cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/12876226
The measure that sailed unanimously through the House Energy and Commerce Committee would prohibit TikTok from US app stores unless the social media platform — used by roughly 170 million Americans — is quickly spun off from its China-linked parent company, ByteDance.
US officials have cited the widespread commercial availability of US citizens’ data as another source of national security risk. The US government and other domestic law enforcement agencies are also known to have purchased US citizens’ data from commercial data brokers.
Let’s ban one app instead of making laws that govern personal data for everyone.
Not to mention this does nothing. ByteDance could easily just stand up a shell company with a puppet in another country and have it become the owner. Our lawmakers and regulators are fucking morons.
They aren’t. They’re just well paid. Meta and Alphabet don’t want competition.
North American politics don’t work like that. We all know there are gigantics gaps in the reasoning behind everything. Domestic companies do the same damn thing, but a part of that money has already gone into someone’s pocket, because lobbying is a huge part of the decision making process
It’s only bad if other countries are doing it.
our minimum wage is $7.25, no universal health care, the cops are militarized and keeping citizens in their proper places, food/ housing costs are more than our pay, transportation costs have skyrocketed, the postal service needs attention, we have fifty states not working together
but we showed that China TikTok what for BY GOD! they ain’t gonna spy on us
I am still semi convinced that the ban is really because there are a lot of tiktokers devoted to exposing trades and corruption of congress critters in near real time. Tiktok has a lot of flaws, but it’s great for finding breaking news.
I’m there as well, but on a broader scale: I think they’re wanting to ban it because they don’t have a hotline to Xi so they can get shut shit down. Basically want it banned for doing the same things Google does, but the problem is it’s not run by their own Musk-on-a-Leash
Pretty sure it’s the other way around, musk and zuck have congress on a leash. Especially musk since he has skynet and tesla and space x
All companies that are heavily involved with government contracts and subsidies. At least a Mexican standoff situation. There goes the George Carlin quote about clubs and who’s in them
Fuck your whatsboutism. This is good news; tiktok is a propaganda machine.
The cyber security professional inside of me wants to agree with you. The Liberal in me doesn’t want to give the government the authority to ban speech and what citizens are allowed to watch.
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So you’re going to shut down YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc as well right? Considering they all do the same thing and FB even interfered in an election?
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Then do so. This idea that tiktok is any worse because it’s Chinese is ridiculous.
This idea that tiktok is any worse because it’s Chinese is ridiculous.
Either the propaganda is working or there’s no hope for any of us. And I’m not saying this facetiously.
The idea of a company in China versus in the West is very different. In the West a company has near complete autonomy within the confines of law in the democratic country it’s in. In China, a company is completely beholden to the will of the CCP. Smaller companies are not worth getting involved with, but larger companies like Bytedance and Baidu are effectively corporate offices of the CCP.
We’re talking about a communist dictatorship that’s constantly threatening Taiwan with invasion and death threats. Goes around the South China Sea harassing the countries there by attacking their military and civilian ships with high power water cannons. Putting nets and markers right up against those same countries, in some instances within 50 or so kilometers. Then there’s the ongoing genocide of the Uyghur people. The constant suppression of any negative news. The complete isolation of its people from accessing the internet or news from the rest of the world. It just goes on.
China is an adversarial power to Western nations and even many Asian ones.
The issue isn’t that Bytedance is simply Chinese. The issue is that China does not allow a single bit of information leaving its borders without its explicit say so. Which is why any Chinese company that conducts any business outside China has CCP officials stationed at the company’s offices and have to examine and approve everything that goes out.
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Same. Just make it so Tiktok cannot advertise to American users or monetize American views. Start with that and wait for another non-ccp app to take that market.
Edit: Curious why every seems to disagree.
Lemmy is also a propaganda machine, let’s ban this platform too then.
are we going to ban youtube as well? which has more than tiktok? or lemmy for that matter? or any other forms of social media?
people who fear monger tiktok make me worry that they fail to see the bigger picture.
tiktok isn’t the problem. the fact that propaganda is monetized is the problem. and banning tiktok will fix nothing whatsoever.
Propaganda is a major problem no matter what.
