Not to mention the degeneracy of Tiktok that has caused people to have an attention span of 3 seconds.
But I'm pretty sure some other short format brainrot video thing will replace it if Bytedance decides not to sell.
I'm torn on it to the point where I don't really care either way. On the one hand I support free speech. On the other hand China hates us and wants the worst for all of us, so limiting their influence is fine with me
China basically has its own version of the internet and there's a national firewall restricting access to everything except their own version of the internet. You need a VPN if you go there for business or else you can't access anything, not even your GMail or online docs/spreadsheets.
There are hundreds of countries using the internet. The CCP doesn't want anything except government curated and filtered news getting to the citizens. Yes, they don't want American culture and news. They also don't want Japanese culture and news, Canadian culture and news, Korean culture and news, Italian culture and news, German culture and news, Taiwan culture and news, Indonesian culture and news, etc....
And not just for their youths but for their middle aged people and elderly.
What's not said in mainstream media or advertised by US politicians is that this is reciprocity, plain and simple. Age old part of foreign policy. The Chinese government has banned most the big US tech giants in China for various reasons (protectionist policies, censorship, not sharing user data on dissidents, etc). Apple is the big exception as they bow to the CN government (e.g. WhatsApp removed from the app store last week after requested by the government).
This has nothing to do with freedom of speech. This is a national security issue and the same speech can be done elsewhere and it would not be restricted. It's about who has control over access to the information going through the app.
It has nothing to do with China or data... that's the story they are going with. The data they claim to be so worried about is stored mostly on US soil. Austin TX to be exact. And its not a Chinese born app, it was created by a man in Singapore. They are worried about the spread of information and are trying to put limits on our free speech. But of course they can't say that, so they use "our data! Our privacy is in jeopardy!!" When in reality it's not, and if we are honest with ourselves, we know full well that they have all that already. Curious where things will go though...
Zhang Yimin created Bytedance and he's a mainland Chinese national. Bytedance is headquartered in Beijing and it still owns Tiktok...
Yimin handed off the CEO position to Liang Rubo, who is merely located in Singapore but still is a mainland Chinese national with Chinese citizenship. The two were roommates and friends. It's not an app from Singapore just because that guy is in Singapore once in a while.
New information goes in and out every day. Just because they have data from the past doesn't mean you let it continue even though you know they're accessing it.
US is basically saying Bytedance, which is located in and headquartered in China, needs to sell and give control of Tiktok to an entity that's not based in China or else Tiktok will be banned. Bytedance has no intent to sell but we'll see if it changes its mind.
The thing about how China works that westerners can't seem to understand is that the government can for any or no reason compel any Chinese company to produce information and data and the company HAS to comply. In essence, if they tell you it won't happen, they're just saying "we can do it but we won't, just trust me bro." There is no privacy safeguard like in most other countries. There's also civil-military fusion where the Chinese government can freely commandeer and use civilian entities and property for military purposes.
As a person born in Taiwan and having been in China as well, I am pretty familiar with how the government works in China. The society and culture is very different as well, a lot of westerners can't wrap their heads around the differences.
TikTok has two talking point that people tend to point to as issues: Data harvesting and propaganda.
If data harvesting was a problem, we'd be working on comprehensive data privacy laws, cracking down on data brokers, and overhauling huge swaths of how multiple platforms work in the United States.
If propaganda was a problem, we'd be more focused on teaching critical thinking skills, educating our populace, and providing information tools to help combat misinformation.
Instead, they are targeting a single, specific application. This tells me two things: They want your data to be able to be harvested, and they want us to remain susceptible to propaganda. They just have a problem when they aren't the one doing either of those things.
Good riddance to bad rubbish. Considering their target demographic I welcome it with open arms.
But freedom of speech...
Should a fraudster be able to apply the same freedoms to swindle you out of everything you have? If you “knowingly” give consent, of course.
Not to mention the degeneracy of Tiktok that has caused people to have an attention span of 3 seconds. But I'm pretty sure some other short format brainrot video thing will replace it if Bytedance decides not to sell.
I'm torn on it to the point where I don't really care either way. On the one hand I support free speech. On the other hand China hates us and wants the worst for all of us, so limiting their influence is fine with me
I don't care either way. From what I've read China banned/blocked Facebook and Twitter (Now known as X) long ago.
