Does anyone know how divesting in this case would actually work?
Would Bytedance still own shares in the resulting US entity? Shares they could sell or get paid with via dividends, just no control over operations?
TikTok goes dark in the US
651–660 of 1001 posts
Re: TikTok goes dark in the US
#652Not my country so I couldn't care less. Just my observation from two oceans away: US is a hypocrite. How about Meta and other US companies? Those companies does the same if not worse damage to your citizen.
The difference is that citizens can influence those companies, or influence the politicians that can influence those companies. Also, there's no direct incentive to have broad negative impacts on citizen consumers at a global politics level (not that it doesn't do so at other levels).
If you're another country consuming Meta, etc. then you should probably be wary about dependence on a foreign platform's influence. The biggest difference however is how close the platform is to the government. In the US, it's getting closer, but still has some separation; in China it's rather close to one-and-the-same due to the pressure that the govt can exert on companies to do their bidding.
Re: TikTok goes dark in the US
#653I think a lot of people on here never spent much time on TikTok and it shows. It wasn't just for young people and it wasn't all brain rot. There were vibrant communities, subcultures. Real issues were aired there. Real people connected. From the early days of Covid it provided a window into a broader world.
Can you give some examples? I a skeptical that the format, designed for maximum retention and engagement, can be a positive.
booktok turned people onto books. there's even a wikipedia page for it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BookTok
Re: TikTok goes dark in the US
#654Much ado about nothing! Not available for download a day at max! (You can still use the app if it’s already installed) The ban will be repealed on Monday and it will be sold to US tech lords by month’s end. The damn hysteria is embarrassing
That’s not true though. Tik Tok chose to block US users this evening even though that’s technically not what the bill asks for.
I'd have to guess this manufactured drama was agreed/requested by Trump, so that he can act the hero by making a "deal" to get it unblocked tomorrow or soon after.
The real question here is "What's in it for Trump?". He doesn't do anything without expecting something in return. What is Trump personally getting out of (about to) letting TikTok continue?
Re: TikTok goes dark in the US
#655The 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…
> If only we knew what happened in that classified briefing Most likely, the rationale will be similar to Huawei and Kaspersky. Not based on actual historical misbehaviour, but rather the amount of power you’re allowing their respective governments to have over US citizens / infrastructure. There are very few “from first principals” thinkers in the world, especially amongst TikTok’s younger audience. Most people take…
[deleted]
Re: TikTok goes dark in the US
#656The Communications Act of 1934 limits foreign ownership of many communication technologies such as TV. TikTok has easily more influence than most TV channels so it does not seem strange to limit its foreign ownership. If the purchase of US steel by a Japanese company threatens national security, surely the ownership of TikTok is also one.
On the same logic, youtube, facebook, google, etc. should not be owned by the parent company in other countries than the US because of the influence they have on ppls opinions (on policital elections and whatnot)
You assume there is a symmetrical relationship between the US and other nations here. There is not, hasn't been since WW2.
Re: TikTok goes dark in the US
#657The Communications Act of 1934 limits foreign ownership of many communication technologies such as TV. TikTok has easily more influence than most TV channels so it does not seem strange to limit its foreign ownership. If the purchase of US steel by a Japanese company threatens national security, surely the ownership of TikTok is also one.
On the same logic, youtube, facebook, google, etc. should not be owned by the parent company in other countries than the US because of the influence they have on ppls opinions (on policital elections and whatnot)
Amd that will be better. No massive global corporation.
Re: TikTok goes dark in the US
#658There's an interesting cognitive bias in the western media that tends to define freedom of the press (and freedom of expression) as exactly what is perceived as freedom in this side of the iron curtain. Libgen domains are "seized", and tiktok "goes dark", but of course other countries "censor" porn or news outlets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Press_Freedom_Index
As long as we're not discussing ways to circumvent the American firewall, since there isn't one, we can still say that one country tries but sometimes fails to live up to a free speech ideal perfectly -making exceptions for national security- and the other is blatant authoritarian.
Re: TikTok goes dark in the US
#659A 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…
Do you have any evidence supporting anything you claimed as a matter of fact? "grey zone conflicts", "aggressively weaponized", "national security circles" are just scary/serious sounding phrases that sound a lot more legitimate than I suspect they actually are. AOC published a video talking about how she (and some other representatives) believed that the arguments that were presented to them were just as vague, nons…
Gray zone conflicts: Evidence shows that China, Russia, and other foreign governments are actively using social media to manipulate and influence Americans through covert and deceptive tactics.
“Aggressively weaponized”: These conflicts rely on information as a primary weapon because it is more cost-effective and impactful than traditional warfare.
“National security circles”: This term commonly refers to the U.S. security establishment, including its agencies and defense systems.
Re: TikTok goes dark in the US
#660The US hegemony is dying and it is showing. The sign of a crumbling empire. Also, funny how any made up argument about national security goes before the first amendment.