U.S. Senator Calls on Apple and Google to Ban TikTok From App Stores

maflynn said:
No not really, my point is the US is quick to call out dictators, yet put dictators in power. They are quick to call out human right violations when the US itself is guilty of human right violations. The Us government is now wanting to ban tiktok because of the amount of data that is being collected, yet its no different then at google, facebook, and others collecting data
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100% spot on.
 
m4mario said:
Data flowing to the highest bidder is not true though. What really happens is advertisers can target ads based on region, age, gender, interests, etc. But they can’t really see who has those interests or what your individual interests are. The government can, with a warrant of course. But advertisers who bid for ad space can’t see you or your interests.

With respect to China, they don’t have any due process or democracy. They can look at anyone’s data, target individual users, influence public opinions and lot more.
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😂 With a rubber stamp warrant process that allows for 3 degrees of separation…which very quickly is just plain old mass surveillance.

There’s a lot of issues with China, but their leaders are held to account far and away more than American ones. That’s all I’ll say as this site doesn’t allow for political discussion anymore…
 
subjonas said:
Social media reaches far into a culture’s mind, therefore it is a powerful tool to both extract information and implant ideas. Knowing this, I was very surprised when a Chinese social media app Tik Tok was allowed in the US. And shocked it took this long to start talking about banning it.
ANY country’s government should be very watchful and wary of this new extremely subtle but extremely powerful weapon. It’s a new type of modern warfare.
If anyone thinks this is an issue of America restricting freedom, then they should also allow spies to live in the US in the name of freedom and immigration rights.
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I'm sorry but that argument doesn't make any sense. People watching Tik Tok are seeing content created in the US for the most part by US users. Are these US users spies who put information into their content to brainwash people?

Are movies made in China also going to be blocked from being seen?

Again, I don't care if its banned but the whole implanting of ideas seems a little far fetched to me. FaceBook and Google constantly lie about the data they collect and literally listen to you on their home enabled devices. But that is ok because they are American companies?
 
That’s utterly ridiculous. Google collects infinitely more data unscrupulously than Tiktok. While it has no business on government devices as THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE USED FOR WORK, TikTok is fun and a pretty cool platform for everyone, especially people like the disabled that don’t otherwise have a voice. I don’t think the Chinese government gets much out of me watching The Corn 🌽 Song or Dog videos. Senator it’s none of your goddamn business. Buzz off, fascist.
 
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗 said:
Good! We are better off without it. I feel like the App is spying on us and collecting the data on another level.

TikTok should be banned. Honestly, I don’t think it brings anything to this world. We waste so much time just on scrolling.
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Wow, sounds pretty fascist to me. It’s none of your goddamn business what I do with my time
 
MrWillie said:
So, we should let mistreatment go on today because a tragic event happened 192 years ago
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Absolutely not. I'm just pointing out that we here in the US are so quick to judge others, and point out how bad others are without looking in the mirror. MY issue is the hypocrisy for complaining about Tiktok because of the data being collected and yet not banning facebook, google, twitter
 
maflynn said:
Absolutely not. I'm just pointing out that we here in the US are so quick to judge others, and point out how bad others are without looking in the mirror. MY issue is the hypocrisy for complaining about Tiktok because of the data being collected and yet not banning facebook, google, twitter
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Maybe the difference is because it's a foreign adversary associated with TikTok. Imagine a US nuclear scientist with teenagers in the house using TikTok. The data that can be collected via mic and location would be valuable to our enemies.
 
Black Magic said:
Maybe the difference is because it's a foreign adversary associated with TikTok. Imagine a US nuclear scientist with teenagers in the house using TikTok. The data that can be collected via mic and location would be valuable to our enemies.
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That sounds serious.

So maybe he should use stronger language than "I ask that you remove TikTok from your respective app stores immediately."

Sounds like more of a request than a demand.

:p
 
By the time this is addressed by the government the kids will have moved on to the next social media platform. Of course the adults will linger on forever.
 
Seems like Facebook/Twitter have lobbyists in their back pocket, trying to ban a platform that’s eating their breakfast, lunch & dinner.
 
NT1440 said:
TikTok has an American subsidiary which is bound to US law…like every multinational company that does business here does.

Samsung is South Korean, but to do business here they have a US subsidiary.

Are you sure you understand the basics of business?
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I welcome any education on international business. How independent is an American subsidiary from their homeland parent company? Does the Chinese parent company Bytedance have basically no influence/access to US Tik Tok? Are they completely separate entities, just like Bytedance and FB? Also I wonder how much is done off the books and how much of that is traceable and enforceable by the US government. I don’t know how basic this information is.