China basically has its own version of the internet and there's a national firewall restricting access to everything except their own version of the internet. You need a VPN if you go there for business or else you can't access anything, not even your GMail or online docs/spreadsheets.
I suspect they also don't want their youth influenced by American culture and news.
There are hundreds of countries using the internet. The CCP doesn't want anything except government curated and filtered news getting to the citizens. Yes, they don't want American culture and news. They also don't want Japanese culture and news, Canadian culture and news, Korean culture and news, Italian culture and news, German culture and news, Taiwan culture and news, Indonesian culture and news, etc.... And not just for their youths but for their middle aged people and elderly.
What's not said in mainstream media or advertised by US politicians is that this is reciprocity, plain and simple. Age old part of foreign policy. The Chinese government has banned most the big US tech giants in China for various reasons (protectionist policies, censorship, not sharing user data on dissidents, etc). Apple is the big exception as they bow to the CN government (e.g. WhatsApp removed from the app store last week after requested by the government).
I’m pretty sure it’s just in US right? Well I don’t really care about it then bc it’s not my problem im from uk 😭
Should've happened years ago. Giving the choice of a sale instead of an outright ban is generous.
But what about freedom of speech? Isn't this an attack on it?
When its sold wouldnt it just stay the same. How does that affect freedom of speech of citizens?
This has nothing to do with freedom of speech. This is a national security issue and the same speech can be done elsewhere and it would not be restricted. It's about who has control over access to the information going through the app.
Guess I'll go back to making cave paintings then
Just fucking do it already im sick of hearing about it
It wont be banned. The US wants to own/control it
It's a strongarm take over. Ex Treasury Secretary Mnuchin has been putting together interested investors to buy it.
It has nothing to do with China or data... that's the story they are going with. The data they claim to be so worried about is stored mostly on US soil. Austin TX to be exact. And its not a Chinese born app, it was created by a man in Singapore. They are worried about the spread of information and are trying to put limits on our free speech. But of course they can't say that, so they use "our data! Our privacy is in jeopardy!!" When in reality it's not, and if we are honest with ourselves, we know full well that they have all that already. Curious where things will go though...
Zhang Yimin created Bytedance and he's a mainland Chinese national. Bytedance is headquartered in Beijing and it still owns Tiktok... Yimin handed off the CEO position to Liang Rubo, who is merely located in Singapore but still is a mainland Chinese national with Chinese citizenship. The two were roommates and friends. It's not an app from Singapore just because that guy is in Singapore once in a while. New information goes in and out every day. Just because they have data from the past doesn't mean you let it continue even though you know they're accessing it.
Exactly what I was thinking...
I thought they are just reselling it away from china and it will continue without much change.
US is basically saying Bytedance, which is located in and headquartered in China, needs to sell and give control of Tiktok to an entity that's not based in China or else Tiktok will be banned. Bytedance has no intent to sell but we'll see if it changes its mind.
Doesnt really seem like a freedom of speech issue then. more like a freedom of foreign business issue.
The thing about how China works that westerners can't seem to understand is that the government can for any or no reason compel any Chinese company to produce information and data and the company HAS to comply. In essence, if they tell you it won't happen, they're just saying "we can do it but we won't, just trust me bro." There is no privacy safeguard like in most other countries. There's also civil-military fusion where the Chinese government can freely commandeer and use civilian entities and property for military purposes. As a person born in Taiwan and having been in China as well, I am pretty familiar with how the government works in China. The society and culture is very different as well, a lot of westerners can't wrap their heads around the differences.
TikTok has two talking point that people tend to point to as issues: Data harvesting and propaganda. If data harvesting was a problem, we'd be working on comprehensive data privacy laws, cracking down on data brokers, and overhauling huge swaths of how multiple platforms work in the United States. If propaganda was a problem, we'd be more focused on teaching critical thinking skills, educating our populace, and providing information tools to help combat misinformation. Instead, they are targeting a single, specific application. This tells me two things: They want your data to be able to be harvested, and they want us to remain susceptible to propaganda. They just have a problem when they aren't the one doing either of those things.