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The fear people have, especially so called conservatives, of the world is harming us. Handing over control to this unholy conglomeration may mean the algorithm becomes as bad as Instagram and Facebook.I fear the quality will decline and all in the name of 'we're scared of other countries'.
I may be mis-interpreting; it sounds like you fear this part of the world. Unholy conglomeration? 'As bad as' Instagram and Facebook? I get that people have concerns about for-profit companies exploiting human psychology to market product and profit (also known as marketing), but that seems to be an issue with the human race, not any single nation. From I understand, Trump in his 1st term pushed the action against TikTok but Biden followed through, and Trump then tried to save it, so it's not clearly an issue of conservatives trying to bring TikTok down.

It'll be interesting to see whether TikTok's offerings change much anytime soon.

You raise an interesting point, and since I don't spend much time looking at TikTok or Instagram content (but use Facebook), I'll ask directly...how do you guys think TikTok's algorithm-provided content to users compares to how Facebook or Instagram do things? What do you like or dislike about them relative to each other?
 
Basically, taking all the things we don’t like about the Chinese having blackbox control, and then giving it to local oligarchs plus some in the Middle East.

Folks, nothing about this is a win. Stop using this cancerous app.
What alternative do you propose?

I browse the Internet, and get served ad.s related to products I looked at on other sites. I pull up my Walmart account online, and I can see listings of products I didn't order but paid for in-store with the credit card used with my account (under Account - Purchase History). Amazon sends me e-mails with things their system thinks I might be interested in (based on my browsing history).

My point is, that tech. companies follow some of what we do and use it seems to be one of those 'the horse is out of the barn' things.

If one of these foreign entities wants info., they can get a lot from what's accessible online, but would it be that hard for the Chinese Communist Party to hand-pick a few intellectually and technically high-end 'spies' and get them employed at Facebook and Google, etc., to get access to internal data?

If they badly want data on the viewing and purchasing habits of American consumers, is anything going to stop them from getting it?

One argument I heard against TikTok before was the potential to use it as a propaganda arm of the Chinese Communist Party, but they can get propaganda out without it if so inclined. How many influencers of varied types use YouTube to get their message out?
 
Proud member of the Never Had an Account Club.

…and based on the new owners, never will.
Sgt. Murtaugh sums up my feelings on TikTok: "I'm too old for this ****"

Another relevant Lethal Weapon [2] quote: "Thousands. Billions. F-in Donald Trump Lotto!"

Also thinking of the LW4 reference to a "corrupt Chinese general"
 
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TikTok has agreed to sell its U.S. operations to an investment group that includes Oracle, Silver Lake, and UAE-based company MGX, reports Axios. The "TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC" that includes the three companies will own 45 percent of TikTok, while ByteDance will keep close to 20 percent. Existing investors will continue to hold the remaining shares.

tiktok-logo.jpg

The U.S. group will handle U.S. data protection and content moderation, while also maintaining algorithm security. It has been tasked with retraining the content recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data to "ensure the content feed is free from outside manipulation." Oracle will be in charge of auditing and validating compliance with National Security Terms.

The agreement states that the USDS Joint Venture will "operate as an independent entity" that has authority over U.S. data protection, while TikTok's global U.S. entities will manage global product interoperability along with e-commerce, advertising, and marketing.

With the sale, TikTok will be able to continue operating in the United States while complying with the 2024 Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The act required TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to a non-Chinese company or be banned from operating in the United States.

TikTok was briefly banned in January, but Donald Trump signed an executive order granting an extension that brought it back. The ban has been extended multiple times since then to provide additional time for a deal to be established. The agreement is set to go into effect on January 22.

Article Link: TikTok U.S. Sale to Oracle-Led Group Set to Close in January
Trump's executive orders can't and don't undo legislation passed by Congress (and especially not legislation upheld 9-0 by the Supreme Court). The ban is still in force, and I seriously doubt that this sale passes the conditions spelled out in the ban law.
 
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TikTok has agreed to sell its U.S. operations to an investment group that includes Oracle, Silver Lake, and UAE-based company MGX, reports Axios. The "TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC" that includes the three companies will own 45 percent of TikTok, while ByteDance will keep close to 20 percent. Existing investors will continue to hold the remaining shares.

tiktok-logo.jpg

The U.S. group will handle U.S. data protection and content moderation, while also maintaining algorithm security. It has been tasked with retraining the content recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data to "ensure the content feed is free from outside manipulation." Oracle will be in charge of auditing and validating compliance with National Security Terms.

The agreement states that the USDS Joint Venture will "operate as an independent entity" that has authority over U.S. data protection, while TikTok's global U.S. entities will manage global product interoperability along with e-commerce, advertising, and marketing.

With the sale, TikTok will be able to continue operating in the United States while complying with the 2024 Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The act required TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to a non-Chinese company or be banned from operating in the United States.

TikTok was briefly banned in January, but Donald Trump signed an executive order granting an extension that brought it back. The ban has been extended multiple times since then to provide additional time for a deal to be established. The agreement is set to go into effect on January 22.

Article Link: TikTok U.S. Sale to Oracle-Led Group Set to Close in January
Basically means that TikTok will now obey the US govt on censorship, say goodbye to Palestine news and China travel content!
 
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