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TikTok goes dark in the US

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Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#271

The app was shutdown a couple of hours ago in the US and this was the message all TikTok users saw when they opened the app.[1] The same guy who pushed for a ban massively last year, is going to save the app despite the security concerns he and most of our government said they had. If only we knew what happened in that classified briefing that made them vote together across party lines. [1] https://a57.foxnews.com/st…

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Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#272

The app was shutdown a couple of hours ago in the US and this was the message all TikTok users saw when they opened the app.[1] The same guy who pushed for a ban massively last year, is going to save the app despite the security concerns he and most of our government said they had. If only we knew what happened in that classified briefing that made them vote together across party lines. [1] https://a57.foxnews.com/st…

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Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#274
post #213

was not really on TikTok but a bleak day for anyone that believes in the free speech ideals the US was founded on

The US has banned foreign leadership of tv and newspapers since the 30s. At no point had the US ever really allowed foreign governments unfettered control over our media.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#275

The app was shutdown a couple of hours ago in the US and this was the message all TikTok users saw when they opened the app.[1] The same guy who pushed for a ban massively last year, is going to save the app despite the security concerns he and most of our government said they had. If only we knew what happened in that classified briefing that made them vote together across party lines. [1] https://a57.foxnews.com/st…

I have a feeling the ban is likely the result of "special interest" groups as opposed to a "classified briefing"

It's obvious the app is being banned because for once we had unbiased news about Israel/Palestine and the ongoing genocide.

A media outlet not easy to censor is unacceptable to the Israeli lobby, and therefore unacceptable to our politicians.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#276

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…

Those arguments have nothing to do with why TikTok was banned. The banning is purely a geopolitical move. TikTok is the only major social network that is (hugely!) popular in Europe and North America that is not controlled by the USA - and even worse for US geopolitical ambitions, it has major ties with China.

This is not some conspiracy theory: this is 100% of the official reason that Congress voted on this. They fear that China has influence through TikTok into the US public, and could use this to sway public opinion [unsaid: just as the US does with Facebook or Twitter]. They also fear that China could surreptitiously spy on high-value targets through the TikTok app - which is why it was forbidden two years ago already from any device used in doing business with the US Government, including the business phones or BYOD phones of all federal employees and contractors.

Interestingly, part of the fear of influence ties back to Gaza. Here is a quote from Mitt Romney about this [0]:

> SENATOR ROMNEY: A small parenthetical point, which is some wonder why there was such overwhelming support for us to shut down potentially TikTok or other entities of that nature. If you look at the postings on TikTok and the number of mentions of Palestinians relative to other social media sites, it’s overwhelmingly so among TikTok broadcasts. So I’d note that’s of real interest, and the President will get the chance to make action in that regard.

This is exactly the sort of issue that the US fears: losing control of the public narrative, especially in the USA, but more broadly as well.

[0] https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-at-mccain-i...

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#277

The app was shutdown a couple of hours ago in the US and this was the message all TikTok users saw when they opened the app.[1] The same guy who pushed for a ban massively last year, is going to save the app despite the security concerns he and most of our government said they had. If only we knew what happened in that classified briefing that made them vote together across party lines. [1] https://a57.foxnews.com/st…

[flagged]

why it's about Russia? are Russians a part of this too?

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#278
post #257

Unreal. Land of Freedom bans Social Media app that runs on US servers, on its own terms, with censorship teams staffed by dozens of ex-US State officials[1]. Amazing that Congress will see bipartisan action on this issue before any of the other much more important issues. It absolutely destroys criticisms of China banning Facebook, etc. 1. https://www.mintpressnews.com/tiktok-chinese-trojan-horse-ru...

Wasn't the concern of data being siphoned off to China? Even India has banned it. Where does freedom come into picture here?

Was it? What was the real concern? And can you prove it?

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#279
post #257

Unreal. Land of Freedom bans Social Media app that runs on US servers, on its own terms, with censorship teams staffed by dozens of ex-US State officials[1]. Amazing that Congress will see bipartisan action on this issue before any of the other much more important issues. It absolutely destroys criticisms of China banning Facebook, etc. 1. https://www.mintpressnews.com/tiktok-chinese-trojan-horse-ru...

Wasn't the concern of data being siphoned off to China? Even India has banned it. Where does freedom come into picture here?

I wouldn’t mind my data being siphoned off to China. It’s not even clear that if China had all of our data then it would meaningfully change world events.

Freedom means freedom from censorship. I can’t think of an equivalent event that’s happened in my lifetime in the US. "India did it too" isn’t exactly a strong rallying cry.

That said, we’ll live. Hopefully our blind trust that there were security concerns ends up being worth something.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#280

they are really blocking even with VPN, i was just testing stuff out. 1 - if you created an account in US and trying to login with that account, then it wont work. 2 - tried logging in to Canada VPN, and create a "Canadian" account so i can login to tiktok, no joy, it somehow throws errors on debugger and does not proceed on sign up button. 3 - Booted up an AWS ec2 free windows tier machine on Canada region, created…

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