Liberal Redneck - Congress vs TikTok

[progressoid]

Congress apparently decided to come together to fight the REAL enemy: Tiktok.

[thebigidea]

1. What exactly would be so horrible about forcing China to sell it's interest in Tik-Tok?

It wouldn't affect the dopamine drips consumers or influences get. It just means China wouldn't have access to a handy surveillance system and propaganda network. It's not like they allow our social media networks in to help gather data on their people or to spread anti-Xi propaganda.

[progressoid]

3. Theoretically, that would be fine. But it wouldn't solve much.

China already uses YouTube, X, Instagram etc. to influence. Selling won't stop China from using TikTok to influence.

But the problem with this whole thing is how it's going to be perceived by the public. It's being billed as a ban. In a recent poll, only 31 percent of Americans favor a nationwide ban on TikTok.
Plus, people like TikTok. Politically it doesn't make much sense to attack something that is popular.


Then of course, why just TikTok? What about other Chinese based apps? Twice as many people use Temu as TikTok. They definitely gather data on users.

CapCut is another big one. It is also owned by ByteDance, the company that started TikTok.

Lawsuit: ByteDance’s CapCut app secretly reaps massive amounts of user data

The ByteDance-owned CapCut video editing app gathers significant amounts of private data, including facial scans, from its 200 million active users, generating huge profits and potentially allowing the Chinese government to access that data, according to a proposed class action lawsuit filed in an Illinois federal court.

...https://therecord.media/capcut-privacy-lawsuit-illinois-bipa-bytedance-china

The right wing has made TikTok their boogey man for a while now. IMHO, this ban/sale/whatever you want to call it, helps the right wing and hurts us.

[LostOne4Ever]

4. Depends on who buys it...

[mzmolly]

2. Could not agree more!