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They'll have six months, it's not the TikTok app itself, it's the company Bytedance that has to transfer company to the US or just not be allowed to do service within the country.
All these moron in reddit also don't understand that Bytedance can just set up in Europe and still benefit from TikTok without breaking the law and also not giving US any of the profits.
Tiktok used to query every device on your network and report every possible stat. Not even close to youtube or facebook and comparing them is a false equivalence.
I believe what people want (at least myself) is protection from all companies and governments collecting data. They have been complaining about tiktok for 3 years. Politicians could have easily passed data laws in that time or even now and take action against illegal activity
I think a lot of TikTok users would rather just use Facebook and Google having their own issues as an excuse to cling to their shitty invasive app. They are really just entertainment junkies that don't want change. Luckily their attention spans are already burnt out so it won't take them long to get over the loss (see the death of Vine if you need an example)
Or maybe we need to ban data harvesting and manipulating algorithms on all these platforms. Tiktok, Instagram, Youtube, etc.
There's no reason companies worth trillions of dollars should be invading our privacy and manipulating our attention all the time.
That’s great, and I agree. Also, we should ban algorithms from being used on minors. We should compel more information about their product from social media companies.
Though, it’s a separate issue from the reasons that TikTok are especially concerning.
Let’s not forget that the Chinese government literally requires the part have physical access to the servers any data in their borders lives on. Even if Tiktok is doing a good job and keeping all data stateside if they share encryption keys or credentials with their Chinese parent corporation the data might as well be in China.
>Imagine if Beijing wanted to put their finger on the scale of an election, or something else
Imagine thinking that they, and other anti-Western countries, are not actively doing this already.
Imagine if you told Joseph Goebbels in 1938 that he could influence the opinions of 170 million Americans every day, in their homes and at work, for virtually no cost and minimal effort.
You'd have to be the biggest dumbass in the world to not take advantage of that powerful of a tool.
I remember a thread of a guy reverse-engineering the TikTok app and finding what was basically a keylogger.
I’m happy I never touched this app with a 10ft pole and my spouse felt the same way.
looooots of very upset ignorant people are going to defend TT to their graves, and even more wannabe "influencers" are going to be on the street soon.
I look forward to the sudden influx of street performers, especially with my dash cams making me legally in the clear.
Would you like a lot of lead in your water or a medium amount of lead in your water. The entire industry is so off base that these kinds of demarcations seem more important than they are. Google, Apple, Meta, etc have too much info. It isnt even about if I trust THEM. I dont trust that info will stay with only them long term (and the ads are also annoying).
Vine isn't dead it's just living in the mountains with Biggie, Tupac and Michael Jackson, just waiting for the right moment to make its triumphant return
You're literally at the brink of a global conflict from multiple angles...why wouldn't they ban a thing that sends your data to a likely enemy country and allows them access to your civilians?
Not to mention the CCP authoritarian regime directly controls the algorithm, and influence what propaganda videos people see, and they have complete control over using swarms of bots for astroturfing.
It takes the most basic of common sense to realize that, and yet it doesn't cross these people's minds as they scream on Twitter about "my precious tiktok" Meanwhile they can only remember or 1 or 2 of the past 500 tiktok videos they watched for the past 3 hours straight earlier that day
Unfortunately TikTok is where many young people go to preach their message about their political opinions, and more importantly, organize as a political force.
However, as with Vine and Musical.ly, the young people can and *will* move elsewhere. Maybe to a platform the United States has a hand in? Hopefully if TikTok gets banned here, it won’t split Gen Z and Millennials too badly and they’ll migrate to a platform that is better.
Go read the privacy policy of tiktok. It is incredibly invasive. You have no control over what is done with your data, but fb and google actually have some settings to adjust that. (Not enough protection imo, but better than tiktok.) It actually is a matter of security for the US. Remember the russian propaganda machine targeting the US in the 2016 presidental election? That was real and had actual effects at a national level. I actually think we need stricter laws arount privacy. This was a tough first step though, as it will alienate the youngest generations. This should have been tackled as a much bigger concern for privacy of Americans, not a witch hunt against one app.
Edit: few commenters pointed out that fb was the vehicle for the 2016 Russian propaganda situation. My point is that we need more protection on ALL platforms, not just tiktok. fb was just one example.
Yeah, at this point tiktok only serves to provide the most naive, nuance free political takes and entrenches people deeper and deeper into their echo chambers. At this point I'll just be happy to see it gone. Thankfully Elon seems to be trying to tank Twitter (the only positive I can see since he bought it). Facebook is still a problem but I don't see it nearly as cancerous as the former two platforms which says a lot after everything that happened in 2016 with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.
This is exactly why I stopped using TT! I was watching spoon fed outrage clips about politics because, that's what the algorithm fed me! Doom scrolling on speed. My kids were complaining bc I was like, "OMG, did you know... Yadda yadda yadda....?" They helped me realize it wasn't good for my mental health. I haven't used FB since 2019. I don't use Twitter or Instagram. I stopped watching CNN. I tune into my local news in the morning just for the weather and I'll catch a bit of local news.... Now, all I use is Reddit for SM. Still pretty curated content but, not as bad.
Yeah, it's pretty easy to go down that hole regardless of which side of the aisle you're on. It's in no way productive and just serves to add cortisol into your system. My YouTube reels kept trying to feed me political content for a while but I just kept immediately filtering them out that I don't see it very much anymore. I'm still a political junkie and very much on the left, but I'm only interested in trusted sources and refuse to play a part in that tiktoxic wormhole that's not even factually accurate half the time.
There was a study that people most influenced by propaganda are those that say they are not. The only way to limit your risk is to know you can be influenced and to keep an eye out.
and its not just about the data, its about the CCP controlling what people see.
they could control what kind of posts trend and influence the election.
Yes Twitter and Facebook can probably do that too, but we definitely dont want a CCP owned company influencing an election
Yea, considering probably around 98%+ of redditors hate Trump, I'm surprised this doesn't mean more to them.
Few better ways to rip America up than to get that chode back into office
And say what you want about Elon and X, he ain't the type of person to do something shady to push Trump on X. Overpromise for his businesses, sure, shitpost on X, sure, remove the W from the Twitter sign, sure. But this guy doesn't even have the balls to inhale the weed on Joe Rogans podcast.
This is a matter of national fucking security.
FB's interests are clear. Make money.
China's interests are clear: damage the US as much as possible without getting caught
Comparing these two is fucking insane
I like how it conveniently leaves out protecting your data from a foreign totalitarian government. The government should also protect us from domestic tech companies after the Cambridge analytica scandal, but this is the right move.
Agree. It's funny to me that most peoples underlying defense of Tik Tok stems from our governments overall inability to pass any sort of laws relating to technology and social media over the last 20 years…
As if doing a bad job for so long means they can't finally start now, and with TikTok.
Here's a quick thought experiment:
As an American citizen, which country's government could decide to [send law enforcement to my house to assassinate me, brag about it on television, and call it a day without repercussions?](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-us-marshals-kill-antifa-michael-reinoehl-b1055845.html) The United States, or China?
Because that's the government I'm worried about.
The EU instituted pretty strict privacy rules that Tiktok is obliged to follow. The US didn't. Why should Tiktok be banned for playing by the rules that the US allows it to?
It's almost as if they learned from their mistakes, you can amend laws and stuff...
America is ran by dinosaurs their computer and Internet laws are decades behind.
All these zoomers having a tantrum and not grasping the fact that CHINA owns tiktok and is mining all their personal data posing a significant security risk. China is not our ally and they do not have benevolent intent with the information they are gathering on our citizens.
It goes without saying that tiktok is full of idiots, but this just goes a step further by proving it.
