TikTok ban in the US - what’s the aim here?

[Errors]

I couldn’t see another thread on this. If there is one, please link it as it’d be interesting to read.

Is this genuine concern over harvesting of data? Or a play to pull all social media in the US under government control? Musk already owns X, if he was to buy TikTok then surely you’re looking at large swathes of social media being run by the government?

To "become" like china itself I meant - can't edit in the app!

You ban one, another one pops up

America is supposed to be the land of Free Speech. Banning a platform like TikTok is the opposite of that and has encouraged people to download another Chinese social media all (RedNote) rather then use American apps like Instagram and Facebook. I’d imagine that lots of viewers will simply use VPNs.

I know those who are for the ban are incredibly shortsighted

It was started by Q Anon, Trumps supporters.

Are you agreeing that all SM should be banned so and discussion forums also. Anywhere people can disseminate false information.

I'd like to see some sort of additional control over posting videos, especially Live videos, across all SM. Maybe even just a requirement to log in again or authenticate. Just enough to give pause. And proof, if needed, that the publishing of the video was a deliberate act.

Yes…. And I can’t even imagine who could
possibly start up their own version 🧐

No.

Musk flooding twitter with how Starmer is complicit in rape and the UK is headed for civil war I would also count as propaganda because it is definitely political in intention, and wanting to destabilise our government and install one more friendly to foreign interests.

Musk is an utter twat, but I’m quite grateful that he’s forced this to come to light. Many politicians and authority workers are complicit in the decades long problem with Muslim rape gangs. And for some reason the many wonderful women who have eloquently written and spoken about it all for years have been ignored!

Banning is from hearing things that certain people don’t want us to hear leads to regimes where everything we consume is carefully monitored - is that really what we want?

Over Covid time we saw the effect of shutting down discussion about possible problems with lockdown and vaccines, it did fuck all and just caused more division. Shutting off certain topics, even if they’re troublesome, works for those in the population who don’t really question things, but causes shedloads of trouble from those who do, and rightfully so.

To misquote Voltaire, I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say, read or watch it.

Suppressing information does not work.

Why not?

Suppressing information does not work.

Exactly.

How has this even worked people are going to Red Note

Every great lie contains a grain of truth.

So Musk's lies are being defended because they contain some truth about the grooming gangs.

Well done Musk, objective achieved.

@noblegiraffe i think we have very different opinions on this matter.
I will likely never agree with you and vice versa, but I’ve learnt in my years that this doesn’t mean there is a right or wrong. These matters are rarely black and white, and I certainly won’t assume that there is lack of intelligence involved.
I’ve seen and learnt enough in my time to know that banning things does not help any situation. I get the impression you do not agree with me, so let’s leave it there.
Hope you have a lovely Sunday.

I’ve seen and learnt enough in my time to know that banning things does not help any situation.

Banning driving without a seatbelt certainly seems to have helped.

🙄😂

Oh dear.

We are on very different wavelengths here.
Equating seatbelts with suppressing information is ridiculous.

Not a reasoned response, then.

There was lots of backlash to seatbelts too, and people demanding the freedom to drive without them.

It should be banned here.

I boycott it.

Although some of the reporting likes to suggest it is to limit freedom of speech and try push that agenda.

The reason for the ban is due to the security risk and risk to national security that "could" be posed. Like a lot of apps there is data harvesting.
But the key point is that could happen with that data due to Chinese law. Because DataByte is a Chinese company, they would not be able to deny any access to their data from the Chinese Government if they were to request it for intelligence purposes.
There is nothing to suggest that this has happened or taken place, it's just the potential risk factor of it occurring.

It's worth noting that the UK does have guidelines on the use of TikTok for those that work for certain agencies or hold a certain level of security clearance because of the threat/risk.

I believe the app would be safe if it was to get rid of the Chinese ownership/links.

Legal Eagle: TikTok Is Banned

Watching these and other reading it seems that the USA Intelligence Service have concerns about what could happen - but aren't willing to tell courts or public just congress.

It also seems USA companies collect just as much data - and USA has no privacy laws - and anti China sentiment in congress and not knowing all that much about tech is also playing a role - though as none know what is in the briefings given to Congress by Intelligence agencies no one has any idea how valid the concerns are.

Hello my name is Austin Gant

Ok, I think this is the difference, I see the tiktok ban as equivalent to banning cars because their seatbelts aren’t good enough.

Increasing safety measures is reasonable and to be expected - most people would welcome this with internet use.

And do you think it is something that could be expected of a government that is in a Cold War with the nation who wants those measures implemented in order to limit the powers of the opposing government?

I think if this is the reason (and I agree it’s a good reason) then this would have been raised when TikTok was globally released.

The information and timeline that we have looks like greedy billionaires influencing a corruptible government.

The main "problem" with all SM is that they leak information.

No matter how determined you may be to stay off SM and boast about not being on <insert list of platforms here> then I can personally guarantee you that Facebook (to take an example) knows who you are, where you live, what you like and where you shop.

Now that sort of information is power to the platform - it's what drives the marketing that they then sell to people who have shit to sell.

However it's also extremely valuable to anyone who has the resources to analyse it for trends and secrets.

And it's that power which the US doesn't want in foreign hands.

It used to be that the inferred data could only wrinkle out people who had electronic connections (e.g. email addresses or phone numbers) that other people stored. However with the rise of AI and all the platforms able to read your messages, they can now work out the existence of people who don't have an email address or phone number.

China is one of the most repressive regimes in the world. If you think Russia is bad, the only reason China isn't on your radar as the same is because they crushed their dissenters so hard that there's nothing left to see.

It is in no way comparable to the USA. Yes, groceries are cheap. But if you care about freedom and feminism and art and expression, it's a black hole, and personally I prefer to pay more money to live than have to be careful what I say near my phone and never say Xi Jinping's name aloud.