Well, Chinese users are used to have to use a VPN to access banned content.
I think it is now our turn.
US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19
711–720 of 769 posts
Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19
#712Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess you're someone familiar with programming and algorithms begin this is HN, so you must be able to understand that it would be trivial for TikTok to serve different kinds of content to people based on their geographical location and other attributes?
They do. Like I know for a fact that I get different content in different cities. But it's algorithmic. I don't think anyone at TikTok is saying let's manipulate specific locations. They don't need to and it would be too risky and not worth the tech debt tbh. Besides, you can do it as a third party with bots. So like whatever replaces it will get manipulated just the same. Facebook has had this problem for over a dec…
The thing is, if they wanted to influence an election they could easily do it. They could start to feed you content which is bias towards "their" candidate, and there is no way you could probe they did that intentionally because "it's just an algorithm".
They don't need to and it would be too risky and not worth the tech debt tbh.
lol, a targeted propaganda machine would be worth every bit of a tech debt for an authoritarian regime.
Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19
#713Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can imagine it. But they'd be wrong. Facebook and YouTube aren't directly controlled by an enemy government, and likely aren't intending as part of their raison d'être to sow discord and chaos in China.
> likely aren't intending as part of their raison d'être to sow discord and chaos in China. This is so revisionist that it's funny. I vividly recall Facebook management celebrating their role in toppling regimes around the world for example the "Arab Spring": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media%27s_role_in_the_A... https://www.thewrap.com/facebooks-sheryl-sandberg-finding-jo... I dare you find direct evidence…
US government wasn't very supportive of the Arab Spring. Also, what FB does may at times may be in line with its government interests but that doesn't mean they are being compelled, just they are like-minded.
There is some influence of course but it's not like their existence is at the blessing of the President.
Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19
#714TikTok should be banned even if it wasn't Chinese. At least for minors. It's an extremely addictive drug.
Meanwhile YouTube shorts comes preloaded in every android device and can be used by children. With their "lawful" trashy/disturbing content and recommendation algorithm
Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19
#715Earlier quoted context omitted.
The better comparison would be people buying gaming PC when Apple declared war on NVidia and shunned PC gaming in general. Did Windows and linux PC sales rise ? Well yes, to some decent extent: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/2023-pc-games-revenu...
That article discusses videogame sales, nothing about hardware. Mac game sales would be included in the "PC game sales" statistic. I'm also not sure when "Apple declared war on NVidia and shunned PC gaming in general"? If anything they've been getting more friendly to gaming recently.
Steam sales are abysmal on Mac, so it's a decentproxy I think. I couldn't find a nice cut report on gaming PC sales vs standard desktops, whichi is unfortunate as the PC market in general is on a downtrend while my hunch is gaming is probably flat or rising.
On Apple and gaming...they've been on the cold with Steam, basically refusing any improvement that would help. They've Epic at their throat. They've faught Microsoft over the XBox streaming issues tooth and nails. Sony and Nintendo are the only big players that don't actively fight them. I wouldn't call the situation great.
On Apple and Nvidia, it's a long story. They were in good terms, until the Metal transition where they cut ties in a very messy way, and we're all assuming there was a lot going on behind the curtain.
> macOS 10.14 Mojave required metal-compatible GPUs. At some point, during the macOS Mojave beta, Apple pulled Nvidia's ability to sign its code, which ended Nvidia's support for macOS in one spiteful, anti-competitive move. In order for GPUs to be Metal compatible, they needed drivers, and Nvidia wasn't able to release drivers.
> Nvidia publicly announced that it had working metal drivers on its forum, but Apple had revoked its developer license leaving the blame squarely at Apple's feet. Nvidia even called out apple on his support page but has now since modified it.
https://blog.greggant.com/posts/2021/10/13/apple-vs-nvidia-w...
Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19
#716Earlier quoted context omitted.
ID issues are causing real and active harm, right now. The authoritarian creep has led in part to the current homeless crisis. Vulnerable people have been burnt by KYC requirements (what happens when you don't even have a birth certificate anymore?), and burnt again with the inevitable data breaches when poorly implemented (Optus), and then burnt again due to the country's financial class differences. ID helps to loc…
/me clutches pearls but if we don’t do this, a teenage boy might see boobies on the internet
While I vehemently disagree with Australia's proposed solution to this problem, this is very reductive and handwaving away very real problems.
Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19
#717YouTube shorts, worse app, same addiction, trashy content promoted by their banal algorithm, completely fine
I even prefer long form YouTube, which is also addictive! I open more tabs every day than I can possibly watch in a week
And all social media apps suffer from this (addiction, clickbait title/thumbnails, low quality fluff, propaganda, censorship...)
Even Netflix, but we call it "binge", instead of addiction, so that's also fine
Progress should be made in interesting relevant content discovery, and addiction prevention
But trying to beat China at their own game seems like a shot in the foot
Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19
#718Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
Sure, but I am perfectly fine with my own nation refusing to let other nations propagandize toward my fellow citizens. Especially when that other nation is a totalitarian dictatorship. Whether or not we do that to other countries, and whether or not that's ok, is a completely different discussion.
Huh, wild. To me it's gross in either direction. Different strokes I guess.
Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19
#719TikTok should be banned even if it wasn't Chinese. At least for minors. It's an extremely addictive drug.
Meanwhile YouTube shorts comes preloaded in every android device and can be used by children. With their "lawful" trashy/disturbing content and recommendation algorithm
Absolutely, shorts shouldn't be available to Youtube children accounts.
Re: US lawmakers tell Apple, Google to be ready to remove TikTok from stores Jan. 19
#720Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chinese Tiktok is forcibly wholesome (by Chinese standards). They do not believe in absolute freedom of speech. Now Americans have just conceded that they don't believe in it either. It's good that we're all on the same page now.
Chinese citizens cannot express political opinions contrary to the whims of the CCP. Do not equate whatever perceived limits the US has with China's limits on free expression.
Let's see what else becomes a matter of 'national security'.