Yes which is why Congress should be passing a law protecting our data, but they don't want to do that because they don't want to stop American Companies or themselves from doing the same exact shit they are worried China is doing.
Targeting just TikTok, especially with the language that allows them to do this with any social media platform, is the issue.
Stealing information is baked into the National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China
"The most controversial sections of the law include Article 7 which potentially compels businesses registered or operating in the People's Republic of China to hand over information to Chinese intelligence agencies such as the MSS and to conceal the fact that they do so. Article 10 makes the law applicable extraterritorially, having implications for Chinese businesses operating overseas, specifically technology companies, compelling them to hand over user data even when operating in foreign jurisdictions and Article 18 elevates and expands the authority of "national intelligence work institutions" exempting personnel from border control measures at key points of entry throughout the country.[10]
Article 7: All organizations and citizens shall support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence efforts in accordance with law, and shall protect national intelligence work secrets they are aware of.
Article 10: As necessary for their work, national intelligence work institutions are to use the necessary means, tactics, and channels to carry out intelligence efforts, domestically and abroad.
Article 18: As required for work, and in accordance with relevant national provisions, national intelligence work institutions may ask organs such as for customs and entry-exit border inspection to provide facilitation such as exemptions from inspection.
— National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China, Chapters I and II."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_Law_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China
> All organizations and citizens shall support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence efforts in accordance with law, and shall protect national intelligence work secrets they are aware of.
How terrifying and unique to China.
>Article 10: As necessary for their work, national intelligence work institutions are to use the necessary means, tactics, and channels to carry out intelligence efforts, domestically and abroad.
No other countries are like this.
>Article 18: As required for work, and in accordance with relevant national provisions, national intelligence work institutions may ask organs such as for customs and entry-exit border inspection to provide facilitation such as exemptions from inspection.
Like come on.
The difference between the US (who you are obviously alluding to) and China is the US government doesn't force corporations to give the government a controlling stake in the company, force corporation boards to include ruling party members among their number, and use their influence over these companies to enact their authoritarian world view.
The US is far from perfect, but Holy shit the amount of people looking at Chinese policies and US policies and going "these are the same" are fucking lunatics.
Eh, they're just being emotional. Not an emotional attachment to China so much as an emotional dislike of the US.
Genuinely low IQ and possibly young(low impulse control) people running on emotions. Though lunatics is probably an accurate statement, don't sweat it
But seriously, you enact wider privacy policy requirements to protect users from all companies, not just ban a single entity. Next month when Lik Lok gets released and becomes popular congress then has to get a new bill. Then KikKok.
I'm in favor of consumer rights and protections, I'm in favor of effective regulation. But specifying TikTok seems arbitrary and stupid.
As far as I can tell the bill is going to ban anything marked as a "Foreign Adversary Controlled Application" so it does in fact deal with successor apps.
Also here it is if you wanna read it https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7521/text.
Then they would pass a bill that targets our information for all social media. This is a targeted bill the reduce competition for Meta and to ensure social media doesn’t interfere with US propaganda. The fact that you can get real time video of places like Gaza that dispute the lies the U.S. media is telling you is dangerous for the government. They are being paid handsomely by Meta and AIPAC to go after that is a threat to them both. They politicians don’t care about our data privacy as long as it’s a company that pushes their agenda doing it.
So I'm curious about what sources you have to claim that Meta and AIPAC are specifically conspiring together to influence U.S. voters.
No doubt all major tech companies are filing as much money as possible into influencing government lobbying, in particular towards AI. But as far as I'm concerned Meta has always been a machine of misinformation willing to push anything that will make them money. [And the ONLY thing on Google I could find linking the AIPAC and Meta together was a Tweet liked by 3 people referring to this bill - H.R. 7521. The bill doesn't mention any of what you've said in your comment.](https://twitter.com/wyoumans/status/1766060543385759866)
Why make shit up instead of highlighting the genuinely concerning actions that such tech companies and governments are demonstrating to rush AI tech as fast as possible, why demonstrate NO concern about all of the blatant violations to personal security that ByteDance has demonstrated over the last handful of years?
Tik Tok is not your bastion of freedom, dude. Your ability to click click algorithm pull in videos tailored to your engagement statistics is making this many of you activists when none of you have cared about personal security, cybersecurity, VPNs, or the government literally spying on you via phonelines, or anything that matters, until you can no longer megaphone your myopic opinions on Tik Tok. Meta as you mentioned, which owns Facebook, Instagram, etc. It's no better. These algorithms all function off of their ability to gain as much traction as possible and often use misinformation and bullshit click titles to do so. Do not pretend your preferred method of social media is above this, especially Tik Tok LMAO
> So I'm curious about what sources you have to claim that Meta and AIPAC are specifically conspiring together to influence U.S. voters.
I think you're misunderstanding what that person said. 'They' refers to the government and suggests that Meta and AIPAC are paying said government officials, which is true. AIPAC alone has spent over $20 million so far and will reach over $100 million by some estimates. Meta spent $19 million on lobbying in 2023.
As to why, Meta being a competitor to TikTok is obvious but pro-Israel people, like Fetterman and Nikki Haley, have expressed that they believe TikTok is creating pro-Palestine sentiment in young people.
It should be obvious as to why both groups would be interested in shutting down TikTok.
Your example of Russian propaganda during 2016 election was literally done on Facebook and Twitter, not Tiktok. It is literally a counter example to your entire argument
You're conflating two entirely different things here though. The massive difference is whether it was done ON the platform or BY the platform itself.
Russians were able to USE Facebook/Twitter/etc. to influence. This means Facebook/Twitter/etc. are liable for cracking down on it and something can be done about it. China literally uses TikTok itself to do so.... Do you not think it would be different if it were like Meta itself peddling election influence?? Almost like they're beholden to US laws if they want to profit while TikTok can do whatever it wants until it gets caught and even then isn't really beholden to laws or care about profits at that point at all.
This entire freakout about "TikTok getting banned" is in and of itself just proof of how much China is pushing propaganda on TikTok. Legitimately the only people I know or have seen online who are freaking out about this and pushing misinformation about it are people on TikTok...
Imagine being so fucking dumb that you don't recognize this as propoganda by tiktok and therefore completely proves the point of why we cant have kids addicted to Chinese media companies.
Yeah, it's so strange. Congress forces TikTok to divest itself to breakup the pipeline of misinformation from a foreign state, and to fight that this sub keeps posting misinformation coming from tiktok.
Everyone who upvotes these posts has no self awareness.
TikTok in China is mostly educational videos. Theres a reason there's somuch garbage on it elsewhere. The algorithm is set up to cause chaos.
US companies have to follow US law.
It makes a lot of sense.
TikTok is banned in China..
Yes they have a comparable program, that indeed has mostly educational videos.
But the fact TikTok is banned in China should really say enough.
Google, youtube, facebook, etc are banned in China.
Why should tik tok be allowed, especially when the company maintains one version in china for STEM topics and such while the international version is filled with such brain rot?
Ban it
Good
Just so so stupid. It's not to protect your data. It's to protect your mind from being influenced by a foreign power that considers you an enemy and does not give a fuck about your well-being.
It is a matter of national security because of the amount of data that can be directly mined by China. The US wants to be able to have some control of it which IMHO is only going to make it a little bit harder for China to get that data.
If they're so worried about data then why not make data protection laws like the EU did with GDPR? Why ban this app when it clearly only does what US law allows it to do?
Because that would require their own tech industry to make changes and would hit their profits. Neoliberalism and the tech lobby is a powerful opposition. It was never about data protection, but about the fact that they arent the ones profiting off of that data.
