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TikTok goes dark in the US

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Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#161

Post by ewild »

wilg wrote: post #148
AirMax98 wrote: post #98

It's a shame that it's come to this. I feel that all arguments that TikTok is unhealthy or spyware and bad for our general public are valid, but the same arguments also apply to Instagram/Twitter/Whatever. Rather than have some sort of further regulation for what data any application can collect and present to Americans, we've just brought the hammer down on the millions of people that use this application for their…

None of those arguments are the salient one, which is that a geopolitical adversary has control over a major influence vector on US public opinion. They could simply have divested.

to me this is the only important one. Not only can they subtely influence the entire us culture, if they were to get in trouble for it, then what? the US doesnt have any influence over them we would just ban them and at that point its too late. realistically it already is too late. a huge point imo aswell is we ARENT at war right now, but if we are at war the amount of information china can both push and obtain through tiktok would be large enough to change the tides of a war

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#162

Post by tkel »

wilg wrote: post #148
AirMax98 wrote: post #98

It's a shame that it's come to this. I feel that all arguments that TikTok is unhealthy or spyware and bad for our general public are valid, but the same arguments also apply to Instagram/Twitter/Whatever. Rather than have some sort of further regulation for what data any application can collect and present to Americans, we've just brought the hammer down on the millions of people that use this application for their…

None of those arguments are the salient one, which is that a geopolitical adversary has control over a major influence vector on US public opinion. They could simply have divested.

It is the salient point. A domestic adversary has control over a major influence vector on US public opinion. In the form of Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/etc.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#163

Post by reaperducer »

waltbosz wrote: post #63
jedimastert wrote: post #20

I'm really curious and somewhat worried about what the economic effect of this is going to be. There are a number of legitimate small businesses that saw a lot of, if not all of, their business and customer base through TikTok. Business that just will not be able to make the move to somewhere else. I personally know musicians, actors, and artists that got a lot of work through TikTok. People who actually create thing…

My cousin worked at a place where he would stream for 8 hours a day on tiktok and sell trading card packs and other collectables. I guess it was a bit like home shopping network. But his streams were kinda goofy and playful. I didn't really understand who the customers were. I guess some people found him entertaining and liked what he was selling.

So he's going to get a job now?

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#164

Post by tkel »

maeil wrote: post #132
AirMax98 wrote: post #98

It's a shame that it's come to this. I feel that all arguments that TikTok is unhealthy or spyware and bad for our general public are valid, but the same arguments also apply to Instagram/Twitter/Whatever. Rather than have some sort of further regulation for what data any application can collect and present to Americans, we've just brought the hammer down on the millions of people that use this application for their…

To an extent, yes, some of the arguments absolutely apply to other platforms as well. But others don't. You never saw such platforms directly impact elections as much, having Russian operations have as big as an impact as they have had on TikTok in e.g. Eastern Europe. Of course they tried running campaigns in the past on Facebook as well, but not with as high of an impact, and after they got caught the platforms hav…

Meanwhile, domestic spending on corrupting elections is like comparing an ocean to a raindrop. Mike Bloomberg spent $300 million on ads/influencing elections in 2020.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#165

Post by Pxtl »

wilg wrote: post #148
AirMax98 wrote: post #98

It's a shame that it's come to this. I feel that all arguments that TikTok is unhealthy or spyware and bad for our general public are valid, but the same arguments also apply to Instagram/Twitter/Whatever. Rather than have some sort of further regulation for what data any application can collect and present to Americans, we've just brought the hammer down on the millions of people that use this application for their…

None of those arguments are the salient one, which is that a geopolitical adversary has control over a major influence vector on US public opinion. They could simply have divested.

By that logic Canada, Panama, and Denmark should ban X and Meta.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#166

Post by ungreased0675 »

demizer wrote: post #129

There is no system of digital content distribution that can withstand the will of Government. The only thing that can be done is for the citizens of that government to wake up and take the power away from those that are wielding it to further enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else. I am not a user of TikTok but this is not a good development for our "perfect union", nor the freedom of the internet in the U…

I thought you were talking about China until the last sentence.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#167

Post by aorloff »

I have a teenager who regularly requests his TikTok screen time allowance to be reduced. He wants to not know the passcode even though he is well old enough to know it if he wants.

What this temporary outage might do is have the opposite effect TikTok expects - to show people they need a break from such an addictive app.

Stranger things have happened on the internet. The longer before Trump "cuts a deal" the more I expect people to press the question - why allow China access to this market if China is shut to our social media apps ?

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#168

Post by do_not_redeem »

safety1st wrote: post #138
AirMax98 wrote: post #98

It's a shame that it's come to this. I feel that all arguments that TikTok is unhealthy or spyware and bad for our general public are valid, but the same arguments also apply to Instagram/Twitter/Whatever. Rather than have some sort of further regulation for what data any application can collect and present to Americans, we've just brought the hammer down on the millions of people that use this application for their…

I'm going to quote a CBS News article here because I don't feel Congress' arguments in favor of banning TikTok are being well represented. You can agree with them or disagree with them but everyone should at least understand them accurately. TLDR TikTok is not comparable to the other services you mentioned because ByteDance is required to comply with Chinese intelligence, and China has made many public statements in…

"If you have Facebook on your phone currently, it can track your whereabouts, it can read your text messages, it can track your keystrokes. It has access to your phone records."

If the United States government gets its hands on that information, "it's not just a national security threat, it's a personal security threat," Hawley (should have) said.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#169

Post by theossuary »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #86
tayo42 wrote: post #77

Isnt taking the app down today just for show? It seems like the ban wasnt going to be enforced? https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-trump-executive-order-...

TikTok and/or Apple and/or Google probably took the app down themselves. They talk to their lawyers, and tell them "no, Trump/Biden said they weren't going to enforce the law" and their legal counsel goes "no, no, no, you can't go by that, obey the law or you are opening yourself up to huge liability" and that's it.

Specifically the statue of limitations is 5 years. Even if Biden and Trump both decided not to enforce the law, the next president could still go after app stores for hosting it, and impose all fines.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#170

Post by blackoil »

wilg wrote: post #148
AirMax98 wrote: post #98

It's a shame that it's come to this. I feel that all arguments that TikTok is unhealthy or spyware and bad for our general public are valid, but the same arguments also apply to Instagram/Twitter/Whatever. Rather than have some sort of further regulation for what data any application can collect and present to Americans, we've just brought the hammer down on the millions of people that use this application for their…

None of those arguments are the salient one, which is that a geopolitical adversary has control over a major influence vector on US public opinion. They could simply have divested.

While I agree with your argument partially, I still find it ironic.

It assumes that we must prevent public from accessing some thoughts/propoganda as they may not be able to make right decision themselves. This is rhyming with 1930s Germany or other authoritative regimes since then.

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