education camps are not an issue, I would say that yes, we need to keep that out.

[citation needed]

>> If that non-US culture advocates that democracy is a threat to society, or that political re-education camps are not an issue, I would say that yes, we need to keep that out.

> [citation needed]

The "non-US culture" framing of the GP and GGP is ignorant and wrong, but what they say is certainly true with regards to the party and government:

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/20/world/asia/chinas-new-lea...

> Communist Party cadres have filled meeting halls around China to hear a somber, secretive warning issued by senior leaders. Power could escape their grip, they have been told, unless the party eradicates seven subversive currents coursing through Chinese society.... The first was “Western constitutional democracy”; others included promoting “universal values” of human rights, Western-inspired notions of media independence and civic participation, ardently pro-market “neo-liberalism,” and “nihilist” criticisms of the party’s traumatic past.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/01/world/asia/china-student-...

> ...students are increasingly playing a key role by monitoring how teachers view Mr. Xi, the party and ideas like democracy. In exchange, they are promised rewards like scholarships, higher grades and advancement within prestigious Communist Party groups.

> Ankang University in northwest China said in an online notice that student informers should formally report professors who spread superstition, cults and pornography, “promote Western political values,” and criticize the party’s tenets. School administrators, the notice says, should respond to each complaint within three working days.

Re: U.S. opens a national security review of TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly

#138

I would support a wholesale ban on Chinese acquisitions of American companies until American companies are allowed to acquire Chinese companies (or otherwise operate in China). These ridiculous double standards from China are not free trade, and we should stop pretending it is.

A curious development I noticed: Chinese dominated parent company in the Caymans or equiv with two subsidiary "sister companies", with one in US, UK, etc, and the other in China. Besides the obvious IP leakage due to Chinese law, what problems do you see with this and how would you approach this issue?

Re: U.S. opens a national security review of TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly

#139

TikTok is actually a great app. When I was a kid in the 00's my friends and I used to carry around a video camera to make music videos. With TikTok you can do it with your cell phone. They beat SnapChat, FB and Instagram on experience. Censorship is something serious to consider, but these are mainly kids making music videos. They aren't using it to organize campaigns.

It's sickening to think of music and art as something that is great when its restricted to only be meaningless.

Re: U.S. opens a national security review of TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly

#140
post #115
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US consumers become subject to Chinese censorship policies under services, media, and entertainment provided by US companies too.

The same is said for non-US consumers, who consume US-made media (Which is consumed world-wide, and has in many places, displaced local media.)

While the US doesn't hard censor media like China, I'd agree there is something of a soft censorship/ignoring of many topics. And, if you think about US based hard restraints, there are certainly onerous restrictions with rules attached to financial services imposed by the US into foreign nations.
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