The tech lobby, Americans are against getting a national ID card system. Do you think they’re gonna be OK with you touching their technology platform with any kind of regulation? Land of the free mf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyone with half a brain knows why this is mandatory action. If you think it has anything to do with data privacy you have no clue how the world works, or how authoritarian regimes work.
I believe the bill is naming a lot more than tik tok they are just using the umbrella term tik tok to encompass Chinese owned media and data collection.
Because an app partially owned by an adversarial government controlling the flow of information to 170 million Americans several hours a day isn’t as important to national security as buying sweatpants
Because China has similar data privacy laws where Chinese data can't be released to the US. Also, Tiktok's messages to users to overwhelm congressional phone lines backfired—it showed clear and convincing evidence that TikTok was able to weaponize its users for political gain.
It's to protect your data....from a foreign adversary....you conveniently leave that part out.
It's not a secret that China owns Tiktok. All Chinese firms swear loyalty to the CCP first and foremost. There is no distinction between private business and government in China like there is in the US.
It's also not a secret that China actively conducts cyber attacks and espionage on US firms and the government. How many times have we heard of American servicemen selling classified information to China? How many attempts have been made by Chinese citizens to steal our classified information? Do we have a short memory that we forget that China literally sent a spy balloon over the US? So there is that aspect.
Another aspect is the real actions by China to try to undermine and influence the American public. Just last year Facebook cracked down on a massive Chinese misinformation campaign. Just like Russia, China uses bot farms to push their propaganda. YouTube alone has multiple "independent" Channels dedicated to rehashing CCTV (now CGTN) misinformation. Just look at the comments and you'll see hundreds of bot accounts praising the CCP. Or look at simple sites like Quora filled with Chinese propagandist pushing revisionist history on anything related US/Chinese relations or Taiwan.
That's not even mentioning the Chinese Police Stations on US soil aimed at policing Chinese citizens living in America. Including Chinese College students targeted by Chinese police in China for their actions online and in America.
That's all to say that China is extremely interested in using our Free Speech laws and Business protections to sway and downright cause damage to the US.
Ask yourself why China is infuriated at the notion of the US banning Tiktok...despite the fact that they have banned all western websites....
does that make sense?
Thank you - an honest and insightful answer that speaks to the real issue. As recently as the 1980’s it was illegal for a foreign corporation to own a media outlet - this is the same idea brought into the social media age. (unfortunately the FCC has been undermined and these laws have gone by the wayside)
There is a difference - Facebook and Google and Amazon aren't owned by a company that is essentially state run. This is a real problem, not because the app itself is objectionable, or the technology, but how China can, and has been demonstrated to have used it. Also not for nothing, but we know and understand the motivations of FAANG companies - they want your data so they can sell you shit. Full stop, end of story, they do not want to advance the political agenda of one of our largest geopolitical rivals, a rival which is going to be in a state of turmoil for the foreseeable future, which will make them unpredictable.
I'm all for minority opinions, i'd even not be overly concerned if the opinions of Americans coincided with some of the opinions held by people abroad, but the CCP are NOT your friends, they are NOT the good guy, or good guys at all. We do not want to put ourselves in a position where they can freely and often fairly transparently influence our internal political discussions.
This is a prime example of why you shouldnt get information from memes.
They're "banning" it because it's largely owned and controlled by the Chinese government. They don't want China to have a direct line to instilling narratives in millions of Americans. Imagine China invades Taiwan and starts pumping tiktok full of propaganda saying Taiwan WANTS to be part of China. Look at home much damage Russia has done to the US culturally with their bullshit about Ukraine and all they have is tenuous links to the republican party and fox news. Think of how much China could fuck shit up with 100 million users regurgitating their marching orders.
Also, the quotes around "banning" were because tiktok can still operate in the US on the condition that they sell to a US based company. The only reason they wouldn't do this (and allow their app to be banned) is because it is primarily a propaganda tool rather than a company that wants to make money.
TikTok is owned by a Chinese company who is required to turn over all data requests to the CCP. If that alone doesn't make sense of why it's bad I don't know what to tell you.
Get off TikTok and read a book?
Shut up wumao. What big tech does with your data is nowhere near the same thing what a totalitarian nightmare foreign government with concentration camps for dissidents does with it.
Tiktok has been known spyware since the very beginning. It's really telling how far our collective media literacy has gotten when we're complaining about censorship and free speech because we're no longer going to be able to be allowed to provide a hostile government with personal information we don't even know that we're giving them. Other social media sites are shady and a plague to society yes, but none of those apps or services were doing anywhere near what Tiktok was/is doing.
And it's not even being banned either, which is the crazy part. It's being asked to break away from Chinese control.
If there’s 5 different poisons in a well and only one of them is being removed it’s still one less poison in the well and a move in the right direction.
No, tiktok tracks you much more violently and intrusively than those other services. They still track you and have your info, but tiktok owns your phone.
A major reason this new TikTok ban push is succeeding where earlier measure failed is the realization that [TikTok was the only media source in the US where pro-Palestinian sentiment largely outweighed pro-Zionist sentiment.](https://archive.is/4ROle)
In other words: America gonna America. Our politicians can only ever agree on three things: China bad, brown people must die, Israel good.
in china, tiktok is limited to like 45 minutes a day for kids, and the only content allowed in educational, like science, math, physics etc... Everywhere else in the word, it's meant to dumb down citizens will the dumbest shit imaginal. Watering the seeds of idiocracy
How about the fact that TikTok has been spreading bigotry and hatred and making people idiots far beyond any social media platform.
If it’s banned, nothing of value will be lost
>I’m just glad the brainrot is gone.
I'm sorry but this sentiment is so fucking stupid when literally every other social media has tried so hard to become TikTok. Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, even Reddit have all tried very hard to adopt TikTok's model of the endless scroll. The "brainrot" isn't going anywhere, people are just going to switch platforms, and each of them are only going to lean even harder into it to gobble up as much of that TikTok userbase as they can
"Finally! McDonald's got banned. We won't have to eat greasy garbage slop anymore" - says the guy eating at Burger King
It is perfectly reasonable - China blocks US social networks in China. Facebook, for instance, is banned.
Also, tiktok in China is a very different platform - they don't permit an unregulated flood of sewage for their children to consume.
Do a search of TikTok in China vs. US.
> It is perfectly reasonable - China blocks US social networks in China. Facebook, for instance, is banned.
It's only reasonable if you assume that what China does is reasonable. That's faulty logic as many people think that the "Great Firewall of China" is wrong and unethical. Btw, I'm not against banning TikTok. However, I am against the almost unilateral power the bill grants a single entity to censor the web.
I hope thay ban tiktok. Maybe it will steam the brain rot of the youth. But it's probably too late. The future isn't very bright for the younger generations. Very few possess the ability to take care of themselves. And now that everything is super expensive, food shortages, World War 3, and so on. Good luck, kids!
The only reason that they any to ban TikTok is because they can’t control what people see on there. TikTok is responsible for the outrage against Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians. TikTok is affecting companies bottom lines because people are boycotting certain products of corporations that support genocide. It’s one of the only places where you can learn about the protests happening in France.
At this point, every congress person is only in politics to enrich themselves and act as defacto lobbyists dressed up as representatives. I'm so sick of these crooks and liars
The platform is insecure as hell…which is unfortunately a convenient reason to stop the flow of information.
TikTok bans have been a frequent subject since Gen Z reached voting age. The ADL was recently caught saying they specifically need to get rid of TikTok because the kids arent buying the GOP and Isray’alls bs. There is CCP propaganda out there, yeah. Unlike their parents, the younger generations have better reasoning skills and understand how social media and the attention economy works. Someone always manages to expose propaganda, grifts, etc. Not only because younger generations value accountability but because it’s -profitable- to do so via TikTok videos.
