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TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

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Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#231

Post by dmitrygr »

hcurtiss wrote: post #224

By saying China's using Tik Tok to subvert "democracy," aren't we really saying voters are not individual agents but rather a mob subject to manipulation by propaganda? I sometimes cannot believe it's those who so loudly cry about threats to "democracy" that simultaneously take such a cynical view of the democratic process. Rather than tackle the narratives substantively, they'd argue about who gets to manipulate the…

  > voters are not individual agents but rather a mob subject to manipulation by propaganda
Was this ever not the case?

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#233

Post by Cumpiler69 »

dmitrygr wrote: post #231
hcurtiss wrote: post #224

By saying China's using Tik Tok to subvert "democracy," aren't we really saying voters are not individual agents but rather a mob subject to manipulation by propaganda? I sometimes cannot believe it's those who so loudly cry about threats to "democracy" that simultaneously take such a cynical view of the democratic process. Rather than tackle the narratives substantively, they'd argue about who gets to manipulate the…

> voters are not individual agents but rather a mob subject to manipulation by propaganda Was this ever not the case?

It was always like that.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#234

Post by accrual »

hbarka wrote: post #196

“Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), the author of the bill to ban TikTok, owns hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock in Meta, one of TikTok's chief rivals. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) bought up to $50,000 worth of Meta stock last January before voting to ban TikTok in April." Exhibit 1. https://www.capitoltrades.com/issuers/431610?page=2

Another:

- Markwayne Mullin (R Oklahoma) purchased $15-$50k Meta stock on 01/02/2024 [0]

A nice list: https://www.capitoltrades.com/issuers/431610

[0] https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/3-politician...

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#235

Post by thrance »

hbarka wrote: post #196

“Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), the author of the bill to ban TikTok, owns hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock in Meta, one of TikTok's chief rivals. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) bought up to $50,000 worth of Meta stock last January before voting to ban TikTok in April." Exhibit 1. https://www.capitoltrades.com/issuers/431610?page=2

Surely they are doing this to preserve free speech and for the security of hard-working freedom-loving god-fearing americans, and not for their own selfish interests.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#236

Post by zrail »

thepace wrote: post #135

Congress looking towards an enforcement while the President trying to make a deal. It is going to be interesting how this plays out. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-johnson-2-...

I wonder how Mr. Johnson is proposing to do his enforcement, seeing as how the executive is the branch of government charged with enforcing the laws.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#237

Post by rchaud »

yibg wrote: post #137
sekai wrote: post #57

The people pretending that the TikTok law is a speech issue are ignoring that no one was requiring TikTok to change their content at all. The law was written to allow for 0 impact on users if the CCP-connected parent company simply divested. Their preference to shut down instead of receiving tens of billions of dollars would be a clear violation of a company’s fiduciary duty to shareholders for any normal company. Bu…

I keep seeing this type of comment here, like a sell is the obvious thing to do. Why? Selling / divesting TikTok US under these circumstances would surely not fetch the best price. In addition they would immediately create a global competitor that have the same product. Why would ByteDance the company or its investors want that?

Not to mention, why would they trust the US to pay tens of billions of dollars after this rigmarole? The incoming head of state doesn't exactly have a great track record of seeing through on promises to pay and is threatening tariffs against all and sundry.

Anybody with that kind of financing readily available is throwing it at AI and not another social network, no matter how useful it might be for domestic propaganda.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#238

Post by xyst »

TT playing both the public and politicians for their gain. Well played.

Biden admin wasn’t going to enforce ban but TT soft shutdown yesterday with message pandering to incoming admin (broadcasted to hundred millions of users).

High suspicion of political theater.

I wish ppl would see through this and realize this is yet another distraction to divide us via culture war.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#239

Post by epcoa »

hcurtiss wrote: post #224

By saying China's using Tik Tok to subvert "democracy," aren't we really saying voters are not individual agents but rather a mob subject to manipulation by propaganda? I sometimes cannot believe it's those who so loudly cry about threats to "democracy" that simultaneously take such a cynical view of the democratic process. Rather than tackle the narratives substantively, they'd argue about who gets to manipulate the…

> Honestly, maybe there's some truth to that, but it sure flies in the face of the sanctity of voting and "democracy."

Although some choose or have to squawk loudly about it, the sanctity of “democracy” is not universally or even widely accepted.

To extend the Winston Churchill quote, it’s mostly a charade but it’s the best one we have (in my opinion).

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#240

Post by hackyhacky »

Brystephor wrote: post #34

What's that saying? The best way to get a promotion is to cause a problem and then fix it? Political things aside, it's crazy to see so much of a flip-flop so quickly. Has there been any other behavior like this in the past where a company "shut themselves down" to make a big political statement and then almost immediately undid the shut down?

> it's crazy to see so much of a flip-flop so quickly.

Trump was against Tiktok before he was for it.

He was also against crypto currencies before he released his own.

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