• Cethin@lemmy.zip
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    7 months ago

    It’s not about privacy. China and the US have all the data on you they could want. It’s about control. TikTok has successfully activated their base to contact their representatives with a notification from the app. It shows that they could use it to influence our politics.

    China recognizes the danger, hence all western apps being banned. If they recognize the danger, then they must also recognize the utility. Are they using it? It’s hard to say, but TikTok is what that would look like.

    • hark@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      You mean like how rideshare apps told their users to vote in specific ways on specific ballot proposals? No talk about banning those apps.

      • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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        7 months ago

        Sure, but as far as I’m aware they’re American companies. Americans are allowed to influence our elections. Foreign agents are not. Whether they’re doing it on behalf of China or not, they’re foreign agents with a lot of political power, and have been shown to use it for their own self interest.

        • hark@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Billionaires might as well be considered foreign agents. They’re parasites who are doing a lot more damage to the country than any actual foreign agent has ever managed.