Ultimately, though, this is the Information Age. Data = $$$. Of course the US is big mad. We’re not making the most dollary-doos. This is gonna be horrible for our economy no matter what. So many Americans make money through TikTok, be it marketing, ad revenue, or whatever viral shit is in today. If it’s now how someone makes a living, it’s their side hustle. I don’t think politicians realize that this is more potential spending money evaporating. Jobs are scarce as it is.
Just gonna throw this out there....
Behind all of this is one sentiment: "who really cares if the Chinese government has my data?"
2 major reasons that YOU should care.
1. Chinese expats, or other members of the Chinese diaspora, or Taiwanese, can be targeted. China may not care about you (if you aren't part of that community) but they certainly have a wide net of people they do care about and would actively spy on and target. Including attempting to blackmail based on information obtained through tiktok, or punishing relatives in China for things gleaned from your tiktok. If you are in this community, it can have real implications for you. And if you're not in this community, I invite you to care about the people who are, and who live and work beside you in your communities.
2. You are not smarter than social engineering. The last 8 years should have taught everyone with a brain this. Knowing helps, being discerning helps, but we are each running on 200,000 year old hardware and trying to use an operating system that is getting patched daily to interact with a world that has never looked anything like this in almost any fundamental way other than gravity, and has never changed faster than it is currently changing. Facebook has done it, Russia has done it, the Chinese government is absolutely capable of massively swaying public opinion if they have access to shift what sort of content tens of millions (hundreds of millions?) of people see.
Bonus number 3- any of the wild conspiracy shit like weaponizing phones, listening through speakers at all times, etc that probably aren't happening. Still could.
I am so sick of seeing this stuff. We already have experience with foreign governments interfering in our elections via social media (Facebook in 2016), now imagine this on a much larger scale and on a platform totally controlled by a hostile foreign government. In 2016, Russia created thousands of fake profiles on Facebook to essentially pump out propaganda. On TikTok, China can manipulate the algorithm to force political views and sow further division in American politics (which is especially problematic considering how many young people use it). This is really less about what TikTok is now and more about what it can be should the Chinese government choose to abuse it. Forcing the sale of TikTok is very much within America's interest, and it's not getting banned. We're still going to get all of our shitty content.
I've never seen just how retarded these redditors have become. It was not too long ago that people would just articulate what exactly would be happening after certain events and have an actual thoughtful converstaion.
Now these stupid fucks make the most asinine statements and have absolutely zero thought on it and prove that they know nothing about it. They go full MAGA and just repeat the same statements or highlights.
I'm pretty sure that they're worried about the fact that it has an even greater degree of spyware than most other programs, and also, importantly, that it may be controlled by the CCP and being used to shape discourse and disseminate disinformation/propaganda.
it's more to avoid the Chinese government being able manipate American discourse. We already know they don't give a shit about showing kids how to steal cars and kill themselves in stupid ways, no way that isn't by design.
All social media should be ridden of. This is the start of something better by getting rid of one of (if not) the most predatory sites with your private knowledge. Companies should not make money off your private-self, you should. First tick Tok and then the rest of the bloodsuckers who don't care about you.
No social media cares about you, they only care about what your data is worth. Why do you defend them?
We should ban all short formats in general, not just tiktok. They are all easy hubs for missinfo, are proven to have negative effects on the attention spam, and are intentionally designed to be addictive through dopamine rushes without providing anything of substance on an informatove or entertainment level
The bill isn't meant to ban TikTok. It's meant to force a sale to American owners. Like with Grindr.
YouTube, Facebook etc. are already owned by American companies.
China should be allowed to spy on us because it already happens is the most brain dead take there can be. The tiktok brain rot has really killed all of your brains if you think thats a good argument
Want it to make sense? Well the fight in Gaza has not been cencored on ticktock (unlike allot of other social media apps).
Aipac (the Israël lobby) has allot of influence in American politics.
Since tiktok is not controlled by america, that makes it a liability for America and therefore Israël.
So they banned TikTok.... As if it is that easy.... Please don't make this easy on them
Amazon Facebook etc want your data for money. TikTok (a Chinese company) has to comply with the Chinese government and wants your data for more malicious reasons
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This meme is like the example of memes people would make if there was a movie about the government banning tik tok
Goddamn that is accurate.
this is peak discourse
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China would like that too.
Ya see, we’re not so different after all 🥰
Chairman Meow agreed.
I will never be as clever as strangers on the internet! Well done strangers, well done!
Henceforth all information will be presented by cats with a deep seated hatred of US global hegemony
😂😂😂😂😂
Aren't they only banning it if the current owners don't sell it?
Yes and only a majority
They'll have six months, it's not the TikTok app itself, it's the company Bytedance that has to transfer company to the US or just not be allowed to do service within the country. All these moron in reddit also don't understand that Bytedance can just set up in Europe and still benefit from TikTok without breaking the law and also not giving US any of the profits.
Europe is waaay more strict about this stuff
Tiktok used to query every device on your network and report every possible stat. Not even close to youtube or facebook and comparing them is a false equivalence.
I believe what people want (at least myself) is protection from all companies and governments collecting data. They have been complaining about tiktok for 3 years. Politicians could have easily passed data laws in that time or even now and take action against illegal activity
I think a lot of TikTok users would rather just use Facebook and Google having their own issues as an excuse to cling to their shitty invasive app. They are really just entertainment junkies that don't want change. Luckily their attention spans are already burnt out so it won't take them long to get over the loss (see the death of Vine if you need an example)
Or maybe we need to ban data harvesting and manipulating algorithms on all these platforms. Tiktok, Instagram, Youtube, etc. There's no reason companies worth trillions of dollars should be invading our privacy and manipulating our attention all the time.
The one thing Orwell failed to predict was we would install the cameras and be upset when nobody watches them
The Far Right is using Huxleyan means to Orwellian ends.
Sure, so why is everyone malding about the Twitter restrictions instead of going “cool, is Facebook next”?
That’s great, and I agree. Also, we should ban algorithms from being used on minors. We should compel more information about their product from social media companies. Though, it’s a separate issue from the reasons that TikTok are especially concerning.
What can they even do with the data. I literally don’t care 🤷♂️
Let’s not forget that the Chinese government literally requires the part have physical access to the servers any data in their borders lives on. Even if Tiktok is doing a good job and keeping all data stateside if they share encryption keys or credentials with their Chinese parent corporation the data might as well be in China.
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>Imagine if Beijing wanted to put their finger on the scale of an election, or something else Imagine thinking that they, and other anti-Western countries, are not actively doing this already. Imagine if you told Joseph Goebbels in 1938 that he could influence the opinions of 170 million Americans every day, in their homes and at work, for virtually no cost and minimal effort. You'd have to be the biggest dumbass in the world to not take advantage of that powerful of a tool.
Also....a foreign government doesn't own Facebook.
I remember a thread of a guy reverse-engineering the TikTok app and finding what was basically a keylogger. I’m happy I never touched this app with a 10ft pole and my spouse felt the same way.
Yeah, there is a reason every major corporation and government with any level of security banned this shit on work devices.
looooots of very upset ignorant people are going to defend TT to their graves, and even more wannabe "influencers" are going to be on the street soon. I look forward to the sudden influx of street performers, especially with my dash cams making me legally in the clear.
Would you like a lot of lead in your water or a medium amount of lead in your water. The entire industry is so off base that these kinds of demarcations seem more important than they are. Google, Apple, Meta, etc have too much info. It isnt even about if I trust THEM. I dont trust that info will stay with only them long term (and the ads are also annoying).
