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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

#891

Post by moi2388 »

krainboltgreene wrote: post #398
moi2388 wrote: post #370

One thing that would make social media much better, is forcing providers by law to ensure everybody sees the same content. Example: I can be on Reddit in subreddit A. You can be on Reddit in subreddit B. We would obviously still see different content. But ALL members of subreddit A MUST see the exact same topics in the exact same order with the exact same comments and likes/dislikes. This would help build up a more s…

> One thing that would make social media much better, is forcing providers by law to ensure everybody sees the same content. This sounds terrible. I don't want to see the same content as everyone else. A good chunk of Youtube right now is rightwing content that I don't have to see.

You won’t. You will still see the videos from the channels you subscribed to.

It’s just that everybody subscribing to that particular channel most get the same information from it; the same videos, the same comments, the same likes/dislikes

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

#892

Post by vitorgrs »

donatj wrote: post #18
pjc50 wrote: post #6

The migration app of choice appears to be .. xiaohongshu, or "little red book". I'm guessing this won't last since it wasn't intended to have lots of Westerners using it and neither government is going to be happy with that scale of unfiltered contact between ordinary Chinese citizens and US citizens. In the meantime, it's the place for Luigi Mangione memes.

As a casual observer, I don't understand why YouTube Shorts isn't the obvious successor? The UI is better than TikTok ever was and a lot of the most popular creators are already mirroring their content there?

Because Youtube shorts is awful, at least me, as a user.

Most of the content there, it's, well, "shorts", cuts from full videos of podcasts, etc. It lacks real users. It's basically the current youtube creators doing content for Youtube Shorts.

Let alone how the algo it's worse, and you can't download videos :)

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

#893

Post by spprashant »

Someone tell me what data TikTok is collecting, that is making it such a national security threat. I guess it knows what videos you like. Awesome, so does every other social media company out there. Its not like the sign up form is asking for upload of SSN and DL.

I guess the US is afraid of manipulation of the video feed by China, that may influence elections. There might be a kernel of truth there, so I d be curious to hear anecdotes of something like that actually happening.

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

#894

Post by vitorgrs »

palata wrote: post #49
donatj wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a casual observer, I don't understand why YouTube Shorts isn't the obvious successor? The UI is better than TikTok ever was and a lot of the most popular creators are already mirroring their content there?

I don't use TikTok, but my understanding is that they are just a lot better than anyone else with the algorithm. Somehow where Meta built a social graph, TikTok built a graph of videos (no need to know who you are, they can just suggest videos based on other videos you watch). And it's apparently difficult to catch up (presumably because they have more users so more data to make better predictions). That would, IMO,…

Also, Tiktok don't even require you to be a user to use, exactly because it's kinda irrelevant for them. They will build the algo based on which videos you liked, for how many seconds, replays, etc etc.

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

#895

Post by killerpopiller »

spprashant wrote: post #893

Someone tell me what data TikTok is collecting, that is making it such a national security threat. I guess it knows what videos you like. Awesome, so does every other social media company out there. Its not like the sign up form is asking for upload of SSN and DL. I guess the US is afraid of manipulation of the video feed by China, that may influence elections. There might be a kernel of truth there, so I d be curiou…

its not about their official data collection. It is a safe assumption that TikTok app is used to spy on targeted users and their surroundings, just google it.

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

#896

Post by quotz »

The two reasons behind the TikTok ban:

1. Domestic big tech lobby

2. Domestic Israeli Lobby [1]

The China data is just a scapegoat. The risk is very minor. The US is banning TikTok because is a domestic big tech competition, and because lawmakers cant control it.

[1] https://theintercept.com/2025/01/09/tiktok-ban-israel-palest...

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

#898

Post by kccoder »

ok_dad wrote: post #861
randomopining wrote: post #693

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what if a conflict breaks out and the CCP essentially use TikTok as a pathway directly into the brains of millions of Americans. Let's say they tweak the algorithm with a button press to create confusion and public discord when we should be united to protect taiwan. That's a possible tool of disinformation.

WHAT IF aliens invade and take over TikTok and then use it to convince hard-working Americans to dive into the mouths of the aliens? It's a possible tool for aliens to make lunch.

One of those scenarios is much more likely than the other.

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

#900

Post by Nemo_bis »

dylan604 wrote: post #239
abeppu wrote: post #230

> The outcome of the shutdown would be different from that mandated by the law. The law would mandate a ban only on new TikTok downloads on Apple or Google app stores, while existing users could continue using it for some time. Does anyone have thoughts on why TikTok would choose to stop for existing users? I.e. why would they choose to do more than the minimum required by the law? It's nice that they want to point p…

The obvious play would be to incite those active users to take action by letting their congress critters know their opinions in an effort to have them reverse their vote

The Reuters article already states this will happen:

> If it is banned, TikTok plans that users attempting to open the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, the people said, requesting anonymity as the matter is not public.

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