cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/12876226

The measure that sailed unanimously through the House Energy and Commerce Committee would prohibit TikTok from US app stores unless the social media platform — used by roughly 170 million Americans — is quickly spun off from its China-linked parent company, ByteDance.

US officials have cited the widespread commercial availability of US citizens’ data as another source of national security risk. The US government and other domestic law enforcement agencies are also known to have purchased US citizens’ data from commercial data brokers.

  • Verdant Banana@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    our minimum wage is $7.25, no universal health care, the cops are militarized and keeping citizens in their proper places, food/ housing costs are more than our pay, transportation costs have skyrocketed, the postal service needs attention, we have fifty states not working together

    but we showed that China TikTok what for BY GOD! they ain’t gonna spy on us

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      I am still semi convinced that the ban is really because there are a lot of tiktokers devoted to exposing trades and corruption of congress critters in near real time. Tiktok has a lot of flaws, but it’s great for finding breaking news.

      • ThrowawaySobriquet@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I’m there as well, but on a broader scale: I think they’re wanting to ban it because they don’t have a hotline to Xi so they can get shut shit down. Basically want it banned for doing the same things Google does, but the problem is it’s not run by their own Musk-on-a-Leash

        • DancingBear@midwest.social
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          11 months ago

          Pretty sure it’s the other way around, musk and zuck have congress on a leash. Especially musk since he has skynet and tesla and space x

          • ThrowawaySobriquet@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            All companies that are heavily involved with government contracts and subsidies. At least a Mexican standoff situation. There goes the George Carlin quote about clubs and who’s in them

    • soloner@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Fuck your whatsboutism. This is good news; tiktok is a propaganda machine.

      • TORFdot0@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        The cyber security professional inside of me wants to agree with you. The Liberal in me doesn’t want to give the government the authority to ban speech and what citizens are allowed to watch.

        • Mastengwe@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          It’s proven propaganda. And a proven method of spying/gathering info.

          I’m fine with the government removing it.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            So you’re going to shut down YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc as well right? Considering they all do the same thing and FB even interfered in an election?

            • Mastengwe@lemm.ee
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              11 months ago

              If they start stealing information for china? Yes. I’d suggest we shut them down too.

              See? I’m not so reliant on social media that I’m willing to sacrifice my security for them.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                Then do so. This idea that tiktok is any worse because it’s Chinese is ridiculous.

                  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                    10 months ago

                    So what’s the difference between the CCP getting it for free from Tiktok and paying for it from an “American” corporation?

                    None of what you said matters in this. Not when Zuckerberg is specifically courting China to spend advertising dollars and buy data.

                    Is the money changing hands making the end effect any different?

                    TikTok is both a sacrifice to make it look like something is being done and a called hit on a competitor.

                • Mastengwe@lemm.ee
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                  11 months ago

                  The fact that you’re here defending china is not at all lost on me. I’m not allowing you to waste my time again.

                  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                    11 months ago

                    I’m really not. I want Congress to pass actual laws, not operate as an adjunct to American Corporations.

        • los_chill@programming.dev
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          11 months ago

          Same. Just make it so Tiktok cannot advertise to American users or monetize American views. Start with that and wait for another non-ccp app to take that market.

          Edit: Curious why every seems to disagree.

      • Nima@leminal.space
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        11 months ago

        are we going to ban youtube as well? which has more than tiktok? or lemmy for that matter? or any other forms of social media?

        people who fear monger tiktok make me worry that they fail to see the bigger picture.

        tiktok isn’t the problem. the fact that propaganda is monetized is the problem. and banning tiktok will fix nothing whatsoever.

          • retrieval4558@mander.xyz
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            11 months ago

            How do you differentiate purposeful manipulation vs it being a natural effect of Western social media? I stopped using Facebook and Twitter because it was obviously toxic and affecting my mental health. I use TikTok a fair amount and don’t find it nearly as bad.

            It’s also possible that there’s manipulation in the other direction. In their own app they could be artificially increasing positive content while allowing the natural social media toxicity and ragebait to dominate in other areas.

            My personal opinion is that TikTok is a way that peer to peer information and news travels very quickly in a way that they can’t control, and they don’t like that. As with all things, they want to keep us isolated.

              • retrieval4558@mander.xyz
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                11 months ago

                I’m not here to be pro-china, and I definitely believe that they’re putting those things in douyin. I’m just not convinced they’re purposefully putting negative things in TikTok purposefully to harm mental health.

                This is anecdotal and my personal experience, but I haven’t noticed any pro-ccp things on my personal algorithm. What I do notice is anti-US and anti-capitalist content by Americans. Whether or not they are shills, I can’t say for sure, but it feels like it would border on conspiracy theory thinking to suggest that many of them are.

                To clarify the isolation comment, I mean that TikTok is a place where community building and the spreading of ideas or news (not necessarily good or bad ideas/news) spreads rapidly, especially among young people, in a way the people who run traditional media can’t control. Taking away this tool makes us more reliant on forms of media that they do control.

                  • retrieval4558@mander.xyz
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                    11 months ago

                    I agree with you. The difference between the other platforms mentioned and TikTok is that TikTok is where the action is right now, so it’s the target. The unverified hearsay problem is certainly there, but I don’t think it’s inherent to TikTok more than any other platform. No matter the platform, rage and engagement are the most important things so the algorithms will always reward them. Even YouTube’s algorithm has been highly criticized for funneling people down extremist pipelines.

                    The TikTok algorithm is incredibly efficient at locking people, especially young people, into scrolling forever. That’s bad. However that same criticism has been made against more traditional social media platforms too. Twitter especially has a similar although less effective problem.

                    Besides vague gesturing at China, I don’t see any problem that TikTok has that isn’t already present in other social media platforms. If we want to go after all of them, I’d 100% be for it, but this legislation is too targeted and creates a dangerous precedent imo.

                    100% agree on the searchability. It’s totally unusable.

      • Specal@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Lemmy is also a propaganda machine, let’s ban this platform too then.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        So you’re going to shut down YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc as well right? Considering they all do the same thing and FB even interfered in an election?

      • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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        11 months ago

        so is instagram and facebook but you don’t see people rabidly want to ban them.

          • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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            11 months ago

            yes they are run by the us empire, which has a more violent history.

            still not seeing the point of banning one over the other

              • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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                10 months ago

                the real enemy of the world is the US by a long shot. what the US does warrants invasions and wars on 3rd world countries by the US, the same isnt true for china.

                no country has such a dark and murderous history. my country is on that list and we are suffering from the consequences still, decades later.

                and yes, having people die of starvation in one of the poorest countries in the planet is sadly expected. no system of government can fix a country that huge overnight.

                banning shit like tiktok like you have a huge moral highground is hypocritical at best when US apps are doing it all around the planet.

                e: how could i forget the genocide you are sponsoring

              • HACKthePRISONS@kolektiva.social
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                10 months ago

                tiktok and Facebook use in the US have nothing to do with anything you are rambling about.

                Facebook manufactures consent for the military industrial complex and capitalist interests and since it is not overtly controlled by Lockheed or the Pentagon, it’s propaganda is more sinister. at least you know who pulls the strings at tiktok

    • ares35@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      the legislation that needs to get passed, cannot, unless and until the house majority swings about 20 points the other way and the sliver of a majority in the senate is boosted by at least another 10.

    • GodlessCommie@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Those are the issues they dont want us collectively talking about, sharing our lived experiences and how they dont line up with the bullshit our government is gaslighting us with