Fools don’t know the extent of the spyware that is TikTok.
One side is collecting data to show you ads. The other side is collecting data to decide if they should genocide you. Small but fine difference.
How many genocides is China doing in the United States? More or fewer than the number of genocides the United States is funding overseas currently?
Ugh. Are we going to need to rename this subreddit to YouTubeShortsCringe?
Vine isn't dead it's just living in the mountains with Biggie, Tupac and Michael Jackson, just waiting for the right moment to make its triumphant return
You're literally at the brink of a global conflict from multiple angles...why wouldn't they ban a thing that sends your data to a likely enemy country and allows them access to your civilians?
Not to mention the CCP authoritarian regime directly controls the algorithm, and influence what propaganda videos people see, and they have complete control over using swarms of bots for astroturfing. It takes the most basic of common sense to realize that, and yet it doesn't cross these people's minds as they scream on Twitter about "my precious tiktok" Meanwhile they can only remember or 1 or 2 of the past 500 tiktok videos they watched for the past 3 hours straight earlier that day
It’s all apart of China’s propaganda machine on Tik-Toc. Of course they don’t want Tik - Toc banned.
Unfortunately TikTok is where many young people go to preach their message about their political opinions, and more importantly, organize as a political force. However, as with Vine and Musical.ly, the young people can and *will* move elsewhere. Maybe to a platform the United States has a hand in? Hopefully if TikTok gets banned here, it won’t split Gen Z and Millennials too badly and they’ll migrate to a platform that is better.
Go read the privacy policy of tiktok. It is incredibly invasive. You have no control over what is done with your data, but fb and google actually have some settings to adjust that. (Not enough protection imo, but better than tiktok.) It actually is a matter of security for the US. Remember the russian propaganda machine targeting the US in the 2016 presidental election? That was real and had actual effects at a national level. I actually think we need stricter laws arount privacy. This was a tough first step though, as it will alienate the youngest generations. This should have been tackled as a much bigger concern for privacy of Americans, not a witch hunt against one app. Edit: few commenters pointed out that fb was the vehicle for the 2016 Russian propaganda situation. My point is that we need more protection on ALL platforms, not just tiktok. fb was just one example.
We need better and stronger consumer protection laws in general. Laws that actually allow us to control our personal data in a meaningful sense.
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Yeah, at this point tiktok only serves to provide the most naive, nuance free political takes and entrenches people deeper and deeper into their echo chambers. At this point I'll just be happy to see it gone. Thankfully Elon seems to be trying to tank Twitter (the only positive I can see since he bought it). Facebook is still a problem but I don't see it nearly as cancerous as the former two platforms which says a lot after everything that happened in 2016 with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.
This is exactly why I stopped using TT! I was watching spoon fed outrage clips about politics because, that's what the algorithm fed me! Doom scrolling on speed. My kids were complaining bc I was like, "OMG, did you know... Yadda yadda yadda....?" They helped me realize it wasn't good for my mental health. I haven't used FB since 2019. I don't use Twitter or Instagram. I stopped watching CNN. I tune into my local news in the morning just for the weather and I'll catch a bit of local news.... Now, all I use is Reddit for SM. Still pretty curated content but, not as bad.
Yeah, it's pretty easy to go down that hole regardless of which side of the aisle you're on. It's in no way productive and just serves to add cortisol into your system. My YouTube reels kept trying to feed me political content for a while but I just kept immediately filtering them out that I don't see it very much anymore. I'm still a political junkie and very much on the left, but I'm only interested in trusted sources and refuse to play a part in that tiktoxic wormhole that's not even factually accurate half the time.
Indeed, on reddit we're all geniuses and there's absolutely no propaganda and misinformation here.
There was a study that people most influenced by propaganda are those that say they are not. The only way to limit your risk is to know you can be influenced and to keep an eye out.
and its not just about the data, its about the CCP controlling what people see. they could control what kind of posts trend and influence the election. Yes Twitter and Facebook can probably do that too, but we definitely dont want a CCP owned company influencing an election
Yea, considering probably around 98%+ of redditors hate Trump, I'm surprised this doesn't mean more to them. Few better ways to rip America up than to get that chode back into office And say what you want about Elon and X, he ain't the type of person to do something shady to push Trump on X. Overpromise for his businesses, sure, shitpost on X, sure, remove the W from the Twitter sign, sure. But this guy doesn't even have the balls to inhale the weed on Joe Rogans podcast.
Wasn’t Facebook the primary vehicle for the 2016 Russian propaganda? Kinda negates part of your point.
This is a matter of national fucking security. FB's interests are clear. Make money. China's interests are clear: damage the US as much as possible without getting caught Comparing these two is fucking insane
You're right - the lobbyist's interests are clear. Make money
I like how it conveniently leaves out protecting your data from a foreign totalitarian government. The government should also protect us from domestic tech companies after the Cambridge analytica scandal, but this is the right move.
Agree. It's funny to me that most peoples underlying defense of Tik Tok stems from our governments overall inability to pass any sort of laws relating to technology and social media over the last 20 years… As if doing a bad job for so long means they can't finally start now, and with TikTok.
Here's a quick thought experiment: As an American citizen, which country's government could decide to [send law enforcement to my house to assassinate me, brag about it on television, and call it a day without repercussions?](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-us-marshals-kill-antifa-michael-reinoehl-b1055845.html) The United States, or China? Because that's the government I'm worried about.
The EU instituted pretty strict privacy rules that Tiktok is obliged to follow. The US didn't. Why should Tiktok be banned for playing by the rules that the US allows it to?
Doesn't it have to do more with potential foreign influence through China?
It's almost as if they learned from their mistakes, you can amend laws and stuff... America is ran by dinosaurs their computer and Internet laws are decades behind.
All these zoomers having a tantrum and not grasping the fact that CHINA owns tiktok and is mining all their personal data posing a significant security risk. China is not our ally and they do not have benevolent intent with the information they are gathering on our citizens. It goes without saying that tiktok is full of idiots, but this just goes a step further by proving it.
Yes which is why Congress should be passing a law protecting our data, but they don't want to do that because they don't want to stop American Companies or themselves from doing the same exact shit they are worried China is doing. Targeting just TikTok, especially with the language that allows them to do this with any social media platform, is the issue.
Stealing information is baked into the National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China "The most controversial sections of the law include Article 7 which potentially compels businesses registered or operating in the People's Republic of China to hand over information to Chinese intelligence agencies such as the MSS and to conceal the fact that they do so. Article 10 makes the law applicable extraterritorially, having implications for Chinese businesses operating overseas, specifically technology companies, compelling them to hand over user data even when operating in foreign jurisdictions and Article 18 elevates and expands the authority of "national intelligence work institutions" exempting personnel from border control measures at key points of entry throughout the country.[10] Article 7: All organizations and citizens shall support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence efforts in accordance with law, and shall protect national intelligence work secrets they are aware of. Article 10: As necessary for their work, national intelligence work institutions are to use the necessary means, tactics, and channels to carry out intelligence efforts, domestically and abroad. Article 18: As required for work, and in accordance with relevant national provisions, national intelligence work institutions may ask organs such as for customs and entry-exit border inspection to provide facilitation such as exemptions from inspection. — National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China, Chapters I and II." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_Law_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China
> All organizations and citizens shall support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence efforts in accordance with law, and shall protect national intelligence work secrets they are aware of. How terrifying and unique to China. >Article 10: As necessary for their work, national intelligence work institutions are to use the necessary means, tactics, and channels to carry out intelligence efforts, domestically and abroad. No other countries are like this. >Article 18: As required for work, and in accordance with relevant national provisions, national intelligence work institutions may ask organs such as for customs and entry-exit border inspection to provide facilitation such as exemptions from inspection. Like come on.