In any case, there was reports of Bytedance having control over Tik Tok, I guess more than is appropriate/allowed.
www.cnbc.com

TikTok insiders say social media company is tightly controlled by Chinese parent ByteDance

Former TikTok employees say there is cause for concern when it comes to the popular social media app's Chinese parent company.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com
 
subjonas said:
I welcome any education on international business. How independent is an American subsidiary from their homeland parent company? Does the Chinese parent company Bytedance have basically no influence/access to US Tik Tok? Are they completely separate entities, just like Bytedance and FB? Also I wonder how much is done off the books and how much of that is traceable and enforceable by the US government. I don’t know how basic this information is.

In any case, there was reports of Bytedance having control over Tik Tok, I guess more than is appropriate/allowed.
www.cnbc.com

TikTok insiders say social media company is tightly controlled by Chinese parent ByteDance

Former TikTok employees say there is cause for concern when it comes to the popular social media app's Chinese parent company.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com
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What I’m failing to see is the difference between TikTok as a social media app vs any other American-spook filled platform. This entire industry is a parasite in how they operate and they’re all linked to security agencies anyway so I guess the problem here is just another “China bad” argument?
 
DMG35 said:
I'm sorry but that argument doesn't make any sense. People watching Tik Tok are seeing content created in the US for the most part by US users. Are these US users spies who put information into their content to brainwash people?

Are movies made in China also going to be blocked from being seen?

Again, I don't care if its banned but the whole implanting of ideas seems a little far fetched to me. FaceBook and Google constantly lie about the data they collect and literally listen to you on their home enabled devices. But that is ok because they are American companies?
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There are two possible general ways I’m aware of in which people can use a social media platform to purposely influence its users. One was what Russians did when they influenced the presidential election—creating networks of fake FB accounts to manufacture news and sentiments. The other is the company designing the algorithm to give more visibility and reward to certain types of content (and vice versa, censorship to undesirable content). This could be for the purpose of getting US citizens to think a certain way or value certain things that China would find strategically advantageous in either the near or long term. These are odd new ideas to think about because this has only become possible in recent years of history. I’m not saying it is definitely happening, but if these strategies are at all possible, it should be taken very very seriously and not hand-waved away like some people seem to be trying to do. There is too much at stake. If it is possible, some nation will try to exploit it, and there’s a decent chance that a nation as resourceful and motivated as China is already at it. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the US is at it as well.
This article actually alleges some exploits by Tik Tok’s parent company, as well as suggests possible future exploits that I never thought of:
www.cnbc.com

TikTok insiders say social media company is tightly controlled by Chinese parent ByteDance

Former TikTok employees say there is cause for concern when it comes to the popular social media app's Chinese parent company.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com

The Chinese movie market is not big in the US. Also movies are a much more difficult tool for a government to utilize. Tik Tok is extremely influential and social media can be a much more sophisticated and powerful tool, especially for this day and age.

Again, I’m sure American companies use many of the same tactics, and that’s very bad, but the difference is they are just in it for money. They have no intention to put the US under the foot of another nation, nor are they under the compulsion of an authoritarian government that would love that. So the potential threat levels are very different.
 
NT1440 said:
What I’m failing to see is the difference between TikTok as a social media app vs any other American-spook filled platform. This entire industry is a parasite in how they operate and they’re all linked to security agencies anyway so I guess the problem here is just another “China bad” argument?
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I guess you could say that, if by “bad” you mean a threat to US national security. So with that as the meaning, one can’t dismiss that argument with the word “just”. As I’ve said a few times in this thread now, I agree pretty much all social media companies have shady practices, but a potentially China-controlled social media app is fundamentally different from a US-based app because one is controlled by people who are just after money, the other is potentially controlled by people who actively want to compromise US national security. Completely different levels of security threats.
 
subjonas said:
I guess you could say that, if by “bad” you mean a threat to US national security. So with that as the meaning, one can’t dismiss that argument with the word “just”. As I’ve said a few times in this thread now, I agree pretty much all social media companies have shady practices, but a potentially China-controlled social media app is fundamentally different from a US-based app because one is controlled by people who are just after money, the other is potentially controlled by people who actively want to compromise US national security. Completely different levels of security threats.
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Google, Meta, Amazon, Reddit, etc. all chocked full of “former” intelligence agents.

I don’t subscribe to nationalism when it comes to manipulation of the public. I’m not turning a blind eye to spooks being in these positions, I just think they’re all manipulative bastards and I don’t support one or the other because one side can wave the flag of my country in front of me. I think that’s the difference in mindset between you and I.
 
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