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TikTok goes dark in the US

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Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#931

Post by arsco »

scarab92 wrote: post #599
daemoens wrote: post #231

The 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…

To me, this whole thing just comes across as craven and excessively politically motivated by the US government. If they were really concerned with apps (whether or not they're owned by the Chinese government) collecting and selling user data, they would pass adequate and enforceable privacy laws. Banning one specific app is addressing a symptom rather than a root cause, and any solution to an issue like this ought to apply to the entire field more broadly. I don't necessarily think that banning TikTok is a bad thing, but to do so in such an obviously politically motivated way belies a lack of concern about the underlying issue (i.e. the mass harvesting of user data).

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#932

Post by divbzero »

Note that the outgoing Biden administration has stated that it won’t enforce the TikTok ban today, choosing to leave implementation of the law to the incoming Trump administration. TikTok shutting down today is an internal choice.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/biden-wont-enforce-tik...

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#934

Post by danans »

1970-01-01 wrote: post #927

The story everyone seems to be missing is how gatekeeping app stores are enforcing it. That is, if TikTok was sold as a "desktop program" which came in an envelope, and was given away for free just as America Online did decades ago, it very likely would be untouchable under the first amendment. The gatekeeping mechanisms at play are a large story that we've become ignorant to. >TikTok, however, suggested this was not…

> and was given away for free just as America Online did decades ago, it very likely would be untouchable under the first amendment.

Even if they could distribute it under 1st amendment l, what is stopping authorities from IP blocking TikTok servers? Gatekeeping can take place pretty deep in the OSI network stack, at levels that transmit data that can no longer simply be characterized as speech.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#935

Post by xnx »

scarab92 wrote: post #599
daemoens wrote: post #231

The 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…

So you're telling me the US can't compete in the marketplace of things or the marketplace of ideas?

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#936

Post by lossolo »

bakuninsbart wrote: post #725

As a European, I find it quite outrageous to demand a company be sold to the US because it is too successful and valuable to be foreign-held. It is the old-school imperialist school of thought. If you think Bytedance is harming Americans, despite following american law, then amend the rules for social media companies. Or at least be honest enough to say: "The free market is great, but only if we hold all the cards".

What’s also outrageous is that while there is no proof that the CCP is using TikTok for nefarious purposes in EU/US (at least for now), there is evidence of the owner of X using his power to influence European elections in many EU countries, while spreading misinformation and fake news himself. But we can’t ban it in the EU because our security-reliant master won’t allow it.[1]

1. https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-nato-support-eu-reg...

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#937

Post by baq »

latentcall wrote: post #924

The levels of McCarthyism and apparent Sinophobia in this thread astounds me. “The kids are watching communist propaganda from the CCP!” Americans on TikTok watch content from other Americans. I know a big complaint the government had was the overflow of support for the Palestinian people compared to Israel. Are you guys sure you’ve even used the app before? I used it some time ago and it was just other Americans doi…

> The levels of McCarthyism and apparent Sinophobia in this thread astounds me.

Same for me, but I’m also extremely confused at the naivety of many commenters here who think ByteDance is somehow a company independent from China government and it’s only duty is to make money and that it somehow more important to have freedom of foreign business than freedom from foreign interference.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#938

Post by zanderwohl »

lqstuart wrote: post #930

In all the internet posts about this, I've never seen a response to the fact that China has been doing this to US tech interests basically forever, and even the EU has done its utmost to severely handicap US tech companies for the same reasons. Why hold the US to a double standard against our own interests? TikTok is the exact same garbage you can get from Insta, YouTube, for fuck's sake even LinkedIn has video now.…

> TikTok is the exact same garbage you can get from Insta, YouTube, for fuck's sake even LinkedIn has video now

As a user of TikTok and Instagram Reels, TikTok had an actually good algorithm that would show you interesting things after you showed interest. I found a lot of film students with great reviews through TikTok. Instagram and YouTube don't care to show you that kind of thing.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#939

Post by palata »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #900
bakuninsbart wrote: post #725

As a European, I find it quite outrageous to demand a company be sold to the US because it is too successful and valuable to be foreign-held. It is the old-school imperialist school of thought. If you think Bytedance is harming Americans, despite following american law, then amend the rules for social media companies. Or at least be honest enough to say: "The free market is great, but only if we hold all the cards".

> As a European, I find it quite outrageous to demand a company be sold to the US because it is too successful and valuable to be foreign-held. These sorts of bad faith comments are so tiresome to read. We all know that if the foreign country in question was Japan or France then nobody would really give a shit. Even a more neutral country like India or Brazil would likely be completely fine. It's specifically an issu…

How come Xiaomi is not banned in the US? Only the most successful commercially get banned, but that's solely for national security, right? /s

> Not to mention, China blocks basically every popular social media site from the US already

And the US is usually pretty good at criticising that. But apparently not so good at accepting when other criticise the US for doing the same.

Re: TikTok goes dark in the US

#940

Post by [deleted] »

bakuninsbart wrote: post #725

As a European, I find it quite outrageous to demand a company be sold to the US because it is too successful and valuable to be foreign-held. It is the old-school imperialist school of thought. If you think Bytedance is harming Americans, despite following american law, then amend the rules for social media companies. Or at least be honest enough to say: "The free market is great, but only if we hold all the cards".

[deleted]
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