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US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19

reuters.com

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Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19

#561

Post by rchaud »

est wrote: post #130
xnx wrote: post #36

1) Excellent way to teach millions of people about sideloading overnight. This could be a big win for Android (where sideloading is easy) vs. iPhone were sideloading is impossible (? or only possible only with an annual dev license?) 2) Will this affect apps like CapCut and Lemon8 too?

Sideloading doesn't work if an extremely popular app can't handle transactions in a proper way. Creators won't get paid, the ecosystem will fall. I bet US government would ban Tiktok from banks and billing systems.

All that would do is drive off the "blue checkmark" class of uploaders, good riddance. That's not what people are on TikTok to view. Note that the TikTok influencers have never made it as big as the Youtube era of influencers, and that's a good thing for society.

Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19

#562

Post by BeFlatXIII »

iends wrote: post #176
jaimsam wrote: post #160

Too many elections are being influenced by the free exchange of ideas on TikTok -- best to shut it down if the U.S. corrupt government cannot control it. Who cares what the people think!?

It's not the free exchange of ideas if the CCP can put its thumb on the scale.

It's a counterweight to the US glow agencies putting their thumbs on the scale for domestic propaganda platforms.

Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19

#563

Post by libertine »

hnpolicestate wrote: post #541
libertine wrote: post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

This is a very common McCarthyite propaganda point, and I think it's important that we deconstruct it. We presumably live in a Democracy but this democracies voters cannot be trusted to read, view or engage with content that might undercut the preferred narratives of the mother country. Therefore, anyone arguing for this right must be under the communist spell or worse on the payroll. Low IQ tbh

In Democracies, there are laws in place to protect voters.

Here's very simple example to help you understand this: if you have someone on a foreign state payroll, they have to disclose they're being paid for by a foreign state, and people have the right to know that.[0]

You have the example of Tenet Media being paid by Russia Today to hire American right-wing influencers to promote Russian talking points, covertly - that's illegal.[0]

It just looks like people have a fundamental misunderstanding of a very basic concept about what Free Speech is.

Free Speech isn't the freedom to dupe voters, because voters may have the capacity to discern misinformation from information. Even if you go by your caustic remark, yes, a lot of voters can't discern misinformation. That's why there are laws in place.

[0]https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/12/guerrilla-projects-...

Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19

#564

Post by Cthulhu_ »

brookst wrote: post #146
gkanai wrote: post #100

Reciprocity is key. Google and Facebook and most Western web services are blocked in China. If that is the case, then there should be no complaint with blocking Bytedance/other Chinese apps in the West.

So… if China mistreats their citizens, reciprocity says we must mistreat ours? You don’t fight censorship with censorship. That doesn’t stand up to even the most cursory thought. You fight censorship with openness. As soon as you find yourself arguing that you have no choice but to engage in the same behaviors you claim to dislike, you have literally become the enemy.

That's a straw man argument and kind of a different thing entirely (moral / ethics / human rights vs corporations / entertainment) though.

Anyway while I do agree with your statement about censorship vs openness, I do think in the broader sense things need to be done about social media - that is, Tiktok is specifically singled out for being Chinese, but its target audience, addictiveness, usefulness as a propaganda tool, is very much not unique on the market. It was only after Zuckerberg and presumably the SV tech lobbyists raised the issue of Tiktok with Trump and the government that they pulled on the brakes.

But this is where the reciprocity argument comes in; US based services in China are under strict regulations and requirements, to the point where at best they can have a subsidiary in China under Chinese management. But while it's not trivial as a foreign entity to have a presence in the US either (e.g. you need to have or be a US company to be able to sell your software there), it seems more accessible and less restrictive than operating in China; in a sense this move levels the playing field.

Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19

#565

Post by catlikesshrimp »

solaris152000 wrote: post #402
wordofx wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally does not matter. ByteDance is a Chinese company and beholden to the CCP.

It's name in English is the Communist Part of China, CPC not CCP.

Apparently, the official CPC is pro-stablishment, unsurprisingly, while the common CCP is anti-stablisment

https://chinamediaproject.org/2023/03/30/ccp-or-cpc-a-china-...

Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19

#567

Post by cess11 »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #512
cess11 wrote: post #507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really think TikTok has more power in the US than the local oligarchs and warlords? Short-form video does more to "internal strife" than the lack of basic government services, widespread substance abuse and state violence?

Littering is against the law despite murders going unsolved ~50% of the time. TikTok doesn't have to be the greatest threat of all time to be subject to regulation around its ownership or behavior. Other problems can be addressed too. It's not like the entire country can only do one thing at a time.

Why are you changing the subject?

Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19

#568

Post by xanderlewis »

t0bia_s wrote: post #553
Cookingboy wrote: post #522

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Holy shit do you actually work for the U.S. State Department? Reuter reported this: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covi... U.S. social media absolutely are controlled by the U.S. government, and we can, and have been able to get any user data we want from them.

- enemy government

I’m using the phrase because it was used in the thread above.

Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19

#569

Post by ltbarcly3 »

snapcaster wrote: post #558
ltbarcly3 wrote: post #555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should familiarize yourself on what the russian propaganda strategy is and reflect on whether you are amplifying it. Propoganda works on everyone.

Look in the mirror, you're the one convinced everyone disagreeing with you is a threat to the empire. Don't worry buddy, the CIA has plenty of propagandists you don't need to carry water for them

[flagged]

Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19

#570

Post by Cthulhu_ »

hnpolicestate wrote: post #539
shlant wrote: post #493

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why does nobody know what freedom of speech is anymore...

I have the freedom to read what I want. You're telling me I don't. If you support making it impossible for me to access Tik Tok. This isn't about freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech is not the same as freedom of access to information though (idk if that's in any laws). That said, the basis of freedom of speech and information is that you will not get in trouble for accessing tiktok and co; it does not mean the US government or whoever has to make it easy for you. "Not illegal" does not mean "accessible". For example, a court ruled that it's legal to sell and trade digital purchases like games on Steam, but that does not mean Steam has to make it possible to transfer games to other people.

Anyway, there's ways and means around getting tiktok from the app stores - especially thanks to efforts in European law that force both Apple and Android to open up their platforms so that consumers can do what they want with their devices.

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