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

So maybe parents should do some parenting and manage their children's internet access, and maybe adults should take some responsibility for what they click. As I said before - it's a tool, and the outcome depends on how you use it. Anyone thinking that banning TikTok will stop people of any age accessing undesirable content is laughably naive.

It would be funny how many workshy grabby "influencers" would then have to get a real job.

I love tiktok. I've been on it a while now and my algorithm is pretty settled on the things I like to see. My team won a team building excerise at work last year building a structure out of spaghetti because I'd recently seen a tiktok video on it. Agree there's some utter shite on there but you get that on any online platform even here

You can be sure that those making a living out of it are on other platforms that pay better.

I know you’re just trying to be argumentative, but I will bite.

This is not what most young people use it for, and this is not why they’re considering banning it.

Not trying to be argumentative at all, just asking a question as that is what a lot of people do use Tik Tok for along with .any other useful things. Hence there being so many creators whose accounts are based around those subjects. My original point was around comments from previous posters who seem to think that everything on there is dangerous and evil. It's not the dark web, it's an extremely useful platform if your algorithm is right. My teen DD is even currently using it for GCSE revision as lots of teachers/tutors have accounts and post content on revision topics.

Also in regards to your comment about it's not what most young people use it for, that is down to the parents to monitor and actually parent.

Hopefully an end will be put to it eventually.

And then something else will be developed which will do the exact same thing.

How hostile? Not so much we haven’t just had a chancellor go over to try and bring in Chinese investment

There is no 'trending' on TikTok

There is a feed of accounts you follow, and a 'for you' page that makes suggestions based on your interests.

I'm not saying young people are never exposed to anything they shouldn't be exposed to, but that's where age guidance and parental supervision come in.

A local independent bookshop was turned around by promotion on TikTok, as were a great many businesses.

https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-04-15/debates/7767B6DD-923E-4C07-82EF-986A448606D4/SecurityThreatFromChina

Hostile enough that it is frequently debated in parliament and Huawei is banned from the UK and other nations. I don't understand why our Chancellor is schmoozing them for investment, it doesn't make sense.

The Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner said last year that our policing and security services were technologically vulnerable because of their use of Chinese-made equipment, including CCTV, drones and body cameras. Can the Minister say whether the digital asbestos of Chinese-made technology is still used in our policing and security infrastructure—yes or no?

Tom Tugendhat

An example of the threat this can cause. It is not a good thing to be so reliant on China.

That's good if it's done genuinely and not the greedy grabby ones trying to charge 4k for 1 post.

There you go it does seem to be mixed messaging and policy

I can think of other states that would be deemed hostile but we don’t send the Chancellor to connect and build investment there

My team won a team building excerise at work last year building a structure out of spaghetti because I'd recently seen a tiktok video on it

A cure for cancer can only be months away ....

The Chancellor isn't a person who I have a lot of faith in though.

"That's good if it's done genuinely and not the greedy grabby ones trying to charge 4k for 1 post."

They promoted themselves at no cost and built a following. Our local Waterstones told me that BookTok (the side of TikTok for book lovers) had significantly increased sales in young adult fiction - people coming in asking for books going viral on TikTok.

What is actually on it?

Is it not more or less the same content as Facebook and Instagram? Plus the stupid dances?

I don't have tiktok but I see tiktok videos being shared on Facebook.

I love TikTok but agree with pp about “curating” the content you see. Mine is clothes, makeup, day in the life, recipes, and cats/dogs, but I found myself in a hole of animal rescue/neglect/cruelty which I didn’t want to see and had to actively tell the algorithm I wasn’t interested in. The algorithm is so quick to think, aha, she’s interested in cancer (because I watched someone talk about their diagnosis for 90 seconds) so let’s serve her loads of content about palliative care.

I watch a lot of “slow living” content too, which is kind of the opposite of TikTok, but I really enjoy it, especially people who live on remote islands.

It’s a terrible thing to be so reliant on America who practically control all tech infrastructure and software as well as dictate how our military is used and force us to have the dollar as the international reserve currency.

And I say this not because I’m pro-China. I’m anti any country dominating others.

I agree. I'm not sure why Britain isn't pushing for British tech, we invented most of what these companies are using!

"What is actually on it?

Is it not more or less the same content as Facebook and Instagram? Plus the stupid dances?

I don't have tiktok but I see tiktok videos being shared on Facebook."

Anything you can imagine really. You can follow a Ukrainian soldier in the field, a British doctor who moved to Australia, a family building a tiny home on a Scottish island, have art lessons, speak to your favourite author, learn how to do pretty much anything.

It isn't like anything else because of the size, the algorithm, the usability.

Whatever you see from TikTok on FB is probably already six months old, and will be something 'fun' to appeal to as many people as possible.

Britain has an almost supernatural ability to develop science and tech and then totally and utterly fail to exploit it. It's so powerful and established that our allowing British scientists to emigrate could be seen as trying to sabotage foreign projects.

We have ingenuity but if you want to scale up as the US do you’ll need more favourable tax set up and money put in

We’ve just seen the electorate aren’t there with that, preferring higher taxes and tax business at all costs