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TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

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Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#441

Post by uludag »

Buttons840 wrote: post #45

The TikTok debate has always been about the balance between national security and free speech. We found a compromise. TikTok will remain, all of its national security risks will remain. Also, the law that tramples free speech is upheld by the court, but will be blantently ignored and unenforced. Everybody loses. This outcome is worse than anyone could have conceived.

There's something in this argument about national security, that if taken to its logical conclusion, would result in a world most people would consider upside-down:

If social media owned by foreign companies is a national security threat, then wouldn't that essentially make FB, X, YouTube a threat to like every other nation? Why not throw wikipedia in too? So now any nation can legitimately see any other source or collector of information as a national security threat and ban it at will? Taken to the logical conclusion, every nation should be enveloped by its own digital borders.

To me, it's the popular sentiment alone, for example people feeling sad and upset TikTok's gone and feeling happy that it's back, that's preventing this dismal future, otherwise governments would block apps on a whim. And this I'd say is a win.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#442

Post by moshun »

pjc50 wrote: post #110
robswc wrote: post #10

The straight up "shout out" in the pop-up, I almost couldn't believe my eyes. I don't think I've seen anything like it in a long time. I also don't think an American company would ever do that as it seems "unprofessional." Ironically, it probably got them huge bonus points so they know what they're doing.

They're Chinese. They know how to handle a shakedown by Party officials: it needs both bribes and flattery.

Damn, this is the simplest, most accurate breakdown on what’s actually happening that I’ve come across. The incoming administration is pretty transparent in the bend toward corruption, and these folks know exactly how to manage that as a business challenge.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#443

Post by marsten »

djcapelis wrote: post #132
sekai wrote: post #57

The people pretending that the TikTok law is a speech issue are ignoring that no one was requiring TikTok to change their content at all. The law was written to allow for 0 impact on users if the CCP-connected parent company simply divested. Their preference to shut down instead of receiving tens of billions of dollars would be a clear violation of a company’s fiduciary duty to shareholders for any normal company. Bu…

I’m not arguing it’s a restriction on TikTok’s speech or bytedance’s speech. It’s a restriction on my speech. Telling me where I can publish a video? Telling me what apps I can download? Telling my software vendor what software they’re allowed to let me get? Telling internet providers what servers they’re allowed to let my device access? The law doesn’t fine TikTok. The law fines the people who let me download an app…

No court in the land will agree with your interpretation. The first amendment protects speech, but it doesn't grant you the right to publish that speech wherever you want. If it did then Facebook couldn't ban people from its platform, for example.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#444

Post by ijidak »

IvyMike wrote: post #202

Big 1984 energy coming from this story. “It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grammes a week. And only yesterday, he reflected, it had been announced that the ration was to be REDUCED to twenty grammes a week. Was it possible that they could swallow that, after only twenty-four hours? Yes, they swallowed it.”

Human society is collapsing.

The stuff playing out on right now was science fiction when 1984 was written.

This whole charade has had me laughing since yesterday.

The Caesars of Rome often played these public games to make themselves look magnanimous, while at the same time consolidating power and control.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#445

Post by cbzbc »

jdlyga wrote: post #399

The TikTok ban is worse for national security. It's trading in an imagined threat for a real threat. Though Xiaohongshu is having a cute little cultural exchange between Chinese people and Americans, there's so much more Chinese propaganda on that platform. I got recommended a few videos talking about Chinese/American wargames and how Americans were done for due to ultrasonic missiles and naval capabilities. You neve…

> I got recommended a few videos talking about Chinese/American wargames and how Americans were done for due to ultrasonic missiles and naval capabilities.

You get those on youtube as well, for every combination of large power, I'm not sure why that its own should be a red flag.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#446

Post by SOTGO »

randerson wrote: post #317

From China's perspective, I wonder if there's a workaround to sell 50% of TikTok to a US public company, and then through a few intermediaries purchase a large enough holding in _that_ company to give them a board seat or two.

I believe that they are required to have no more than 20% ownership by "foreign adversaries"

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#447

Post by dennis_jeeves2 »

IvyMike wrote: post #202

Big 1984 energy coming from this story. “It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grammes a week. And only yesterday, he reflected, it had been announced that the ration was to be REDUCED to twenty grammes a week. Was it possible that they could swallow that, after only twenty-four hours? Yes, they swallowed it.”

Distractions as usual for the minions.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#448

Post by moussess »

djcapelis wrote: post #132
sekai wrote: post #57

The people pretending that the TikTok law is a speech issue are ignoring that no one was requiring TikTok to change their content at all. The law was written to allow for 0 impact on users if the CCP-connected parent company simply divested. Their preference to shut down instead of receiving tens of billions of dollars would be a clear violation of a company’s fiduciary duty to shareholders for any normal company. Bu…

I’m not arguing it’s a restriction on TikTok’s speech or bytedance’s speech. It’s a restriction on my speech. Telling me where I can publish a video? Telling me what apps I can download? Telling my software vendor what software they’re allowed to let me get? Telling internet providers what servers they’re allowed to let my device access? The law doesn’t fine TikTok. The law fines the people who let me download an app…

The Supreme Court with its unanimous decision made it very very clear it’s not about freedom of speech, but about foreign adversary having access to data profile of 180 million US citizens. And believe in lawmakers argument of foreign adversary propaganda to those citizens.

Why do people on hacker news keep drudging up freedom of speech ad nauseum??

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#449

Post by timewizard »

simonsarris wrote: post #423
hbarka wrote: post #196

“Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), the author of the bill to ban TikTok, owns hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock in Meta, one of TikTok's chief rivals. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) bought up to $50,000 worth of Meta stock last January before voting to ban TikTok in April." Exhibit 1. https://www.capitoltrades.com/issuers/431610?page=2

McCaul's net worth is estimated $294 million. His positions are a rounding error. That he owns so little Meta is impressive. Mullin's net worth is 20-75 million. So up to 0.25% of his net worth if we use the low estimate is a Meta acquisition? Who cares?

> His net worth was estimated at $294 million, up from $74 million the previous year. In 2004, the same publication estimated his net worth at $12 million. His wealth increase was due to large monetary transfers from his wife's family.

You do realize these people have friends and family.

> Who cares?

Insider trading deprives _all other_ legitimate participants of the market. That the trade is small relative to this individual net worth is meaningless. That is value that should have been captured by someone else taking a genuine risk. It's a thumb on the scale of the market and it is morally repugnant.

Re: TikTok says it is restoring service for U.S. users

#450

Post by JumpCrisscross »

djcapelis wrote: post #132
sekai wrote: post #57

The people pretending that the TikTok law is a speech issue are ignoring that no one was requiring TikTok to change their content at all. The law was written to allow for 0 impact on users if the CCP-connected parent company simply divested. Their preference to shut down instead of receiving tens of billions of dollars would be a clear violation of a company’s fiduciary duty to shareholders for any normal company. Bu…

I’m not arguing it’s a restriction on TikTok’s speech or bytedance’s speech. It’s a restriction on my speech. Telling me where I can publish a video? Telling me what apps I can download? Telling my software vendor what software they’re allowed to let me get? Telling internet providers what servers they’re allowed to let my device access? The law doesn’t fine TikTok. The law fines the people who let me download an app…

> Telling me where I can publish a video?

This is like arguing graffiti laws are censorship.

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