18 points

The amount of people happy about their government deciding to ban websites and apps is terrifying. They dont give a fuck about your privacy they’re just mad they dont control the algorithm. Now they can have people move to instagram reels where its easier to serve the propaganda the oligarchs prefer

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17 points
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Deleted by creator
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11 points

And facebook isnt? Facebook did experiments on teens to see if theyre easier to manipulate when theyre depressed. They took money to apread fake news to manipulate voters for the presidential election. Yall are so blinded by the china boogeyman its absurd

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12 points
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Deleted by creator
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5 points

It is possible to both be anti-chinese government and also want comprehensive privacy laws in the US. Like, I absolutely buy that the Chinese government has access to tiktok data. I, however, don’t think forcing a sale is the right way to deal with any of this. Comprehensive privacy and data collection laws would go much farther towards making it so it doesn’t really matter who owns what.

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2 points

For spyware the cyber security community seems pretty meh about it…

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9 points

You wanna talk Chinese spyware, why are they not outright banning Temu? That’s a much better documented case of actually being spyware.

In terms of Tiktok being spyware, they are tracking users in much the same ways that every other big social media company is. Should other nations be worried about Facebook sharing that data with the US govt to produce psyops campaigns against foreign nations?

I’m against any country blocking access to things in the name of “national security” and providing little to no evidence on it. Its been done too many times to trojan horse in other malicious activities that governments want to do.

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1 point

The u.s. still wouldn’t control the algorithm even if bytedance sold because they are not required to sell to a u.s. company. As long as the new company isn’t controlled by the ccp(or probably also russ, n Korea, iran) the u.s. doesn’t care who owns it.

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146 points

Oh no! Anyway…

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8 points

They’d rather shut it down cause they dont want to sell it and let an American company see how they use and abuse it to gather information and manipulate behaviors.

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-20 points

LMAO, apt name. You do know that facebook, a known disinformation company, is american, right?

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18 points
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Yes, and they should be shut down too. though the difference is facebook is a private entity and tiktok is a tool owned and operated by the chinese government.

You’re point?

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-18 points

You’re doing well with living up to your username.

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4 points
Deleted by creator
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-22 points

No, I’m not a point. Oh, you mean your point. Funny how you don’t know that, as an American.

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3 points
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I don’t recall the previous commenter mentioning anything about Facebook. Making a comment that is anti something doesn’t automatically mean they’re pro something else.

Step 1: Feel like getting into a comment section argument

Step 2: Put words in the other guy’s mouth and argue against those

Step 3: Make yourself look like a bit of a tool

Is this the best use of your time?

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-1 points
Deleted by creator
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4 points

Burn them all.

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10 points
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As if an American company wouldn’t just pick up where they left off… have you seen Meta? The system needs regulation, not a change in ownership to preferred snoopers.

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7 points

Maybe they are willing to sell and are just saying this to drive up the price.

Or maybe they don’t want a competitor to have access to their secret algorithm, and threaten them globally. This way they lose only one market.

Another possibility is that they will teach users how to use a VPN, and are confident that enough of their users will do it.

Or maybe they think saying they’re willing to shut down will make some of their users lobby against this bill / organise protests / call their representatives. (This probably won’t work.)

Companies are ultimately motivated by money. They will do whatever underhanded trick they can think up to get it.

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5 points

They are free to sell to non American companies just fine as long as the new company is not ultimately controlled by the Chinese government.

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39 points

EU next please

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-40 points

Don’t use it if you don’t like it, but don’t give this bullshit Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda control of something just because you don’t like it.

It’s just as bad or good as any other algorithm based content app like Facebook or Instagram. If we have a problem with privacy for example then go after that like with gdpr.

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17 points

I think you have it backwards, in that it’s the US that’s trying to stop all the Chinese propaganda coming from that app.

And if TT pull out of the US, it’s pretty telling that their core drive for that thing wasn’t money.

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10 points

Why would a tech company sell their product to another competitor in such a big landscape like US? It’s quite very much because of money.

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-2 points

If France passes a law requiring Google to sell Google France to a French company, would Google pulling out instead of selling mean their core drive in France wasn’t money?

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15 points

I don’t think it’s primarily about the algorithm or “Public Enlightenment and Propaganda” but instead about data and company ownership. Currently the US and EU are far closer allies with each other than with china. Services that are owned/controlled by their countries are therefore prioritized, and competing services from non-ally countries are way more scrutinized.

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8 points

We already sanction TV stations because of their propaganda content e.g. Russia Today. I see this as no different.

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2 points

Then the EU would need some evidence of propaganda.

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37 points
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I dislike TikTok but should you really be banning platforms you don’t like?

Sanction them if they misbehave, yes. Prevent most of the population from communicating using it? Absolutely not.

Americans have weird priorities when it comes to freedom. The mental gymnastics I’ve been seeing trying to justify a ban of a platform to a massive population of people is nuts.

No, it isn’t “actually upholding” freedom of speech to ban TikTok.

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-7 points

but chyna bad duh

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-5 points

lol you think “freedom of speech” includes foreign adversary right to harvest American citizen data?

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16 points

Exactly. I only want my data to be harvested by the NSA. It feels more patriotic.

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8 points

I don’t think most Americans want tiktok banned . Unfortunately the US government just does what ever they want and right now there is too much pro Palestine information on tiktok .

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6 points

should you really be banning platforms you don’t like?

Yes, but only if that platform is Twitter

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53 points
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Congress believes it’s a national security threat which is probably true but they haven’t bothered explaining this to their constituents at all. Ideally they’d pass comprehensive privacy protection laws to setup standards that both domestic and foreign companies would be subject to. Then companies either adjust their behaviors and meet a certain level of transparency or they would be prosecuted under the law.

But no… We get this instead: a confusing and obviously targeted ultimatum with Congress telling everyone ‘trust me bro this is the only way’.

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29 points

deally they’d pass comprehensive privacy protection laws to setup standards that both domestic and foreign companies would be subject to.

No, no, no. That would mean dismantling PRISM and the FISA. Gathering data on citizens is only bad when China does it.

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4 points
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I mean, to be fair, both are extremely bad and should be stopped, but a hostile foreign country gathering data and pushing propaganda on your citizens IS worse than you or non-hostile foreign countries doing it.

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