8mo ago

A Federal TikTok Ban is a 'Misguided Detour' from Doing What’s Needed to Protect People’s Privacy and Safeguard National Security

www.commondreams.org A Federal TikTok Ban Is a 'Misguided Detour' from Doing What’s Needed to Protect People’s Privacy and Safeguard National Security

On Tuesday, the Senate passed a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest its holdings of the popular social-media site or face an effective ban in the United States. The White House has indicated that President Biden will sign the legislation, which – after failing to move ...

A Federal TikTok Ban Is a 'Misguided Detour' from Doing What’s Needed to Protect People’s Privacy and Safeguard National Security

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33 comments

Well TikTok is not just bad for privacy but also for mental health and everything else you can possibly think about so probably the ban isn't actually that bad
- So Meta, Twitter, Snapchat and all the others who've redefined what data collection looks like and keep folks self centered is fine? The only reason the US is throwing this fit is because they can't access the collected data like they can with US based data brokers, I mean social media. The key aspect of this ban revolves around freedom of speach more than anything else.
  
  Of course but still TikTok is not a good thing imo
  
  I agree, but this is a little off topic imo
  
  Can't agree tbh
  
  No, of course it's not fine.
  But if it's not fine for domestic social media apps to do it, then it's even worse for a foreign adversary to do it. Right?
  
  It is the same worse. Billionaires do not have an allegiance to the well-being of any nation's citizens. What is a foreign state going to brainwash us with that could possibly be worse than the existing gamer-to-far-right-radical pipeline?
  
  They could use their advertising platform to manipulate US public opinion and elections. And, again, this isn't to say it's fine for domestic companies to do this. But that's no argument against this law. In fact, I daresay the "gamer-to-far-right-radical pipeline" you identify is an example of this.
  
  I don't think I would argue against this law, IDK. It's just a slap in the face to see they recognize how dangerous the thing is.
  We always knew they would do nothing to legislate misinformation, bigotry, and electioneering on the US-based platforms. But now we know for a fact that they understand these platforms are weaponized against the public.
  
  Far, far worse for your own country to have that data. If you live in the US for example, facebook can and does forward your messages about getting an abortion to law enforcement if you live in one of the no-abortion states. That mother and daughter both have charges now.

33 comments