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TikTok goes dark in the US

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Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#401

Post by TOMDM »

bilekas wrote: post #386
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…

This is bizarre.. Maybe I'm wrong but is a president even allowed just unilaterally decide to revoke a law ? Maybe the US should just create some privacy protections instead ?

It was explicitly written in this law specifically that the president can unilaterally decide that an affected platform has done enough to no longer qualify for the ban.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#402

Post by qingcharles »

firefoxd wrote: post #294

This morning I felt the urge to download TikTok for the first time. I did, but I didn't bother creating an account. There is a passage in the book Life of Pi, where Pi's family is gathered and ready to leave India for Canada. And his mother does something out of the ordinary: > The day before our departure she pointed at a cigarette wallah and earnestly asked, "Should we get a pack or two?" > Father replied, "They ha…

> Do I use TikTok? No, I've always advocated against it.

This, to me, is a weird stance. On what grounds did you advocate against it?

I just had to create a new account tonight after the ban[0] to keep using it. When you first start TikTok you might be presented with a wave of seemingly crap, bizarre or boring videos, but after several minutes of liking and watching the good stuff the algorithm very quickly starts serving you some excellent content.

There is some really, really great, really smart content on TikTok. I have always advocated for TikTok on those grounds.

[0] my accounts are all on USA servers and you can't log into them even through a VPN

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#404

Post by addicted »

There is literally no content being banned. All the talk about the U.S. trying to censor is nonsensical, as all the opinions by the members of the unanimous Supreme Court clearly pointed out, considering any of those opinions can be made in the hundreds or thousands of other social media avenues.

The entire situation hinges on TikTok’s ownership. They could sell themselves to any organization based outside China and have been given multiple opportunities to do so and they’ve refused.

That tells you all you need to know about the priorities of ByteDance, considering the U.S. was their biggest market since they’re banned in both China and India, the only other countries larger than the U.S.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#405

Post by Vegenoid »

geor9e wrote: post #141

Apple and Google created individual APIs to serve up phone number, contacts, exact location, device model, time zone, clipboard data, photos, files, and cookies to 10 million different random app developers to harvest to their heart's delight. US government passes law against just one of them for using said APIs. Are they going to fix the root of the issue, or just play whack-a-mole forever?

Not only have they created those APIs, they've actually created hardware devices to collect and store such valuable personal data. Banning certain APIs is just another layer of whack-a-mole - we need them to pull the weed out by its roots!

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#406

Post by cma »

addicted wrote: post #404

There is literally no content being banned. All the talk about the U.S. trying to censor is nonsensical, as all the opinions by the members of the unanimous Supreme Court clearly pointed out, considering any of those opinions can be made in the hundreds or thousands of other social media avenues. The entire situation hinges on TikTok’s ownership. They could sell themselves to any organization based outside China and…

Facebook is not being banned from China. China just asks that Facebook sell itself to a non-American company or they will be banned (but it's not a ban). Any of those opinions China is "suppressing" by not allowing Facebook can be shared offline in countless unmonitored avenues like back alleys and open fields far enough away from lip reading drones.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#407

Post by t-3 »

gonzo41 wrote: post #360

This is a massive self own by the US estalishment. They are just damaging their own trust but not releasing the full and classified reasoning behind this.

Given all the very partisan flip-flopping on TikTok, I'm guessing there's not much to the "full and classified reasoning" and the real reason is more like "damn kids don't read my twitface posts, instead they call me names on a Chinese app, China CHina CHIHIANANANADASARtGHHGLE" and "My opponent has a lot of traction on TikTok, let's shut it down".

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#408

Post by ThrowawayTestr »

qingcharles wrote: post #402
firefoxd wrote: post #294

This morning I felt the urge to download TikTok for the first time. I did, but I didn't bother creating an account. There is a passage in the book Life of Pi, where Pi's family is gathered and ready to leave India for Canada. And his mother does something out of the ordinary: > The day before our departure she pointed at a cigarette wallah and earnestly asked, "Should we get a pack or two?" > Father replied, "They ha…

> Do I use TikTok? No, I've always advocated against it. This, to me, is a weird stance. On what grounds did you advocate against it? I just had to create a new account tonight after the ban[0] to keep using it. When you first start TikTok you might be presented with a wave of seemingly crap, bizarre or boring videos, but after several minutes of liking and watching the good stuff the algorithm very quickly starts se…

>On what grounds did you advocate against it?

It's owned by the Chinese government and I don't trust the Chinese government.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#409

Post by low_tech_love »

wilg wrote: post #148
AirMax98 wrote: post #98

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…

None of those arguments are the salient one, which is that a geopolitical adversary has control over a major influence vector on US public opinion. They could simply have divested.

This entire thread could be removed and only this comment should be kept. Unfortunately people have bought into this idea that all players in this game are following the rules. The US government is an extremely complex system and there is no way they would have reached a bipartisan conclusion on this if there wasn’t strong (confidential) evidence to support it.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#410

Post by globular-toast »

gemerald wrote: post #48
jedimastert wrote: post #20

I'm really curious and somewhat worried about what the economic effect of this is going to be. There are a number of legitimate small businesses that saw a lot of, if not all of, their business and customer base through TikTok. Business that just will not be able to make the move to somewhere else. I personally know musicians, actors, and artists that got a lot of work through TikTok. People who actually create thing…

You should never be fully reliant on a single corporate platform if you make a living selling goods or services.

Which will be impossible if people stop using cash.
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