The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns • Hacker News Board

Re: The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns

#241

Post by notpushkin » Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 4:14 PM UTC

josefresco wrote: post #197

derefr wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Build a local clone” — the obvious answer is that both Instagram and Snapchat already have; and that nobody wants to switch. If only the US blocked TikTok, that’d just mean there’d still be a TikTok that every other western country has access to except the US, full of content interesting to Westerners. People with Android devices would just sideload it, and use VPNs to access it if necessary. The less-obvious answer…

> nobody wants to switch There's no reason to switch now. Ban TikTok and people will switch.

Both TikTok and Instagram are banned in Russia, and yet people use still them. You're underestimating the “network effect”. (Is there a proper name for that?)

Re: The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns

#242

Post by sliq » Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 4:14 PM UTC

Wow, here in Germany this concern was always called a "right wing conspiracy theory" by literally every mainstream media outlet. Headlines like "Is Trump afraid of dancing teens?" were quite popular (even when it was clear that it's a technical problem).

We live in bizarre times.

Re: The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns

#243

Post by realgeniushere » Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 4:16 PM UTC

If only a previous president had said so and banned it. Oh, that did happen. And then Biden unbanned it because a bunch of liberal journalists told him to.

Re: The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns

#244

Post by vajrabum » Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 4:16 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #96

samatman wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should have rules that include forbidding any Chinese company from selling SaaS or social media until CCP takes the Great Firewall down. They've made a pariah internet and they should stay there. Suit you? Suits me.

What about Russian social media (I think vk got sanctioned but not livejournal)? What about, given the other thread, Qatar? Should Orkut (Brazilian) have been allowed? My point is that the rules should target what it does rather than simply "China=Bad", since that offers a way back into compliance with the rules. However unlikely that actually is.

Orkut by the way was created by a Stanford trained engineer at Google. It wasn't Brazilian. Rather it had a Brazilian community.

Re: The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns

#245

Post by xwolfi » Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 4:16 PM UTC

derefr wrote: post #196

pjc50 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unless you audit every app's source code and sign its binaries Isn't that called "an app store"? Good luck getting non-signed binaries on an iPhone. My point is that if TikTok is somehow able to escape its sandbox and perform surveillance, that's a fault in the sandbox, and there should be a general process for handling this otherwise you just have to deal with the next week's app "TokTik".

You don’t need to escape a sandbox to monitor people’s communications that are done through your own backend servers.

And God knows China is collecting all that important juicy information on teenagers' love for the latest fad ...

Man the FBI acts like tik tok is used in jet planes and nuclear power plants...

Re: The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns

#246

Post by computerfriend » Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 4:17 PM UTC

est wrote: post #194

computerfriend wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's shut down. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58911297

The abomination Linkedin.cn (force redirects, ads, bloat features) was shutdown but Linkedin.com is always accessible.

I don't believe this is correct.

Re: The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns

#247

Post by NickC25 » Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 4:17 PM UTC

I have no idea if it's a legitimate security risk, but regardless, if China wants to play the game with us that they are currently playing (banning non-Chinese apps from their country) we have to play that game, too. It makes no sense to play the "we'll take the high road" approach with them. If they ban our applications and services in their country, we need to ban their applications and services in our country. Full stop. The surveillance aspect isn't even a starter here, it's larger than that. If we have to play by their rules in their country, they have to play by our rules in our country.

I don't give a shit if it pisses off GenZ. GenZ's ability to share stupid videos of themselves dancing to crappy music is completely irrelevant to the wider geopolitical threats that China poses.

In full disclaimer: I helped build a service that was partially aimed at Chinese users, and had Tsinghua University as a client. When the trade wars started, our relationship was "ended" and Tsinghua took our idea & software and essentially cut us out of the equation completely. (Yes, their copycat version of our software and idea was completely useless and didn't work, but that's besides the point)

Re: The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns

#248

Post by night-rider » Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 4:17 PM UTC

Zuckerberg wants TikT0k banned in the US so badly

Re: The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns

#249

Post by computerfriend » Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 4:18 PM UTC

shkkmo wrote: post #240

computerfriend wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of things can be bad at the same time. What NSA and GCHQ do is worth discussing, for sure. But it has nothing to do with this.

The NSA and GCHQ can literally and legally do the exact same things. In what possible what does it have "nothing to do with this"? If you are making a list of the worst actors in terms of global surveillance, they have to be at the top... The only reasons not to include them are purely nationalistic.

Because it's a separate topic and you're engaging in whataboutism.

Re: The FBI alleges TikTok poses national security concerns

#250

Post by xwolfi » Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 4:18 PM UTC

computerfriend wrote: post #178

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to specify who "our" is there. USA's upper echelons, presumably? The risks are existential to ...? Again presumably you mean those who thrive under USA-centric capitalism? You think the CCP are planning a forced takeover of Western democracy?

> You think the CCP are planning a forced takeover of Western democracy? Forced or otherwise, yes. This is the whole point of the "making the world safe for dictators" thing.

But are you sure you're not being manipulated a bit ? China and many dictatorships, already have enough problems ruling their own shit, you think they want to like ... take over americans ? What does that even mean, how can they even do that when they cant even take Taiwan ? The "Republic of China" Taiwan...

All they seem to want is make sure you dont talk to their own sheeps while you focus on yours lol