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FCC: TikTok is unacceptable security risk and should be removed from app stores

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Re: FCC: TikTok is unacceptable security risk and should be removed from app stores

#41

Post by johnywalks »

snehk wrote: post #10

I don't have a horse in this race at all, but the annoying part is that the same rules don't get applied across the board. Everything they're accusing TikTok of - from data harvesting to the government having access to said data - is true for western companies as well and that should be the problem. Not the fact that the data is now in the hands of the Chinese but that the data is being collected at all provided to t…

The audacity of the US. They literally spy and collect data from the whole internet - not just US citizens, EVERYONE!

Data collection aside - relying on a single Appstore that is governed by US law is not acceptable.

Re: FCC: TikTok is unacceptable security risk and should be removed from app stores

#42

Post by moomoo11 »

Of course not. Every government is going to look out for themselves. Following your reasoning, look at China. They have their own playbook for operating within China, and it is quite restrictive. They make it harder for foreign entities to do business within China.

From a geopolitical viewpoint this makes complete sense. You don't want your rival to have a backdoor into influencing/manipulating/discovering how people in your nation are behaving, especially when you consider how much data about sensitive information might be getting onto tiktok, like videos made by military service members on bases, videos showing gaps/issues/etc in infrastructure, or at ports and other locations.

As for me, I'm an American and it is in my best interests that USA stays top dog. I didn't immigrate here to downgrade lol, so I want USA to do whatever it needs to be the top player.

Re: FCC: TikTok is unacceptable security risk and should be removed from app stores

#43

Post by jollybean »

A bit hypocritical but it's still mostly correct.

Also, China is not the US.

This is a Giant Thing.

China would never, ever, ever allow US companies to have direct influence over their media, so even by basic tit-for-tat rules, this is reasonable.

Moreover, even from a 'trade' perspective, if China does not allow such social media apps from US over there, which denies US companies that Ad revenue, the same should be applied in reverse. No sense in letting TT get Ad revenue, it should go to some entity playing by the same rules US, Europe, Japan etc.

Re: FCC: TikTok is unacceptable security risk and should be removed from app stores

#44

Post by numair »

This is dangerous political rhetoric which sets the stage for all sorts of tit-for-tat regulation that seeks to optimize for the protection of local companies (in this case, Meta/Facebook/Instagram, which have the world's largest face database and have consistently violated laws + lobbied against them).

Imagine what would happen if a Chinese regulator decided that Tesla's telematics stack was a massive national security risk? One random comment from some loser trying to build a political career (like this guy) and you'd see the stock go through a small crash.

The capture of American bureaucracy by paid interests is going to be the downfall of the country. Michael Lewis has been talking about this quite a bit recently, and will apparently make this the subject of his next book. I hope everyone reads it.

Re: FCC: TikTok is unacceptable security risk and should be removed from app stores

#45

Post by shreyshnaccount »

dubswithus wrote: post #38
snehk wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They ban them because the companies don't want to follow the same rules Chinese companies have to follow. It's exactly what I'm asking for. Have one set of rules and apply them to everyone. Ban data harvesting completely. Ban it for Facebook, Google and everyone else and then kick out TikTok because they don't follow the rules.

They ban them because they won’t censor factual information and won’t promote disinformation. See how Chinese censorship applies to mRNA vaccine conspiracy theories. A person that debunked them was banned from wechat. Do you see western governments doing this?

no, in the west we see companies banning content, not the govt. pot, kettle.

Re: FCC: TikTok is unacceptable security risk and should be removed from app stores

#46

Post by dubswithus »

jsiaajdsdaa wrote: post #2

However putting this data in the hands of FAANG is no problem at all, and totally can't end up in any nefarious hands.

The Chinese government censors posts on social media. It’s nefarious by design. Nothing like that happens with FAANG.

