Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline • Hacker News Board

Re: Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

#961

Post by Andrex » Sat, Jan 18, 2025, 2:17 PM UTC

lynndotpy wrote: post #853

toddmorey wrote: post #643

Anyone here who's not a TikTok content creator reasonably upset about losing access to the platform? Can you tell me why it will sting for you? I was really surprised that my daughters (avid teenage TikTok users) are much more relieved than mad. Both said they wasted too much time on TikTok and were hoping life will now feel better. Seems the very thing that made the platform sticky puts it in a guilty pleasure categ…

I don't create for TikTok, I have never had a TikTok account, and I don't use TikTok, outside of being exposed to videos on other sites, or occasionally clicking a link. I had been exposed to DouYin before, but my first experience of TikTok in real life was someone at a party, holding their phone, exclaiming something along the lines of "I can't look away, it's so addictive." It was uncomfortable, and I'm aware of ho…

What's being targeted is TikTok's algorithm. User's videos are still legal US speech and can be posted and shared freely.

The specific rationale upheld by SCOTUS and unenumerated in the law itself (it's only like two sentences, I would recommend just reading it) was based on national security concerns and level of scrutiny.

TikTok failed the criteria. US companies do not, and laws to ban them would have to use entirely separate methods which would face a far tougher SCOTUS test. (It's not like the Justices are falling over themselves to always agree on things, especially the current court.)

Banning US companies is just politically infeasible. But the Chinese issue is pretty bipartisan (right now).

Re: Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

#962

Post by wruza » Sat, Jan 18, 2025, 2:43 PM UTC

eddythompson80 wrote: post #731

toddmorey wrote: post #643

Anyone here who's not a TikTok content creator reasonably upset about losing access to the platform? Can you tell me why it will sting for you? I was really surprised that my daughters (avid teenage TikTok users) are much more relieved than mad. Both said they wasted too much time on TikTok and were hoping life will now feel better. Seems the very thing that made the platform sticky puts it in a guilty pleasure categ…

TikTok has replaced Reddit for me (I can expand more on why I stopped using Reddit, but it's not related to TikTok) in terms of "checking what's up on the internet" or as Reddit would put it "Checking the homepage of the internet". I trust TikTok's "algorithm" to give me quick and entertaining short-bits about what's going on, what's interesting, etc. It learns what I'm into effortlessly, and I appreciate how every n…

That’s very nice, but why on fucking earth doesn’t tiktok make “longs” already!!!

Its algorithm may be wonderful and useful but I don’t want short content in a watch-it-all feed.

Re: Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

#963

Post by onemoresoop » Sat, Jan 18, 2025, 2:57 PM UTC

glenstein wrote: post #725

toddmorey wrote: post #643

Anyone here who's not a TikTok content creator reasonably upset about losing access to the platform? Can you tell me why it will sting for you? I was really surprised that my daughters (avid teenage TikTok users) are much more relieved than mad. Both said they wasted too much time on TikTok and were hoping life will now feel better. Seems the very thing that made the platform sticky puts it in a guilty pleasure categ…

I've found something like a very efficient sorting into communities of shared interest, and something egalitarian in being able to see people with 0 views and get reactions from them. It's by contrast to say, Youtube and X, where The Algorithm (tm) sustains a central Nile river of dominant creators and you're either in it or you're not. That said, I think the political questions are rightly the dominant ones in this…

You’re right about youtube shoving the main river on you but recently discovered a lot of niche youtubers with very few views in my areas of interest. I just wish I had more control in what the feed returns, for example if im irked by a certain content I should be able to escape it with a click. But thats not how youtube or facebook/instagram work. Content is targeted at you behind the scenes based on an accidental encounter you had in the past with some content and there’s no way to disable that. Don’t recommend this channel/page doesn’t work because there’s an army of channels/pages that push the same content on you. This is very powerful for paid propaganda

Re: Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

#964

Post by tlogan » Sat, Jan 18, 2025, 2:59 PM UTC

If TikTok is truly banned on Sunday and no action is taken to stop it, the company’s value could drop significantly—perhaps by as much as 90%.

This raises an even bigger question: Who really owns TikTok? Who is the true decision-maker behind the scenes? Who is so wealthy and powerful that they’re willing to let $100 billion vanish? The answer to that question will be more obvious.

