201–210 of 374 posts
Very much a tool to influence Western users and thought.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’d rather have a generally applicable law in place. If we think massive data collection shouldn’t be allowed then ban that.
It feels like debate is a generation behind practice here. The greatest danger isn't from data collection, but from algorithmic recommendation. The data collection horse is out of the barn, has legitimate uses, and is an incredibly thorny issue to legislate appropriately. And will be adjusted for the next 20+ years. What needs to be done now is to say that (1) at a certain user count ("too big to democratically ignor…
Let's say we had this. We had some ML/AI team go up to Congress/DoJ and show them some tensors, some "back propagating LSTM" horseshit. How does that help the people that don't understand how the ad model works?
Hell, I bet there is _no one_ using AI or tensors or any of that shit that can tell you _why_ their model output Foo instead of Bar.
One thing that I found very interesting when I looked into what TikTok does: it's scary good at aggregating data about you. I live in a foreign country, my phone's network is behind a VPN to a different foreign country and I gave the app no extra permissions, yet somehow I still got recommended content from the country where I was born. Since it's a small country there's no way that's a coincidence. I'm both intrigue…
Are you on iphone or android? I would guess that your device has been fingerprinted through other app usage you have used, and that fingerprint has an association with the country of your birth. It's possible that such a service is provided by a state actor, or part of a marketing/advertising service.
It's not unclear at all. It's Chinese data harvesting software. They'll do token public appeasement to avoid negative pressure, but every feature in the app is designed to collect biometrics and behavioral data. China is not a good faith operator. Given the data needed to influence public opinion and voting, they will engage in manipulation favorable to their interests. That alone is sufficient to run tiktok at a los…
My one nitpick is that I believe it would be best to replace "China" with "CCP" in your statement. It's important to be specific in cases like these. I think it likely that it is not geographical China, nor all Chinese people you are attempting to reference, but their leadership the CCP.
“China to enter talks with the United States about social media” would not mean all Chinese people will talk to all Americans. This is true whether the content is positive, negative, or neutral.
I think there is a case for a mandatory warning label, like on the app store and 5 sec interstitial that says: “ Warning: this application sends your behavior to a foreign party. It may be stored indefinitely and used for personal retribution, social scoring, and manipulation of your political views. Proceed with caution”. If that seems extreme, an outright ban of the app is worse. The US and others have had a good h…
It's not unclear at all. It's Chinese data harvesting software. They'll do token public appeasement to avoid negative pressure, but every feature in the app is designed to collect biometrics and behavioral data. China is not a good faith operator. Given the data needed to influence public opinion and voting, they will engage in manipulation favorable to their interests. That alone is sufficient to run tiktok at a los…
I don’t refute anything you say, but linking to a page that features Glenn Beck, Mark Levin and Tucker Carlson doesn’t help your case. Not to mention the clear partisanship and call for donation to the “American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology” - a rabbit hole I’m happy to avoid.
I don't doubt that Bytedance shares Chinese TouTiao user data with the Chinese government, akin to how Apple does it with iCloud, but Bytedance has been pretty adamant that TikTok is external to China and doesn't share data. Even when there was an executive order to ban TikTok for being a national security threat, they couldn't prove that it was.
Does anyone have actual evidence of TikTok sharing with the Chinese government, outside of political hit pieces like the one above?
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Neither does TikTok if you don't upload anything.
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Also > How much are the CCP paying you to defend TikTok in all these comments?
This is surely not the way to have a rational conversation about the topic?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It feels like debate is a generation behind practice here. The greatest danger isn't from data collection, but from algorithmic recommendation. The data collection horse is out of the barn, has legitimate uses, and is an incredibly thorny issue to legislate appropriately. And will be adjusted for the next 20+ years. What needs to be done now is to say that (1) at a certain user count ("too big to democratically ignor…
> Show me how this works, now. Let's say we had this. We had some ML/AI team go up to Congress/DoJ and show them some tensors, some "back propagating LSTM" horseshit. How does that help the people that don't understand how the ad model works? Hell, I bet there is _no one_ using AI or tensors or any of that shit that can tell you _why_ their model output Foo instead of Bar.
If explainability is a problem (e.g. "We don't know why our algorithm recommends higher-interest rate loan products to African Americans"), then that's a rabbit hole that needs to have funding put towards digging up as well.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’d rather have a generally applicable law in place. If we think massive data collection shouldn’t be allowed then ban that.
It feels like debate is a generation behind practice here. The greatest danger isn't from data collection, but from algorithmic recommendation. The data collection horse is out of the barn, has legitimate uses, and is an incredibly thorny issue to legislate appropriately. And will be adjusted for the next 20+ years. What needs to be done now is to say that (1) at a certain user count ("too big to democratically ignor…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Revenue streams. These network contacts provide $$$ to those companies. They're low effort, easy revenue for them. Privacy for customers be d*mned. I once met a senior-level dev who worked for a company, they wouldn't have their own app on his phone, due to those invasive practices tracking his behaviour.
I thought the most curious was the ratio of third:first party domains for magazines and news. It suggests they control very little of their technical, revenue-generating infrastructure. Which is interesting when the narrative is "The internet is destroying journalism." But another way to phrase it might be "All of these companies drastically underinvested in web/mobile, and continue to do so." (Although the NYT seems…
These sites have to do that to remain competitive.