Re: FCC: TikTok is unacceptable security risk and should be removed from app stores

#47

Post by mesh »

cute_boi wrote: post #13

Well, I would say Social Media are unacceptable security risk instead of TikTok. Chinese gov generally can't do anything in US compared to US government, so personally I think facebook is more risky. We need better privacy and social media reform instead of targeting tiktok. Also, why should we listen to Brendan Carr who shouldn't be able to speak for entire FCC. He is from Ajit Pai who takes lobbies from Facebook, M…

>Chinese gov generally can't do anything in US compared to US government, so personally I think facebook is more risky.

The Economist discussed this last week:

>The bigger, underappreciated problem with TikTok is the chance it offers China to manipulate what the app’s vast foreign audience sees. TikTok has gone beyond sunny entertainment to become a major news platform. Open the app and among the songs and skits you may see Supreme Court protests or a flailing Boris Johnson. A quarter of American users say they consider TikTok to be a news source. In countries with weaker mainstream media the share is as high as 50%.

>That makes TikTok’s Chinese ownership a serious worry. The Chinese government actively meddles in domestic media; four years ago it shut down another popular ByteDance app, unamused by the subversive jokes being shared on it. TikTok’s content moderators are outside China. But the app’s algorithm is nurtured in Beijing. A tweak here or there could give more traction to videos questioning covid-19’s Chinese origin, say, or blaming nato for the war in Ukraine. Because each user gets a personalised feed, tampering would be hard to spot.

>TikTok insists no such meddling has taken place. But a company vulnerable to bullying by an authoritarian government obsessed with media manipulation is clearly a risk. Anyone who considers this paranoid should consider China’s record in Hong Kong. Without new safety mechanisms, Western countries might one day have to shut TikTok down.

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/07/07/whos-afraid-of-...

Re: FCC: TikTok is unacceptable security risk and should be removed from app stores

#48

Post by dubswithus »

shreyshnaccount wrote: post #45
dubswithus wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They ban them because they won’t censor factual information and won’t promote disinformation. See how Chinese censorship applies to mRNA vaccine conspiracy theories. A person that debunked them was banned from wechat. Do you see western governments doing this?

no, in the west we see companies banning content, not the govt. pot, kettle.

What social media company in the US bans positive coverage of mRNA vaccines?

In the US algorithms ban content, often by mistake. In China a political official or someone working for the government reviews the content personally. Big difference.

Re: FCC: TikTok is unacceptable security risk and should be removed from app stores

#49

Post by thepangolino »

snehk wrote: post #10

I don't have a horse in this race at all, but the annoying part is that the same rules don't get applied across the board. Everything they're accusing TikTok of - from data harvesting to the government having access to said data - is true for western companies as well and that should be the problem. Not the fact that the data is now in the hands of the Chinese but that the data is being collected at all provided to t…

>data harvesting to the government having access to said data - is true for western companies as well and that should be the problem

Very much this. As a European who doesn't intent to set a single foot in China, I'm much more comfortable at the thought of China having my data than my own government.

Re: FCC: TikTok is unacceptable security risk and should be removed from app stores

#50

Post by p1necone »

raxxorraxor wrote: post #30
snehk wrote: post #10

I don't have a horse in this race at all, but the annoying part is that the same rules don't get applied across the board. Everything they're accusing TikTok of - from data harvesting to the government having access to said data - is true for western companies as well and that should be the problem. Not the fact that the data is now in the hands of the Chinese but that the data is being collected at all provided to t…

You could argue that a data hoarder in a jurisdiction other than your own is even less significant for personal data security. I agree though that western companies more or less don't have any case here as they behave the same way as TikTok in China. They are just less dishonest about it. Furthermore the behavior of intelligence agencies sanctioned this kind of surveillance. Ironically the decreased trust will be vas…

> You could argue that a data hoarder in a jurisdiction other than your own is even less significant for personal data security.

I kinda feel this way. On a national security level, China having everyone's data is absolutely a disaster.

But on a personal level - if I lived in the United States, I would rather the Chinese government surveil me than the US government.

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