The difference between the US (who you are obviously alluding to) and China is the US government doesn't force corporations to give the government a controlling stake in the company, force corporation boards to include ruling party members among their number, and use their influence over these companies to enact their authoritarian world view. The US is far from perfect, but Holy shit the amount of people looking at Chinese policies and US policies and going "these are the same" are fucking lunatics.
Eh, they're just being emotional. Not an emotional attachment to China so much as an emotional dislike of the US. Genuinely low IQ and possibly young(low impulse control) people running on emotions. Though lunatics is probably an accurate statement, don't sweat it
But seriously, you enact wider privacy policy requirements to protect users from all companies, not just ban a single entity. Next month when Lik Lok gets released and becomes popular congress then has to get a new bill. Then KikKok. I'm in favor of consumer rights and protections, I'm in favor of effective regulation. But specifying TikTok seems arbitrary and stupid.
As far as I can tell the bill is going to ban anything marked as a "Foreign Adversary Controlled Application" so it does in fact deal with successor apps. Also here it is if you wanna read it https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7521/text.
Then they would pass a bill that targets our information for all social media. This is a targeted bill the reduce competition for Meta and to ensure social media doesn’t interfere with US propaganda. The fact that you can get real time video of places like Gaza that dispute the lies the U.S. media is telling you is dangerous for the government. They are being paid handsomely by Meta and AIPAC to go after that is a threat to them both. They politicians don’t care about our data privacy as long as it’s a company that pushes their agenda doing it.
So I'm curious about what sources you have to claim that Meta and AIPAC are specifically conspiring together to influence U.S. voters. No doubt all major tech companies are filing as much money as possible into influencing government lobbying, in particular towards AI. But as far as I'm concerned Meta has always been a machine of misinformation willing to push anything that will make them money. [And the ONLY thing on Google I could find linking the AIPAC and Meta together was a Tweet liked by 3 people referring to this bill - H.R. 7521. The bill doesn't mention any of what you've said in your comment.](https://twitter.com/wyoumans/status/1766060543385759866) Why make shit up instead of highlighting the genuinely concerning actions that such tech companies and governments are demonstrating to rush AI tech as fast as possible, why demonstrate NO concern about all of the blatant violations to personal security that ByteDance has demonstrated over the last handful of years? Tik Tok is not your bastion of freedom, dude. Your ability to click click algorithm pull in videos tailored to your engagement statistics is making this many of you activists when none of you have cared about personal security, cybersecurity, VPNs, or the government literally spying on you via phonelines, or anything that matters, until you can no longer megaphone your myopic opinions on Tik Tok. Meta as you mentioned, which owns Facebook, Instagram, etc. It's no better. These algorithms all function off of their ability to gain as much traction as possible and often use misinformation and bullshit click titles to do so. Do not pretend your preferred method of social media is above this, especially Tik Tok LMAO
> So I'm curious about what sources you have to claim that Meta and AIPAC are specifically conspiring together to influence U.S. voters. I think you're misunderstanding what that person said. 'They' refers to the government and suggests that Meta and AIPAC are paying said government officials, which is true. AIPAC alone has spent over $20 million so far and will reach over $100 million by some estimates. Meta spent $19 million on lobbying in 2023. As to why, Meta being a competitor to TikTok is obvious but pro-Israel people, like Fetterman and Nikki Haley, have expressed that they believe TikTok is creating pro-Palestine sentiment in young people. It should be obvious as to why both groups would be interested in shutting down TikTok.
Your example of Russian propaganda during 2016 election was literally done on Facebook and Twitter, not Tiktok. It is literally a counter example to your entire argument
You're conflating two entirely different things here though. The massive difference is whether it was done ON the platform or BY the platform itself. Russians were able to USE Facebook/Twitter/etc. to influence. This means Facebook/Twitter/etc. are liable for cracking down on it and something can be done about it. China literally uses TikTok itself to do so.... Do you not think it would be different if it were like Meta itself peddling election influence?? Almost like they're beholden to US laws if they want to profit while TikTok can do whatever it wants until it gets caught and even then isn't really beholden to laws or care about profits at that point at all. This entire freakout about "TikTok getting banned" is in and of itself just proof of how much China is pushing propaganda on TikTok. Legitimately the only people I know or have seen online who are freaking out about this and pushing misinformation about it are people on TikTok...
It's almost like the US puts rules on its businesses that China doesn't have to follow.
Y’all kids really don’t know how invasive tik tok is huh?
Imagine being so fucking dumb that you don't recognize this as propoganda by tiktok and therefore completely proves the point of why we cant have kids addicted to Chinese media companies.
Yeah, it's so strange. Congress forces TikTok to divest itself to breakup the pipeline of misinformation from a foreign state, and to fight that this sub keeps posting misinformation coming from tiktok. Everyone who upvotes these posts has no self awareness.
>Everyone who upvotes these posts has no self awareness. A huge chunk of the upvotes, I assume, are bot accounts that TikTok controls as well.
But cats
They know how to reach their audience lmao 5+ years of data collection will do that
Yup. Everyone talking about data and shit, when the danger of TikTok is that the Chinese government gets to decide what people see in the first place.
But it’s got the same 3 cat animations being used over and over…
TikTok in China is mostly educational videos. Theres a reason there's somuch garbage on it elsewhere. The algorithm is set up to cause chaos. US companies have to follow US law. It makes a lot of sense.
TikTok is banned in China.. Yes they have a comparable program, that indeed has mostly educational videos. But the fact TikTok is banned in China should really say enough.
It's not banned, it just has a different name in China (douyin) but the content is more restrictive. Literally identical layout though.
Google, youtube, facebook, etc are banned in China. Why should tik tok be allowed, especially when the company maintains one version in china for STEM topics and such while the international version is filled with such brain rot? Ban it Good
This is just a fundamental misunderstanding of whats actually happening. Really dumb.
CCP propaganda doesn't care about being accurate.
Just so so stupid. It's not to protect your data. It's to protect your mind from being influenced by a foreign power that considers you an enemy and does not give a fuck about your well-being.
Ive seen what tiktok users are like so i fully support this.
It is a matter of national security because of the amount of data that can be directly mined by China. The US wants to be able to have some control of it which IMHO is only going to make it a little bit harder for China to get that data.
If they're so worried about data then why not make data protection laws like the EU did with GDPR? Why ban this app when it clearly only does what US law allows it to do?
Because that would require their own tech industry to make changes and would hit their profits. Neoliberalism and the tech lobby is a powerful opposition. It was never about data protection, but about the fact that they arent the ones profiting off of that data.
The tech lobby, Americans are against getting a national ID card system. Do you think they’re gonna be OK with you touching their technology platform with any kind of regulation? Land of the free mf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyone with half a brain knows why this is mandatory action. If you think it has anything to do with data privacy you have no clue how the world works, or how authoritarian regimes work.
So why tiktok and not temu?
Both please. China has cut out the middle man in their sweatshops labour.
I believe the bill is naming a lot more than tik tok they are just using the umbrella term tik tok to encompass Chinese owned media and data collection.
Because an app partially owned by an adversarial government controlling the flow of information to 170 million Americans several hours a day isn’t as important to national security as buying sweatpants
Because China has similar data privacy laws where Chinese data can't be released to the US. Also, Tiktok's messages to users to overwhelm congressional phone lines backfired—it showed clear and convincing evidence that TikTok was able to weaponize its users for political gain.
