this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2024
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[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (7 children)

They're banning it because they blame tick tok for the pro Palestinian movement. Zuck and Google have been spying on users for decades.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago

Talk of the Tik Tok ban predates the attack that triggered the current iteration of violence in Israel/Gaza.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Hmm brand new account, first comment, definitely no Astroturfing going on here.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The Tik Tok ban is about keeping big tech in the hands of the USA. Are my account stats better for you?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

The Tik Tok ban is about keeping big tech out of the hand of enemy nation states.

In doing so, yes they have also kept it in the hands of the USA.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Why not just kill the app then instead of asking for divestment? Why do they still need it?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

What do you mean kill the app? The US government doesn’t have the authority to kill the app. That isn’t one of the options in the table.

And why does who need it? Who is this “they” you’re referring to?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I assume the US government wants to force a sale to a US tech company, no? Who would presumably profit from said successful app. Why not just outright ban it here? By kill I just mean make unusable. But you knew that, silly.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Why not just outright ban it here?

Thats one of the options ByteDance has. The US government can’t force a company in a different sovereign nation to sell anything. ByteDance has two options, their app is banned in the US, or they have the opportunity to sell it to a U.S. company. That’s up to ByteDance and the CCP, not the U.S. government.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Is there precedent for something like this? I'm clearly just a regular dummy but I can't think of anything similar ever happening in this country. To me, it just seems like a bureaucratic way of strong arming a sale.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago

Has an enemy foreign nation with a vested interest in the mass-collection of US citizens data and the unfettered ability to manipulate and misinform the American populace, especially the youth…

…also had the means to do so, with absolutely no oversight by the government of those US citizens? No I don’t believe so. China’s influence on the minds of the average American has never been this pervasive, it is indeed unprecedented and a bona fide national security risk.

If you’re suggesting that what the government actually wants is that data for themselves… idk maybe, but not really? TikTok is the 4th largest social media service, the other 3 being American owned already, with much larger user bases, of which most TikTok users probably also use. TikTok doesn’t really have anything that the U.S. market doesn’t already have and in greater quantity. Maybe if TikTok was a company based out of Switzerland, then I might raise an eyebrow. But the fact that it’s Chinese of all things, the national security reason is just already a solid reason to ban TikTok. Whether or not there’s an interest in US government control over that data is little more than a footnote in the conversation.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago

The bill is worded so vaguely, it could be applied to anything. This is a massive overreach and the fact that you aren't concerned is alarming. You just don't give a fuck bc you don't like TikTok, but this isn't just about TikTok.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago

y'all are PARANOID. anyone who disagrees is a shill

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Baby's 1st comment 🥹

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago

Zuck and Google have been spying on users for decades.

Also not Chinese companies.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago

That seems like quite a leap.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago

As bad as Meta and Google are in this respect, they are not under direct government control. It's just different with the TikTok parent.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 6 months ago (2 children)

That's ridiculous. Government doesn't move that quickly. They've been thinking about how to deal with foreign interference for years. Also, I hate to break it to you, but the Palestine thing isn't that interesting or important in the grand scheme. At best, the Palestinians, like the Houthis and Hezbollah, are pawns used by Iran to stir up trouble from time to time. This conflict has been going on for 80 years already and the overall trend in the Middle East is toward peace and economic integration with Israel. No one is going to push the Jews into the sea and liberate Palestine for the Palestinians.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

If you don't think Israel "that interesting or important" to the US government, you haven't been paying attention. full stop. This isn't about Palestine, its always been about Israel. They send way too much money to us politicians, including the one in the white house, for it to not matter "in the grand scheme". AIPAC money alone should be enough to convince you.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Perhaps I misspoke. I mean to say that the periodic flare-ups with the Palestinians are not that important anymore. They used to be. But nowadays, Israel's neighbours aren't invading with tanks and, as I said, the overall trend is towards peace and economic integration with Israel. I agree with you that Israel is important to the US for many good strategic and political reasons.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Iran literally just sent drones into Israel. You haven't been paying attention.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I've been paying attention to the Middle East for almost 40 years, punk. What? Iran, like, literally just sent drones into Israel? Oh no, literally what will we do? Like, oh my god, this is so terrible.

You can't take and hold territory with drones, especially not Iranian drones. Iran is not invading Israel. Grow up and go learn something.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Iran might not be invading Israel anytime soon but they sure arent "trending towards peace" like you claim. You're wrong about this one, and your anger betrays you here. It might shock you to learn that even at your age, you can still learn something, too. At least I know I'm uninformed and look for the truth instead of just spouting off bullshit with nothing to back it up.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

TikTok was also an organizing hub during Black Lives Matter in 2020, this isn't new.