AIBU to think TikTok should be banned in the UK too?

[User09678]

The Sureme Court has upheld a decision to ban tiktok in the US. Am I unreasonable in thinking the UK should have done the same yesterday? Always puts in mind the opium wars, I'm sure some are more than happy (justifiably so even) to let Western youth utterly rot their minds

See, this is the kind of thing that the first post would have benefited from. A case for why it should be banned.

I'm not sure why you have started with 'but', because I wasn't arguing against anything you say. I was just trying to get clear on the op's rationale.

people do know about algorithms? TikTok has all kinds of content. If yours is totally toxic or exclusively drivel by idiots then that's the content you've shown interest in.

I use it for all sorts, book reviews, recipes, ideas for Xmas, hair care routines, dog grooming tips, and it's really useful for news.

I don't mindlessly scroll often, but when I do it's all things I'm interested in. And I've spoken to interesting people all over the world too.

Social media is what you make it.

Agreed.
I deleted it a while back but quite ashamed to admit I reinstalled it a few times.

About 6 months and going strong now though lol

God only knows how many hours I wasted watching videos of recipes I’m not going to try, cleaning ‘hacks’ I already knew or were pointless, expensive and long make-up routines I really don’t have the effort for.

I sometimes miss the funny animal videos though.

I think it's because Musk and Zuckerberg are pissed off that their apps aren't the number 1 app any more. Otherwise why would Facebook and Instagram introduce reels, Youtube shorts, Twitter allow subscribers to upload longer videos?

You're really calling for a TikTok ban on Mumsnet 😂 if you don't like social media exercise your own free will. You seem happy enough engaging on here! Or is it only other countries we need to be wary of?

I find the Soaps a more brain rotty exercise than TT. Mindless fights between families, lots of screaming, crime, teen pregnancies, gang shit.

No thanks.

Isn't the argument about the spyware the app puts on devices not the content? It's a national security issue not concern for welfare.

Nah that's just what they are saying its for.

I would miss the cat videos.
I don't want to ban it in the uk but I think the algorithm needs looking at.
My DD looks at k pop, then what does k pop girl eat in a day, the algorithm then takes her to how to be anorexic content.

Yes. It’s awful. 😔

From the BBC

The US Congress passed a law last April that required TikTok to either discontinue its use in the US or be sold from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to a non-Chinese company.

Supporters of the law say TikTok, which has more than 170 million users in the US, poses a national security risk, and allege that ByteDance is controlled by China.

Concerns include China harvesting Americans’ private data and the spread of propaganda and disinformation.

ByteDance and TikTok users argue that the law is a violation of America’s constitutionally-backed free speech rights.

In a briefing filed to the Supreme Court, TikTok said “the government has banned an extraordinary amount of speech”, adding that barring Americans "from operating one of the nation’s most significant speech venues is profoundly unconstitutional".

I've carefully curated my algorithm thank you! I've learnt more excel skills via Tik Tok than I ever did via mindlessly boring work mandated training. I've found recipes that have become staple meals for the family.

Yes there is a lot of darker content. It doesn't need banning though, we're too quick to shout 'ban it' because it's easier than teaching someone about responsible use, using their critical thinking skills to fact check, and exercise caution when searching for something.

You don't like a video, click dislike, you do like stuff, search for it, give it a like. Don't let your kids on it and jobs a good'un.

Meta is a bigger offender than Tik Tok. Facebook messenger is one of the worst apps to download onto your phone for tracking and mapping EVERYTHING YOU DO. Not just at home but on every single WiFi network you connect to (yes your place of work, your Drs, the supermarket, your parents house, your friends houses)

But of course they know that (US Congress) and they want Zuck and his cucks to farm as much info as possible.

Funny enough most people are now downloading red note, which completely faffs up their theory of 'protecting' anything

Funny how many Americans downloaded another Chinese social media app (Rednote) rather than use Meta products.

My view is that it needs to be more robustly age-restricted, probably with an older age than currently.

With the news that some porn sites are being expected to adopt effective age restrictions, if that's true/possible, then that's far more preferable for tik tok than banning, which is frankly ridiculous and based on meaningless rhetoric like "brain rot" whatever that means

Doesn't this throw up a wider conversation around the ethics of tracking and cookies etc? Maybe it's that that needs policing and moderating, not whole apps.

I think America should look at guns and a whole host of other things before TikTok

I love it, cat and dog videos, baking ones, cooking ones, I love the cleaning ones 😂 The Christmas tree and decoration ones were great and I got some fab ideas, then there’s the few creators that I watch because I know what they’re like in real life. One especially tells so many lies it’s comical. I limit myself to an hour a day.

Not really it's to be china harvesting data, same as when people use stupid face changing apps people don't realize how imbedded china is in our technology's.

China won the 3rd world war without firing a shot.

No, my cat has made me over £500 through his tiktok! You can't take his income away

It's easy to forget that America and many western nations consider China to be a hostile country. It is 'land grabbing' through technology, buying up key corporations and investing in public sector projects in strategic ways round the world. It's quite clever when you stand back and look at what it's achieved.

I would imagine people will find ways to access TikTok using dark web software, anonymous routers or whatever (not a techie but you know the kind of thing I mean).

The thing is that they don't harvest any more data than Facebook, Google etc.

Yes ban it and Snapchat.