Re: Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

#965

Post by scotty79 » Sat, Jan 18, 2025, 3:05 PM UTC

elzbardico wrote: post #181

This is going to be an interesting experiment: A widely used social network across the world WITHOUT american content. Until now, the closest thing we had like this were national our regional networks like Russia's vk, but Vk was never truly popular outside Russian speaking countries. Now we, for the first time ever, will have the situation where a social network has global reach but without american content. Will it…

I don't think US content will disappear from TikTok. Most viral creators know how to use VPN. No one's gonna leave such a huge pile of eyeballs on the table.

Re: Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

#966

Post by lmm » Sat, Jan 18, 2025, 3:25 PM UTC

tlogan wrote: post #964

If TikTok is truly banned on Sunday and no action is taken to stop it, the company’s value could drop significantly—perhaps by as much as 90%. This raises an even bigger question: Who really owns TikTok? Who is the true decision-maker behind the scenes? Who is so wealthy and powerful that they’re willing to let $100 billion vanish? The answer to that question will be more obvious.

> Who really owns TikTok? Who is the true decision-maker behind the scenes? Who is so wealthy and powerful that they’re willing to let $100 billion vanish?

They're hardly "letting" it happen. What exactly can you do when the US government decides they want to smash your business and take your stuff?

Re: Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

#967

Post by mint2 » Sat, Jan 18, 2025, 3:29 PM UTC

e_i_pi_2 wrote: post #419

shahzaibmushtaq wrote: post #290

TikTok is also banned in China. For the Chinese market, Douyin is there from the same company ByteDance. Americans need to understand this decision is not an emotional one but for the nation, just like the opposite party does for its nation.

> this decision is not an emotional one but for the nation, just like the opposite party does for its nation I'd argue that it is an emotional decision for both, and it does seem ironic that the US would be following China in restricting a platform that people see as a major tool for free speech. Whether you agree with that or not the optics are terrible, and the users are very aware of it. If this is really a big co…

I find this line of argument particularly uncompelling and offensive - it’s like saying the arresting of a Soviet spy per a valid warrant by the courts is against the constitutionally rights and is also hypocritical given how the US protests against people being disappeared.

Uncompelling! The particulars matter!

Re: Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

#968

Post by shortsunblack » Sat, Jan 18, 2025, 3:38 PM UTC

The ban is nothing more than an attempt to abridge speech and deny the youth voice in politics. TikTok increasingly has become refuge from censorship occurring on other platforms (see the recent issues). The lawmakers indicated that is the reason for the ban.

If United States was honestly concerned about data protection and privacy, it would devise a federal privacy law that models GDPR. They are trying to pass a federal law now, but it is seriously flawed and they are trying to preempt more user-centric privacy laws of the states.

Finally, such partisan, targeted and unprincipled bans reenforce that EU's approach on issues such as data transfers abroad (see Schrems 1 and Schrems 2) is perfectly valid. EU has a principled regulation, which gets evaluated by free and democratic courts. The outcomes are what they are. Not partisan and discriminatory, as they are here.

Re: Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

#969

Post by Alifatisk » Sat, Jan 18, 2025, 3:41 PM UTC

tlogan wrote: post #964

If TikTok is truly banned on Sunday and no action is taken to stop it, the company’s value could drop significantly—perhaps by as much as 90%. This raises an even bigger question: Who really owns TikTok? Who is the true decision-maker behind the scenes? Who is so wealthy and powerful that they’re willing to let $100 billion vanish? The answer to that question will be more obvious.

You really believe their value could drop by 90% because of this? 90%!!!

Re: Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

#970

Post by _fat_santa » Sat, Jan 18, 2025, 3:52 PM UTC

Alifatisk wrote: post #969

tlogan wrote: post #964

If TikTok is truly banned on Sunday and no action is taken to stop it, the company’s value could drop significantly—perhaps by as much as 90%. This raises an even bigger question: Who really owns TikTok? Who is the true decision-maker behind the scenes? Who is so wealthy and powerful that they’re willing to let $100 billion vanish? The answer to that question will be more obvious.

You really believe their value could drop by 90% because of this? 90%!!!

Maybe not by 90% but by a significant amount. Just doing a quick google for the userbase of TT by country and the US is the largest market with ~113M users [1]. What would happen to any company if their largest userbase just vanished overnight?

[1]: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/tiktok-us...