I mentioned in another comment that Tiktok is a massively direct pipeline to the minds of younger people by the CCP. Studies have demonstrated that the Chinese only version of Tiktok (Douyin) promotes positive content to users whereas Tiktok promotes highly negative content. To the point that a study concluded it was affecting the mental health of younger people.
do you have a link to that study?
https://nypost.com/2023/02/25/china-is-hurting-us-kids-with-tiktok-but-protecting-its-own/
https://www.newsweek.com/douyin-tiktok-use-link-favorable-views-china-public-opinion-poll-1855311
I can’t find the study I’m thinking of. It’s been at least 6 months since I saw it. But these articles at least backup some of what I said.
So you’re going to shut down YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc as well right? Considering they all do the same thing and FB even interfered in an election?
I would 100% be for shutting those down. Doing so would probably lead us into the next Renaissance.
so is instagram and facebook but you don’t see people rabidly want to ban them.
Instagram and Facebook aren’t run by the CCP
yes they are run by the us empire, which has a more violent history.
still not seeing the point of banning one over the other
You’re just spouting whataboutism. It’s not an argument, it’s a deflection tactic.
I have no love for Instagram or Facebook. IMO they should both be banned and have all data erased. The planet would be better off without them.
But that’s not the topic of conversation.
The US isn’t an adversarial country to itself. The CCP is an adversarial country to the US, and most of the world.
which has a more violent history
Ah yes, so the CCP is A-OK because you claim they have a “less violent history”. Makes perfect sense.
Tell me, how many people died during the Long March and the “Great” Leap Forward?
In any case, the bill is not about banning TikTok. The bill is about selling ownership of TikTok to a US owned firm to take away control from the CCP. And then only if a sale cannot be arranged, to ban it as a last resort.
the real enemy of the world is the US by a long shot. what the US does warrants invasions and wars on 3rd world countries by the US, the same isnt true for china.
no country has such a dark and murderous history. my country is on that list and we are suffering from the consequences still, decades later.
and yes, having people die of starvation in one of the poorest countries in the planet is sadly expected. no system of government can fix a country that huge overnight.
banning shit like tiktok like you have a huge moral highground is hypocritical at best when US apps are doing it all around the planet.
e: how could i forget the genocide you are sponsoring
they are propaganda machines though
To a degree, yes. But nowhere near the same context or scale.
In democratic countries people have the ability to choose their opinions and voice them loudly. This allows many different groups to hold different viewpoints and then express them to other people. And yes social media has been used as propaganda platforms by those groups. Yet none of those groups have full unilateral control of a country under dictator-like rule.
The difference is that the CCP is a single party government. Xi Jinping has recently abolished term limits, effectively making himself a defacto dictator. The I-Soon leaks also demonstrate that the CCP is actively trying to disrupt society in other countries (not just the US). They have secret police stations in places like Canada, UK, and US where they monitor and track Chinese people and even intimidate them if they do or say anything the CCP doesn’t like.
Then there’s the constant attacks on military and fishing ships from countries like the Phillipines and Vietnam. The constant threats of annihilation of Taiwan. Etc etc.
You cannot equate the two.
tiktok and Facebook use in the US have nothing to do with anything you are rambling about.
Facebook manufactures consent for the military industrial complex and capitalist interests and since it is not overtly controlled by Lockheed or the Pentagon, it’s propaganda is more sinister. at least you know who pulls the strings at tiktok
You sound like a Wumao
the legislation that needs to get passed, cannot, unless and until the house majority swings about 20 points the other way and the sliver of a majority in the senate is boosted by at least another 10.
Those are the issues they dont want us collectively talking about, sharing our lived experiences and how they dont line up with the bullshit our government is gaslighting us with
This is a misleading headline. It mandates that Tiktok be sold if it’s to continue operating in the US.
Which honestly I support. It’ll probably just be sold. Even if it’s not, the CCP should not have a direct pipeline to feed US citizens whatever they want (even if they’re allegedly “not using it for that”).
All the CCP has to do is buy advertising. If Russia can swing a presidential election with Facebook then so can the CCP. None of this makes any sense unless we actually hold executives accountable for the actions of their companies. No more second chances after admitting to Congress that they flaunted the law almost continuously from the last time Congress caught them.
Why doesn’t the US government just make their own spyware entertainment app that’s better than tiktok? 🤷🏻♂️
YouTube shorts algorithm sucks. It sucks so bad you realize how bad YouTube videos algorithm sucks.
