this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2025
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[–] [email protected] 202 points 2 weeks ago (8 children)

Meanwhile, American users are flocking to RedNote because authorities have worked themselves into a lather over privacy concerns about TikTok, while U.S. tech giants harvest user data with industrial efficiency. The difference? American data collection is done for profit, and Chinese data collection is done for control. Pick your poison.

Hard to argue Zuck and Elon don't want control either...

[–] [email protected] 96 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (7 children)

I’d argue profit and control are two sides of the same coin

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

"In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women."

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Then, when all your desires are fullfilled, you realize that your life is empty because nobody around you actually gives a shit about you and are only using you as a connection to money and/or power. You end up a soulless husk of a human being whose only goal in life is line go up.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

Honestly, if they all stopped trying to get more money or power at the point where they have all the women and luxuries they could ever want it would be a vast improvement over the status quo at this point.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

Isn't it the exact opposite? The only thing China can do with my data is try to sell me stuff. Meanwhile, the authorities in my own country have the power to kick in my door and drag me away to some blacksite.

If I were Chinese, I would rather the US government have my data than the Chinese government, but since I'm American, I would rather the Chinese government have it than the US. Pretty much everyone anywhere in the world ought to regard their own government as their highest security risk.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

The only thing China can do with my data is try to sell me stuff.

Anyone that collects your data could use it for many legal and illegal activities. If you see it only as marketing, you are not imagining the possibilities of stolen identity, fraud, blackmail, etc.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

How do people not think that China is also a hyper capitalistic society, especially in the tech sector. Your data is 100% being sold if you are on any Chinese platform, just like in the U.S.

If anything, Chinese big tech tends to be less privacy-respecting than the west, because they don't need to operate in area with basic privacy laws, like Europe and California; and there are much less alternative products to choose from because of the GFW.

The founder and CEO of Baidu openly stated that "Chinese people are less sensitive about privacy, which gives us more data to work with" See https://m.163.com/dy/article/DDRTB01Q0511FQO9.html?spss=adap_pc

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

They all operate under the same laws in any given area. And neither respect your privacy if not forced by laws that are actually enforced.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The difference? American data collection is done for profit, and Chinese data collection is done for control. Pick your poison.

No the difference is that these US companies give the US government a backdoor into everyone's data (while also harvesting it all for profit) while the Chinese apps don't in favor of giving the Chinese government a backdoor into everyone's data. They don't give a shit about propaganda and brainwashing occurring which is why they'll allow the app to stay up in the US just so long as it's an American company controlling it here because then they can install their backdoor for the US government.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago

profit is simply a means of seeking control...

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks ago

The article talks about how America is mirroring China's tactic. So yeah, now they want control too.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

This is crystal clear now, but it was less clear before.

I started saying that social media finally figured out how to monetize the platform and it's customers aren't people, aren't even companies, the customers are now billionaires and foreign governments.

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

foreign governments

The influence of foreign governments is negligible next to what the US exerts on us. Americans have the jester's privilege, we can say whatever we want, as long as they know it doesn't matter. As soon as the government feels like it matters, they have a million tools to silence you.

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[–] [email protected] 79 points 2 weeks ago

"This massive corporation sucks too!" Have you tried not going with a massive corporation?

[–] [email protected] 62 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The only winners in this scenario are governments that want more control over their citizens' digital lives.

And that, as the saying goes, is not a bug. It's a feature.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

Man I wish European governments would take more control of our digital town squares that are entirely owned and handled by foreign corporations who seek to erode democracy.

[–] [email protected] 54 points 2 weeks ago (11 children)

What happens when Americans start posting about Hong Kong not being a part of China?

[–] [email protected] 67 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

You mean mainland Taiwan? Never heard of this China.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

Judea and Samaria agree.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The same as already happens on lemmy.ml 😂

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Really? Let me try.

Hong Kong isn't part of China. Taiwan is an independent country.

Edit: oh, this community is in lemmy.world, not lemmy.ml. Still, for those disgruntled, report me for rule 2 & 6. I want to see how mods respond to this.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 weeks ago (17 children)

Tibet is completely forgotten 😢

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 weeks ago

The same as when Americans posted about the gaza genocide on tik tok, the government cracks down.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago

Their account gets banned.

Same as any mention of Tienamen Square and anything else the Chinese Government deems unacceptable.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago

They'll probably get mocked and their posts removed.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 weeks ago

I mean, trying to regulate technology at the speed of American politics was very obviously a nonsensical and futile proposition from the get-go.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks ago

Anyone that knows anything about average TT users knew that if the ban was going to happen, that this was going to happen in some way, shape, or form.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks ago

**tearing everything apart

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

I’m pretty sure Xiao Hong Shu translates to Little Red Note in English. I’m not using it, just clarifying the name to make it seem small / cute. Aduki beans are Xiao hong dou.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

First of all, the name doesn't translate to "Little Red Note", but "Little Red Book."

Second, Little Red Book is literally the nickname of a Chinese political publication called Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung.

Sorry, that name isn't cute at all.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

LOL my god, it's really that in-your-face blatant?!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I think most people know it too. They protest because they have already got hacked a dozen or two times, advertisers steal all data not locked down, and the government scoops up all of that. So they question "what can China do to me that hasn't already been done. My data and privacy has already been made worthless"

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It's actually just a funny coincidence, though it's funny when people freak out about it. Mao's "little red book" is written 红宝书, while the app is 小红书, so the connection is only really there in English. Red is a reference to two institutions the creator was involved with, Stanford Business School and Bain & Company, both of which use red as their main color (I imagine the general association of red with good luck may have factored in as well). As for note vs book, I mean, a notebook is a "little book," and note is short for notebook (e.g. Death Note).

If you actually look at the app and what gets posted there and what doesn't, it's pretty silly to assume it's a reference. It was originally called "Hong Kong Shopping Guide" and was targeted towards tourists, the userbase skews female and relatively well off. It's like Instagram, there's lots of cat posts and the the like, lots of fashion, I've come across some pretty impressive furries, and it's even got a decent sized queer community, particularly popular with lesbians.

Even if it were an intentional reference to Mao's book, like, so what? The users are the ones putting out content and they're just regular people. Not everything is some sinister plot.

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