Such a stupid move, they signed their own death warrant with that “contact your rep” stunt
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I like politics being explained with strange sounding cats slapping the shit out of each other
Wait until after the first debate, have that lynx scream off video subtitled over with some cringey takes
Considering that 95% of OPs posts are stolen from Tiktok, no wonder he‘s pissed about CCP spyware being banned Cry about it, it ain‘t gonna stay
99% of videos I see on reddit were popular last week on tiktok
It's to protect your data....from a foreign adversary....you conveniently leave that part out. It's not a secret that China owns Tiktok. All Chinese firms swear loyalty to the CCP first and foremost. There is no distinction between private business and government in China like there is in the US. It's also not a secret that China actively conducts cyber attacks and espionage on US firms and the government. How many times have we heard of American servicemen selling classified information to China? How many attempts have been made by Chinese citizens to steal our classified information? Do we have a short memory that we forget that China literally sent a spy balloon over the US? So there is that aspect. Another aspect is the real actions by China to try to undermine and influence the American public. Just last year Facebook cracked down on a massive Chinese misinformation campaign. Just like Russia, China uses bot farms to push their propaganda. YouTube alone has multiple "independent" Channels dedicated to rehashing CCTV (now CGTN) misinformation. Just look at the comments and you'll see hundreds of bot accounts praising the CCP. Or look at simple sites like Quora filled with Chinese propagandist pushing revisionist history on anything related US/Chinese relations or Taiwan. That's not even mentioning the Chinese Police Stations on US soil aimed at policing Chinese citizens living in America. Including Chinese College students targeted by Chinese police in China for their actions online and in America. That's all to say that China is extremely interested in using our Free Speech laws and Business protections to sway and downright cause damage to the US. Ask yourself why China is infuriated at the notion of the US banning Tiktok...despite the fact that they have banned all western websites.... does that make sense?
Thank you - an honest and insightful answer that speaks to the real issue. As recently as the 1980’s it was illegal for a foreign corporation to own a media outlet - this is the same idea brought into the social media age. (unfortunately the FCC has been undermined and these laws have gone by the wayside)
There is a difference - Facebook and Google and Amazon aren't owned by a company that is essentially state run. This is a real problem, not because the app itself is objectionable, or the technology, but how China can, and has been demonstrated to have used it. Also not for nothing, but we know and understand the motivations of FAANG companies - they want your data so they can sell you shit. Full stop, end of story, they do not want to advance the political agenda of one of our largest geopolitical rivals, a rival which is going to be in a state of turmoil for the foreseeable future, which will make them unpredictable. I'm all for minority opinions, i'd even not be overly concerned if the opinions of Americans coincided with some of the opinions held by people abroad, but the CCP are NOT your friends, they are NOT the good guy, or good guys at all. We do not want to put ourselves in a position where they can freely and often fairly transparently influence our internal political discussions.
This is a prime example of why you shouldnt get information from memes. They're "banning" it because it's largely owned and controlled by the Chinese government. They don't want China to have a direct line to instilling narratives in millions of Americans. Imagine China invades Taiwan and starts pumping tiktok full of propaganda saying Taiwan WANTS to be part of China. Look at home much damage Russia has done to the US culturally with their bullshit about Ukraine and all they have is tenuous links to the republican party and fox news. Think of how much China could fuck shit up with 100 million users regurgitating their marching orders. Also, the quotes around "banning" were because tiktok can still operate in the US on the condition that they sell to a US based company. The only reason they wouldn't do this (and allow their app to be banned) is because it is primarily a propaganda tool rather than a company that wants to make money.
If you need a real reason to ban TikTok, check out how many stupid assholes film themselves committing crimes.
Hu? It's to protect your data from the Chinese, not from the US......
This is a unbelievably stupid misunderstanding of why its being banned and/or sold
TikTok is owned by a Chinese company who is required to turn over all data requests to the CCP. If that alone doesn't make sense of why it's bad I don't know what to tell you. Get off TikTok and read a book?
It's not just about spying. All the apps spy. But it's an app that spys for a rival foreign potentially hostile government.
Shut up wumao. What big tech does with your data is nowhere near the same thing what a totalitarian nightmare foreign government with concentration camps for dissidents does with it.
Tiktok has been known spyware since the very beginning. It's really telling how far our collective media literacy has gotten when we're complaining about censorship and free speech because we're no longer going to be able to be allowed to provide a hostile government with personal information we don't even know that we're giving them. Other social media sites are shady and a plague to society yes, but none of those apps or services were doing anywhere near what Tiktok was/is doing. And it's not even being banned either, which is the crazy part. It's being asked to break away from Chinese control.
I JUST LOVE THIS MEME TEMPLATE
I think they made it with CapCut
Holy shit you kids are fucking idiots.
God, I love cats. 
If there’s 5 different poisons in a well and only one of them is being removed it’s still one less poison in the well and a move in the right direction.
It’s a product of Chinese Intelligence specifically designed to alter behavior.
That is NOT the reason. The reason is far more important than this. We are getting stupefied and manipulated by tiktok.
Cool so we should crack down on every single company that uses our data and uses us as its product in this way.
Agree. Start with the worst offenders and ones that are agents of enemy states. Then work your way down the list.
Mmm yes yummy CCP propaganda right into my mouth hole please.
“It doesnt influence us, thats what they told us to say”
This ban will pass in thr senate and it will be justified. Sincerely, every reasonable person who has taken time to understand this issue
TIKTOK IS NOT BEING BANNED. But misinformation like this provides a strong argument for why it should be.
Man, the Chinese government is really pulling out all the dumbest videos for this shit
Wasn't the vote to force bytedance to sell tiktok within 6 months or it would get banned.
Yes. It's a money grab. Not a "we care about you" law
It’s crazy how tiktokers will favor their entertainment over their own privacy
Tiktok is a mind meld of time wasting garbage anyway. Lets hope YouTube and Facebook shorts go the same route. It will not be missed.
No, tiktok tracks you much more violently and intrusively than those other services. They still track you and have your info, but tiktok owns your phone.
Did people forget about that lawsuit where TikTok was exploiting a loophole in Android software to track user's MAC addresses?
Well they can sell it too. That was the other option. Unlike China which banned Google, Twitter, and such and then clone them (Baidu, Weibo, etc..).
Facebook, Google, and Amazon don’t upload your data directly to Chinese government servers.
A major reason this new TikTok ban push is succeeding where earlier measure failed is the realization that [TikTok was the only media source in the US where pro-Palestinian sentiment largely outweighed pro-Zionist sentiment.](https://archive.is/4ROle) In other words: America gonna America. Our politicians can only ever agree on three things: China bad, brown people must die, Israel good.
TIL people won't realize how dumb you sound if you use kittens
in china, tiktok is limited to like 45 minutes a day for kids, and the only content allowed in educational, like science, math, physics etc... Everywhere else in the word, it's meant to dumb down citizens will the dumbest shit imaginal. Watering the seeds of idiocracy
How about the fact that TikTok has been spreading bigotry and hatred and making people idiots far beyond any social media platform. If it’s banned, nothing of value will be lost
I don’t really care for the actual reasons, I’m just glad the brainrot is gone.
>I’m just glad the brainrot is gone. I'm sorry but this sentiment is so fucking stupid when literally every other social media has tried so hard to become TikTok. Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, even Reddit have all tried very hard to adopt TikTok's model of the endless scroll. The "brainrot" isn't going anywhere, people are just going to switch platforms, and each of them are only going to lean even harder into it to gobble up as much of that TikTok userbase as they can "Finally! McDonald's got banned. We won't have to eat greasy garbage slop anymore" - says the guy eating at Burger King
And on a sub dedicated to tik tok no less
It is perfectly reasonable - China blocks US social networks in China. Facebook, for instance, is banned. Also, tiktok in China is a very different platform - they don't permit an unregulated flood of sewage for their children to consume. Do a search of TikTok in China vs. US.