Yeah comparing the TikTok algorithm to the YouTube shorts algorithm is like comparing the original Avatar the last Airbender to any of the remakes.
Amazing analogy everyone gets
Congress’ priorities are fucked.
I, for one, only want domestic adversaries abusing my personal information. Actual rocks and fence posts are smarter than this.
Tiktok isn’t about advertising. It’s CCP propaganda. Studies have been done that demonstrate that the Chinese only version Douyin shows more positive content to its users and Tiktok shows far more negative content that has a measurable effect on the mental health of younger people.
That’s uh… The NYPost article you’re flogging. Which is brave considering NYPost is a rag.
To me that sounds an awful lot like TikTok being closer to good old American media than some Chinese psyop.
Never forget back during height of pandemic Zoom was actually caught routing all data through China. Said oops mistake and giggled. Hey look Tik Tok is evil and connected to China…but how much more evil then Facebook?..uhh CHINA!!
Tiktok has been the only massively popular social media app that hasn’t censored pro-Palestinian content. I used to be against tiktok for it’s ties to China, but I’ve been convinced it’s important to maintain freedom of speech.
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The “American” social media companies and data aggregators have repeatedly been caught selling your information to the CCP. The only difference is tiktok isn’t selling it to them.
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Most recent news.
2018 case showing Zuckerberg does not care.
2015 allowing Chinese advertising, in the same time frame the Russians were allowed to run targeted ads.
They were sharing data all the way back to 2010.
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And yet Congress isn’t going after the “American” companies, just foreign ones. It’s not whataboutism to point out an action is entirely ineffective. And the real reason is to shut down competition.
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So the choice is the American government having my data, which is fully committed to genocide, or the Chinese government which is speaking out against this genocide?
Right now, China is the lesser evil.
Take a page from capitalism, having competition is good for us consumers.
Not sure the CCP has a moral high ground on this issue.
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Ok bye
If the same videos TikTok had were instead on YouTube shorts, would all you people be happy? What about if Meta had it? It’s pure nationalism and old people being scared of short form woke-ness.
I believe every social media has a misinformation problem, but I’m not just pinning it on TikTok.
Heck, our fear is the same reason we don’t have cheaper EVs. We say 'the CCP… ’ and poof less competition and shitter availability for Americans.
I think it’s ridiculous. I could care less if the CCP knows what type of short form videos I like. I’m sure our government has the same type of data. Obviously users could care less too. Leave choice to the people: hence freedom.
I believe in freedom of speech. Trying to take this (stupid) app away is a violation of it. I don’t care about who owns it or gets data from it.
And no: I don’t regularly use TikTok.
Its performative. There is at least logic in thinking that if TikTok had US ownership that it’d be more aligned to US interests but unless it was bought by a mega US corp, it’d likely just be a shell operation and nothing changes.
Why single out TikTok and not Chinese nationals buying US real estate, driving up the cost of commercial and residential rents?
Why single out TikTok and not Chinese nationals buying US real estate, driving up the cost of commercial and residential rents?
Heavily agree that this is equally problematic, but unfortunately it seems like the choice has already been made that real estate “investments” cannot be allowed to fail. It’s the same reason why they aren’t also targeting US-based companies that have been shown to have ties to foreign rivals, they’re literally just playing politics. Sucks, but for now this at least opens the door for further regulation in the area
I mean YouTube has both a propaganda funnel into white supremacy and sales of data/advertising to the CCP.
But it’s American right?
Congress is after TikTok because it’s impacting corporate profits like the boycotts of Starbucks and McD has done. A place where we can collectively communicate with each other outside of the approved echo chambers. They can’t control how we act and think without being able to control the algorithm
Could see it effecting Ios devices but even then people will just use a browser. Not really going to effect pc and Android users will likely just sideload.
So not really sure this would have any effect as it stands.
Honestly it could affect it. People might just start using YouTube shorts or Instagram reels, they are not much worse than TikTok already
They know and we know that this is going nowhere. It’s got a very thin chance of being brought to a vote, let alone passing the whole House, and an even thinner chance of passing the Senate. There’s no way on this planet that Biden signs it. TikTok is just too powerful a campaigning platform.
