this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
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Not just another country, but a hostile foreign country. If France owned TikTok no one would care. But to the US government, China is in the top 5 of most hostile nations and is definitely the top of hostile nations in terms of world power and reach. It's essentially giving out a LOT of info to what they see as "the enemy". And also it has a lot of potential use to track US government employees like diplomats and high-level military leaders. Even if those people don't have TikTok installed, their kids might.
Hostile meaning "not beholden to the American imperialist empire"?
The thing is, the Chinese Government has some serious real aspirations for world domination. They literally want to supplant the US as THE world power. And tik tok is very open exposing US citizens to propaganda if nothing else. On top of that Tik Tok literally admitted that their algorithm was used to try to spy on journalists and track down their sources. They claim it was a lapse of judgement. But that alone has terrifying implications. I don't use tik tok but my understanding is it still has data on me and other people like me because I know several people who use it.
All the other tech companies who are gathering data like this on their users are a problem. And the number of algorithms used by theses companies and their effect on the mental health of the users are also a problem. But the only reason the US government is going after tik tok is specifically because of its ties to the CCP.
https://www.welivesecurity.com/2023/03/24/what-tiktok-knows-you-should-know-tiktok/
The thing is, its only good when the US Government is doing it. no need to tip-toe the actual reason. We know.
Ban it or not. it doesn't matter to the world outside. It's hilariously funny seeing it happen to the accuser what it has been doing for last decade around the world.
God speed.
China bans Facebook, Google, etc.
Millions of Americans walking around with spying devices for the Chinese government seems like something to be concerned about.
I don't think anyone in this thread thinks it's good for any government to be spying on everyone. But if we can cut off that flow of data to at least one government, great. Especially since that government is oppressive and authoritarian.
Maybe one day the US government will be cut off from mass surveillance as well.
In terms of reciprocity, the TikTok ban is long overdue. The US government's most valuable mass surveillance tools – Google, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc – aren't allowed there.
Lol Did you know India banned tik tok?