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TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

reuters.com

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Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#761

Post by TulliusCicero »

0x5f3759df-i wrote: post #722
TulliusCicero wrote: post #670

I'm fine with this, based on the simple principle of Turnabout Is Fair Play . China already bans practically all the popular US social media apps and similar apps/websites. I'm for free trade, but it ought to be fair trade too, as in, roughly similar/equal policies. If another country bans X imports from your own, it's hardly unfair to respond in kind.

This is exactly it. If China allowed fully uncensored American social media to operate in China I’d had zero issue letting them do the same in the US. But the CCP wants to have their cake and eat it too. Fully repressive social media lock downs and censorship for their citizens but exploiting the west’s values of free speech and debate.

To be clear, it's not just that China won't let Western websites operate uncensored as businesses within China targeting the Chinese market.

It's also that people within China can't access the foreign websites and apps (without using a VPN), because China's Internet firewall blocks that access! That's what makes it an incontrovertible ban!

Even if a company has no interest in operating as a business within China in the first place, China may still block the websites and apps. That's a ban no matter how you slice it.

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#762

Post by sudosysgen »

rafram wrote: post #724
sudosysgen wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an absolutely ridiculous line of reasoning. Tiktok has over a billion users, and about 150 million of those are American. It would be downright stupid to sell all of it just for the US market and it would set an absolutely disastrous precedent.

American eyeballs are worth more than other countries' eyeballs.

Tiktok in other countries monetizes mostly using the shop, not ads. Turkey brings only slightly less revenue than the US.

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#763

Post by kyle_grove »

robrtsql wrote: post #699
bearjaws wrote: post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> TikTok has such a culture of authenticity and realness I must live in another universe because it all feels fake.

I don't know if I would characterize TikTok as 'authentic' first and foremost, but it's a platform where real people go to perform. When I scrolled TikTok, I would often get poorly-shot videos from average folks trying to put their spin on the day's joke format, or reacting to that day's outrage. It was junk food, but at least somewhat 'real'. My Reels feed, on the other hand, is 100% bot drivel. It's all stolen vira…

I would use the word 'fresh' for TikTok; like old school YouTube, there's quirkiness and variety.

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#764

Post by zzzeek »

hxegon wrote: post #707

It's honestly wild how many people in these comments are defending some vague, unsubstantiated, paper thin national security scare vs recognizing this as a clear suppression of free speech and active stoking of xenophobia. I would genuinely rather drop ship the CCP my SSN/banking info than trust the US government to do something in favor of it's own people when there's lobbying money involved. Why are so many of you…

if you trust the CCP (which to be clear refers to the government of China, not the actual people who live there, just like any country) to be more respectful and magnanimous to its citizens and human rights overall than the US, you might want to do some research on that (and not on Tiktok)

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#765

Post by culi »

munificent wrote: post #742
GuB-42 wrote: post #710

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would literally write my social security number on a sticky note and stick it to Xi Jinping's forehead Somewhat paradoxically, I am actually more comfortable giving out private data to foreign countries than my own. I mean, what is Xi Jinping going to do with a US social security number? If I am in the US, it will be hard for bad people in China to reach me, because there is a border between the two countries, in…

Are you aware that almost all of the scam calls, phishing emails, and other attempts to separate you from the currency in your bank account arise from outside of the US? Economic globalization means there are no borders and it's up to corporations to protect the sovereignty of their users. You can imagine how well they are up to that task.

it's still much harder for overseas scams to succeed against someone who's tech savvy vs domestic identity fraud. There's simply a lot more barriers to moving money outside of the country

> Economic globalization means there are no borders and it's up to corporations to protect the sovereignty of their users

Historically speaking this is actually the opposite. Many critics of globalization have pointed out that you can directly track trade deals to massive spikes in border funding, much stronger enforcement of intellectual property laws, etc. Research actually shows a huge decrease in the dissemination of ideas, language, etc across borders where trade deals have been enacted. Paradoxically, globalization has made us more siloed off from each other

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#766

Post by crystal_revenge »

jdlyga wrote: post #115

"I would literally write my social security number on a sticky note and stick it to Xi Jinping's forehead than go back to using Instagram Reels" I saw this yesterday and it's hilarious but this is the feeling right now. TikTok has such a culture of authenticity and realness and Instagram is so phony and overly perfect (not to mention ads and so many bots and spam). It's like shutting down Reddit and telling everyone…

> TikTok has such a culture of authenticity and realness

I'm shocked how easily manipulated people are by social media. The vast majority of TikTok content is very intentionally produced, largely to attempt to generate revenue or, at the very least, to feed ones ego.

The "real" people you see on there are all, to different degrees of success, actors. Nearly all of the spontaneous/I can't believe this happened!/caught on camera style content is entirely staged.

Likewise all of the "freedom of speech must be protected" posts are laughable. Everything on TikTok is ultimately created for and prompoted to ultimately drive profit.

This movement to 小红书 is also, surprise surprise, not some spontaneous movement. The people at 小红书 have intentionally be working on becoming a TikTok replacement for awhile now.

Virtually all media you see is very heavily filtered and manipulated to ensure you're getting the right message.

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#767

Post by jacobgkau »

theaussiestew wrote: post #561
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #312

I'm not assigning a cause, but US culture, these days, seems to encourage folks to treat others as "NPCs," and that can have rather bad consequences. It's always been an issue (sort of human nature), but it seems (to this battered old warhorse), that it's a lot more prevalent, these days, than it was, just twenty years ago.

Can you elaborate on this phenomena?

A semi-related term to the "NPC" thing is "main character syndrome." It's usually used derogatorily, but it's the idea that someone thinks they're the "main character" of the world; the people they care about are side characters who matter less, and people they don't care about (or know) don't matter at all. "The self as the center of the universe" is another way to phrase it.

Not sure entirely how that's connected to this thread's topic, but it is relevant in social media in general (and maybe TikTok moreso because of its "great" algorithm?)

Re: TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday

#770

Post by culi »

lelandfe wrote: post #331
cvoss wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US gov's intention was not at all to shut down TikTok. It was to force ByteDance to sell it. The fact that ByteDance is opting for a shutdown instead is a huge PR stunt, and their unwillingness to sell under the circumstances kinda proves their whole First Amendment claims are made in bad faith. Something deeper is going on, and it's not about your social security number.

If you feel that the national security angle is a farce, do you similarly feel that the DoD banning TikTok on government systems was just for show? https://defensescoop.com/2023/06/02/pentagon-proposes-rule-t...

most bases still block twitter, facebook, flickr, etc too

https://www.wired.com/2009/06/despite-army-order-some-bases-...

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