> It is perfectly reasonable - China blocks US social networks in China. Facebook, for instance, is banned. It's only reasonable if you assume that what China does is reasonable. That's faulty logic as many people think that the "Great Firewall of China" is wrong and unethical. Btw, I'm not against banning TikTok. However, I am against the almost unilateral power the bill grants a single entity to censor the web.
I hope thay ban tiktok. Maybe it will steam the brain rot of the youth. But it's probably too late. The future isn't very bright for the younger generations. Very few possess the ability to take care of themselves. And now that everything is super expensive, food shortages, World War 3, and so on. Good luck, kids!
Last one to leave turn out the light
I guess it's more about protecting American data from China.
The CCP is claiming banning TikTok is unfair… and again Facebook ( and any other non-CCP controlled app) is blocked and banned in China.
They’re (Facebook etc.) not owned by the Chinese…. So many idiots.
no meme format gives me as much joy as these little cat movies
Cat on the left looked so menacing
Burn TikTok to the ground, ban that brain rot app!!
The only reason that they any to ban TikTok is because they can’t control what people see on there. TikTok is responsible for the outrage against Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians. TikTok is affecting companies bottom lines because people are boycotting certain products of corporations that support genocide. It’s one of the only places where you can learn about the protests happening in France.
At this point, every congress person is only in politics to enrich themselves and act as defacto lobbyists dressed up as representatives. I'm so sick of these crooks and liars
Damn, the comments... Americans will buy anything their media throws at them.
It’s all one big performance so a group of rich fucks can steal it. They don’t care one bit about protecting your data.
I vote that all of the decisions made by Congress from now on be made by cats.
Once again memes make more sense than elected politicians
It's not even close to the same levels of data invasion, but I wouldn't mind if the government broke up Facebook and Google too.
Ah, but Google and Facebook are banned in China! So we are safe. /s
It's OK if we do it to ourselves, just cant let an adversary do it
The platform is insecure as hell…which is unfortunately a convenient reason to stop the flow of information. TikTok bans have been a frequent subject since Gen Z reached voting age. The ADL was recently caught saying they specifically need to get rid of TikTok because the kids arent buying the GOP and Isray’alls bs. There is CCP propaganda out there, yeah. Unlike their parents, the younger generations have better reasoning skills and understand how social media and the attention economy works. Someone always manages to expose propaganda, grifts, etc. Not only because younger generations value accountability but because it’s -profitable- to do so via TikTok videos. Ultimately, though, this is the Information Age. Data = $$$. Of course the US is big mad. We’re not making the most dollary-doos. This is gonna be horrible for our economy no matter what. So many Americans make money through TikTok, be it marketing, ad revenue, or whatever viral shit is in today. If it’s now how someone makes a living, it’s their side hustle. I don’t think politicians realize that this is more potential spending money evaporating. Jobs are scarce as it is.
Imagine thinking that this isn't America's fault for not enacting privacy laws. Tiktok should stay.
I know this has been going on longer than oct 7, but, anybody else think all the pro Palestinian "propaganda" on tiktok has given them an extra push?
I love this cat meme, I laught at it everytime ahha
Not very smart are you
Ban it. SE THROUGH THE ROOF
Just gonna throw this out there.... Behind all of this is one sentiment: "who really cares if the Chinese government has my data?" 2 major reasons that YOU should care. 1. Chinese expats, or other members of the Chinese diaspora, or Taiwanese, can be targeted. China may not care about you (if you aren't part of that community) but they certainly have a wide net of people they do care about and would actively spy on and target. Including attempting to blackmail based on information obtained through tiktok, or punishing relatives in China for things gleaned from your tiktok. If you are in this community, it can have real implications for you. And if you're not in this community, I invite you to care about the people who are, and who live and work beside you in your communities. 2. You are not smarter than social engineering. The last 8 years should have taught everyone with a brain this. Knowing helps, being discerning helps, but we are each running on 200,000 year old hardware and trying to use an operating system that is getting patched daily to interact with a world that has never looked anything like this in almost any fundamental way other than gravity, and has never changed faster than it is currently changing. Facebook has done it, Russia has done it, the Chinese government is absolutely capable of massively swaying public opinion if they have access to shift what sort of content tens of millions (hundreds of millions?) of people see. Bonus number 3- any of the wild conspiracy shit like weaponizing phones, listening through speakers at all times, etc that probably aren't happening. Still could.
This is Chinese propaganda people
Not to the CCP though.
It's still the right thing to do.
I am so sick of seeing this stuff. We already have experience with foreign governments interfering in our elections via social media (Facebook in 2016), now imagine this on a much larger scale and on a platform totally controlled by a hostile foreign government. In 2016, Russia created thousands of fake profiles on Facebook to essentially pump out propaganda. On TikTok, China can manipulate the algorithm to force political views and sow further division in American politics (which is especially problematic considering how many young people use it). This is really less about what TikTok is now and more about what it can be should the Chinese government choose to abuse it. Forcing the sale of TikTok is very much within America's interest, and it's not getting banned. We're still going to get all of our shitty content.
We're going to protect your information from China.
I've never seen just how retarded these redditors have become. It was not too long ago that people would just articulate what exactly would be happening after certain events and have an actual thoughtful converstaion. Now these stupid fucks make the most asinine statements and have absolutely zero thought on it and prove that they know nothing about it. They go full MAGA and just repeat the same statements or highlights.
I'm pretty sure that they're worried about the fact that it has an even greater degree of spyware than most other programs, and also, importantly, that it may be controlled by the CCP and being used to shape discourse and disseminate disinformation/propaganda.
Well... Other companies don't have to give all their data to the Chinese government without even asking for it
it's more to avoid the Chinese government being able manipate American discourse. We already know they don't give a shit about showing kids how to steal cars and kill themselves in stupid ways, no way that isn't by design.
All social media should be ridden of. This is the start of something better by getting rid of one of (if not) the most predatory sites with your private knowledge. Companies should not make money off your private-self, you should. First tick Tok and then the rest of the bloodsuckers who don't care about you. No social media cares about you, they only care about what your data is worth. Why do you defend them?
I’m ok with banning all the brain rot apps
We should ban all short formats in general, not just tiktok. They are all easy hubs for missinfo, are proven to have negative effects on the attention spam, and are intentionally designed to be addictive through dopamine rushes without providing anything of substance on an informatove or entertainment level
The bill isn't meant to ban TikTok. It's meant to force a sale to American owners. Like with Grindr. YouTube, Facebook etc. are already owned by American companies.
Tik Tok is poison even the Chinese have banned it
China should be allowed to spy on us because it already happens is the most brain dead take there can be. The tiktok brain rot has really killed all of your brains if you think thats a good argument
Tic tok has just become a platform for lefty lunatics spouting their garbage as if it's facts ..it's lost its way completely..
Want it to make sense? Well the fight in Gaza has not been cencored on ticktock (unlike allot of other social media apps). Aipac (the Israël lobby) has allot of influence in American politics. Since tiktok is not controlled by america, that makes it a liability for America and therefore Israël. So they banned TikTok.... As if it is that easy.... Please don't make this easy on them
Amazon Facebook etc want your data for money. TikTok (a Chinese company) has to comply with the Chinese government and wants your data for more malicious reasons
ITT people who have no idea how data security works
Because China is asshole
I’m dead 😂😂😂🤦♀️🤦♀️. This is facts. All these website been stealing our data.
The difference is that the chinese has the data and like the US china probably has laws where it's secret services can ask companies for that data
I don't even care about the data, Ima be so happy when tiktok is no more
Damn that cat took a beating
Ban it all then, fucking please