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TikTok goes dark in the US

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Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#301

Post by talldatethrow »

sirisaysgpt wrote: post #271
daemoens wrote: post #231

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]

The message being displayed to users is very pro Trump right in the message.

And I assume you mean woke* content not DEI.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#302

Post by enlightenedfool »

ungreased0675 wrote: post #174
cute_boi wrote: post #47

I hope trump will reverse this action. I don't want government to decide what I am allowed to watch.

Are you ok with the Chinese government deciding what you’re allowed to watch?

Huh? how are they deciding? Every time you watch a video or install an app it's your decision.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#303

Post by Aloisius »

rugpulltikytoky wrote: post #211

I think most folks are upset because the US always projects this open image about itself around the world and most importantly to it's citizens. However there are cases where it's actions go against this prevailing narrative and the people are starting to ask questions.

I think most people are upset because they're having withdrawal.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#304

Post by nomilk »

dehrmann wrote: post #300
nomilk wrote: post #288

To those with knowledge in security, what exactly were the concerns? Here are the four I can think of. - Users tend to use the same passwords across apps. It would be trivial for TikTok to provide an email + password combo to CCP. - Until 2020, the tiktok iOS app was accessing the system clipboard at all times that TikTok was running (even in the background) https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/26/21304228/tiktok-security…

There's the "Grindr threat"[1] There are metadata threats around who's connected to whom, where users are, where they go, etc. There can be leaked data in videos posted by military personnel 1: https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/6/21168079/grindr-sold-chine...

> the "Grindr threat"

Hadn't heard of this. The linked article explains:

> At the time of Reuters’ March 2019 report, it was unclear what CFIUS’s specific concerns were, but the FT says the committee worried the Chinese government could use personal data from the app to blackmail US citizens — which could include US government officials.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#305

Post by prmoustache »

If the problem is China, why wouldn't they ban all apps from China?

And what exactly is preventing China to launch a new app withjin hours (that is the point of cloud infras right?) under a new company using tiktok source code and allow easy importation of dumps from tiktok to facilitate their migration and get a head start?

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#306

Post by dehrmann »

_bin_ wrote: post #289
jchook wrote: 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...

it's a trade war response to china's long history of walling non-chinese apps off from their billion-odd-user market while happily collecting users, data, and ad revenue from their own apps in other countries. if china removes all limitations on US tech platforms and ceases exploiting our open-by-default policy, we can talk lifting restrictions. until then, all chinese tech services should be banned. basically china'…

Somewhere I heard that there would have been much less drama around the TikTok ban if the US had framed it as tit-for-tat punishment for not allowing US social media platforms in China.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#307

Post by rayval »

sirisaysgpt wrote: post #271
daemoens wrote: post #231

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]

I was on RedNote just now. I saw some gay content that had been there yesterday as well, and has not been removed.

BTW, the RedNote userbase in China is 70% female, similar to Pinterest in the US. That may be why there's an affinity with a portion of the Tiktok userbase. The RedNote users are not into politics (at least were not). They cats, cooking, fashion, interior decorating, travel, sports.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#308

Post by jandrewrogers »

A point I think most people don’t understand is that the government interest in TikTok has little to do with exploiting user data per se, a lot of other companies do that. The issue is that TikTok is somewhat unique in being aggressively weaponized in currently very active “grey zone” conflicts.

This has been an open secret in national security circles but the average person on the street has no idea what a grey zone conflict is, what it looks like, or why it matters. Geopolitic strategies are increasingly executed as grey zone warfare, and some hybrid warfare, because the costs and risks of traditional overt warfare have become unacceptably high.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#309

Post by _Algernon_ »

sterlind wrote: post #293
_Algernon_ wrote: post #255

This just means that China will use bots on american social media for influence. Honsestly, considering Trump got elected, that is enough. Dont think this will affect foreign influence by china much.

controlling the algorithm is a lot more subtle than using bots. it's pretty easy to notice bots and shills. it's harder to notice when it's all humans with sincere beliefs, just that some beliefs are overrepresented.

>it's pretty easy to notice bots and shills

You only notice the bots that you notice. How do you know how many bots you encounter where you dont realize it is a bot? Knowing this number is necessary to make the claim that claim, but it is fundamentally unknowable.

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