Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

304 replies

User09678 · 17/01/2025 16:56

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

OP posts:
Nightmarewithdelirium · 18/01/2025 07:11

I quite enjoy a bit of tiktok. How exactly is it worse than any other type of entertainment? There's a dark side to it as there is with anything.
Getting all vitriolic about it is just pointless. If tiktok goes there will just be a new thing the kids love that you can say is destroying them.

User09678 · 18/01/2025 07:13

JimHalpertsWife · 17/01/2025 18:01

There are, and have always been, multiple ways to sink into brain rot. Tiktok is not new in this.

What TT does do, however, is connect people with common interests. My feed is mainly book recommendations, recipes and parenting support. Women are making content, that I consume, that helps them (££) and me (info) and enables them to connect where they may be lonelier without.

The creativity on it is fantastic. My dd regularly watches, saves and learns from piano tutorials, art videos/hints, she follows a GCSE Maths tiktoker and an American female astronaut.

Sure, there's the odd funny cat video or a slightly distasteful joke about (say) the millionaires on the submarine. But on the whole, for us anyways, we are fed content we actively use.

Apart from psycho active substances there have never before been ways to erode your concentration span like tiktok - what did you have in mind?

OP posts:
User09678 · 18/01/2025 07:14

G5000 · 17/01/2025 18:16

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 don't think people know much at all. Might be all the tiktok 😶

OP posts:
ilovelamp82 · 18/01/2025 07:15

Martymcfly24 · 17/01/2025 18:02

Considering a huge amount of content on the app exposes the reality of living in America ... school shootings, cost of healthcare, inequalities in employment rights etc I think the reasons for banning are not to save the rot of the youths minds.

Exactly. The youth of America are learning that it isn't the land of the free and envy of the world that they are indoctrinated to believe. Can it be mindless scrolling for hours which is not great for anyone? Of course. Do I think America are banning it for the good of the people? Absolutely not. Otherwise they would get rid of Fox news.

User09678 · 18/01/2025 07:18

Thebogopogopanpacificgrandprix · 17/01/2025 18:27

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.

What are they going to glean from spyware that anyone wouldn't just click 'accept' to when they install the app? They'd then have to do something with that information. What could really harm a nation? Accelerate polarisation so your population no longer works together, trusts one another and coheres and worse, hates each others fucking guts, critically undermines the legitimacy of their democracy and brings them ever closer to civil disturbances/war

OP posts:
icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:20

NOTANUM · 18/01/2025 06:35

They want to ban it for security reasons, not because they are protecting young minds.
Most answers here have missed the entire point.

No we haven't. They have been unable to provide any evidence whatsoever that the app can access your device. Absolutely none. 'Security threat' is the excuse they used. Either they don't like a foreign influence on their population or they want to force a sale so they are the ones making the money from it.

CluelessNotMalicious · 18/01/2025 07:23

It's not being banned because it is a Bad Thing. It's being banned because it's Chinese and there are technical aspects that are of concern.

There's a gap in the market for a new version, with different ownership to come bobbing along. Which it will.

LolaLouise · 18/01/2025 07:23

User09678 · 18/01/2025 07:13

Apart from psycho active substances there have never before been ways to erode your concentration span like tiktok - what did you have in mind?

Tiktok isnt even a new concept though, youtube, vines, facebook, instagram, snapchat etc all all did it before them. What made tiktok so successful is the software they have to create the videos/content is combined in the app, and the algorithm is much better for targetting the videos to the right users. But the concept of short "instant gratification" content isnt new. Youtube shows that peoples wants changed, from short content, to longer, to shorter, to having options. Alot will upload the short content to tiktok, and longer to youtube even to this day. It is seen by the audience most suited to the content.

What tiktok has done differently, with the simple to use software for creating, is allow a massive amount of people, who didnt have the knowledge or access to youtube video editing software, to make content and connect with people. If you only watch one video, go watch the recent post on the official tiktok page. The middle aged man with parkinsons talking about how its opened up his world. The young woman who received a kidney donation. The elderly lady who is a carer for her husband who used the ap to connect with the outside world, the users who gained a diagnosis for conditions, the people who found they were not alone in what they were going through, the small businesses that are successful from soap makers to artists, the people doing things in their communities to make their shared lives better.

Tiktok is so many things to so many people, and in your world, it may not matter, but in the worlds of people, whos lives are limited for whatever reasons, its opened their world for the better. Its sad people cant look past their own experiences and see those of others.

icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:23

"Because it's owned by a hostile state who are delighted that so many are willing to share their data, cognitively impair themselves and destabilise their country."

The owner is from Singapore. It is 60% owned by Western investors. Their servers are in the US. And most importantly nobody has been able to provide any evidence shred of proof.

Instead 170 million regular US users, including many who earn an income or promote their real life business on it, will be denied access from tomorrow.

icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:24

"Apart from psycho active substances there have never before been ways to erode your concentration span like tiktok - what did you have in mind?"

They said that about TV. And Rock music. And other social media. And toddlers with iPads.

CluelessNotMalicious · 18/01/2025 07:24

icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:20

No we haven't. They have been unable to provide any evidence whatsoever that the app can access your device. Absolutely none. 'Security threat' is the excuse they used. Either they don't like a foreign influence on their population or they want to force a sale so they are the ones making the money from it.

I think it's your view on what the capabilities are, and what the US authorities are prepared to state publicly about them, that is naive.

LolaLouise · 18/01/2025 07:25

icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:23

"Because it's owned by a hostile state who are delighted that so many are willing to share their data, cognitively impair themselves and destabilise their country."

The owner is from Singapore. It is 60% owned by Western investors. Their servers are in the US. And most importantly nobody has been able to provide any evidence shred of proof.

Instead 170 million regular US users, including many who earn an income or promote their real life business on it, will be denied access from tomorrow.

👏Exactly.

icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:26

"What are they going to glean from spyware that anyone wouldn't just click 'accept' to when they install the app? They'd then have to do something with that information. What could really harm a nation? Accelerate polarisation so your population no longer works together, trusts one another and coheres and worse, hates each others fucking guts, critically undermines the legitimacy of their democracy and brings them ever closer to civil disturbances/war."

Same with Temu. Chinese app, terms & conditions. Are they banning that?

TrainCoffee · 18/01/2025 07:27

Surely the problem is that it’s owned by the Chinese state, not the fact that it’s full of questionable content. It’s mining the data of a whole generation in the west and therefore poses a threat to national security.

icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:28

CluelessNotMalicious · 18/01/2025 07:23

It's not being banned because it is a Bad Thing. It's being banned because it's Chinese and there are technical aspects that are of concern.

There's a gap in the market for a new version, with different ownership to come bobbing along. Which it will.

TikTok users in the US have already found the next thing. It's been the most downloaded app every day this week and it's a Chinese app wholly owned by the Chinese government. You can't stop people seeing what they want to see.

EasternStandard · 18/01/2025 07:29

icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:23

"Because it's owned by a hostile state who are delighted that so many are willing to share their data, cognitively impair themselves and destabilise their country."

The owner is from Singapore. It is 60% owned by Western investors. Their servers are in the US. And most importantly nobody has been able to provide any evidence shred of proof.

Instead 170 million regular US users, including many who earn an income or promote their real life business on it, will be denied access from tomorrow.

What is the issue, as you say no evidence but what do pro banners say

I agree with you btw, unless there’s a bigger reason someone can specify wrt security. Actually outline what that is

icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:33

"I think it's your view on what the capabilities are, and what the US authorities are prepared to state publicly about them, that is naive."

So this is what happens now is it? 'We have your best interests at heart but can't provide any evidence, you'll just have to trust us.' Sure, because you've proven yourselves trustworthy so many times. Trump initiated this ban in 2020 and now Trump is saying he may overturn it. So what's changed? Can it be coincidence that he's now surrounded by billionaire tech bros?

icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:35

TrainCoffee · 18/01/2025 07:27

Surely the problem is that it’s owned by the Chinese state, not the fact that it’s full of questionable content. It’s mining the data of a whole generation in the west and therefore poses a threat to national security.

It's not owned by the Chinese state.

The owner is Singaporean, with an American wife and child. It is majority owned by Western investors. Their servers are in the US.

Now the app everyone is downloading instead IS owned by the Chinese government, so that went well.

User09678 · 18/01/2025 07:39

icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:24

"Apart from psycho active substances there have never before been ways to erode your concentration span like tiktok - what did you have in mind?"

They said that about TV. And Rock music. And other social media. And toddlers with iPads.

TV was the beginning of the end. I hope one day there will states where these things are not present. I hope the screen states are able to leave them alone.

OP posts:
icecreamsundaeno5 · 18/01/2025 07:39

If it's a security risk, why not ban Temu? Now that is wholly Chinese owned with real links to the communist party.

Because they're more worried about foreign influence on US minds.

JasperTheDoll · 18/01/2025 07:44

SprinkleOfSunak · 18/01/2025 06:19

I would love to see it banned here, and X too - that’s slightly more Musk related, but I feel the platform is widely used to spread hate and breed intolerance.

Why though?

Calmhappyandhealthy · 18/01/2025 07:44

I've just started following a guy who feeds UK birds .....they fly onto his hand and take the bugs from a tin. It's utterly gorgeous and uplifting to watch .....he's named them all 🐦🦜

And, of course, because i watch his videos , TT shows me more of the same.....so wonderful....a pink breasted robin in Tasmania,for example 🥰❤️

If you don't like the video/s TT shows you, hold the screen with your finger and then click "not interested"

fromthevault · 18/01/2025 07:47

User09678 · 18/01/2025 07:39

TV was the beginning of the end. I hope one day there will states where these things are not present. I hope the screen states are able to leave them alone.

Ok, well if we were in any doubt before, I think any future comments from you can be safely ignored on thr grounds of batshittery.

User09678 · 18/01/2025 07:57

JasperTheDoll · 18/01/2025 07:44

Why though?

What what

OP posts:
User09678 · 18/01/2025 07:59

fromthevault · 18/01/2025 07:47

Ok, well if we were in any doubt before, I think any future comments from you can be safely ignored on thr grounds of batshittery.

I'm sure you believe that. But we continue to get more depressed and anxious and atomised. You can dismiss it as batshittery but if you explore the wealth of sociological evidence, you would come to the same conclusions

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread