• Limonene@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Tiktok has some serious problems with censorship. It’s been absolutely proven that Tiktok censors content that the Chinese government dislikes. Even if Tiktok/Bytedance insists that they aren’t owned by the Chinese government, they are owned by Chinese entities, which subjects them to Chinese government censorship, and may require them to deny that censorship.

    The study: https://networkcontagion.us/wp-content/uploads/A-Tik-Tok-ing-Timebomb_12.21.23.pdf

    Article about the study: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/21/business/tiktok-china.html

    Antipaywall link to that article: https://archive.ph/MLATC

    I don’t disagree that Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter have their own set of things they censor. I don’t disagree that Tiktok is being singled out by Congress. I don’t disagree that there are big privacy problems with all of the above platforms.

  • Ech@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    I’m not gonna suggest that it’s right that US companies often evade government scrutiny and action, but I also don’t think it’s hypocritical for a country to be interested in protecting itself from other countries. That’s just national interest. We need protections within the country too, but that’s not the same conversation.

    And tbh, the meme is pretty on point because a family may treat each other poorly often, but they are much less accepting of an outside party doing the same as it can be seen as a risk to the group at large.

    • MagnyusG@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      people seem to glaze over the fact that China is at odds with the United States politically, the ban has little to do with protecting people’s privacy and more to do with preventing another country from having such an influential tool ready at their fingertips.

      • PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        Not to mention how the local area average content algorithm is a known tool of those foreign policing units to keep Chinese nationals abroad in line even when they specifically avoid downloading anything the CCP could normally use to keep an eye on them.

        People are getting mad that their right to participate in the extraterritorial oppression of Chinese folks is being infringed because it also involves them getting to watch videos of reddit drama stories set to shitty Minecraft parkour.

      • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Bull. Being at odds with someone is about protection. We should want our information to be free from whatever they want it for. I don’t like the bigger US companies doing it either. But that is usually for profit. Who knows what a foreign nation that hates us wants it for.

      • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        China is at odds with the United States politically

        Most sane and freedom loving people are also at odds with United States politically.

        I think the US government is upset that China has provided people with a way to communicate and organize that has actually been effective.

    • assassinatedbyCIA@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I find it hypocritical that America forces it’s tech down other countries throats and demands open markets globally while wanting to now close off their market once they have a viable foreign competitor. I agree it’s logically the right move but, I still find it hypocritical.

    • tswiftchair@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      I think the most hypocritical part is obviously the guise of data privacy. But even regarding national security or foreign influence, I think there is some hypocrisy because we know that there are foreign actors on Facebook, for example, as well.

    • NevermindNoMind@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Back in my day we had an open internet. But “China bad” has gotten to the point where we’re ok with the government deciding which countries are allowed to have apps in the US market. I definitely don’t see any problems with establishing that kind of precedent.

      If your worried about China influencing and/or spying on US citizens via a social media app, there are things the US could do short of a forced sale or outright ban (and not an actual ban btw, this is the government telling app stores what apps they’re allowed to carry, another super cool precedent). Maybe a public education campaign, like DARE but for tik tok, maybe it’s convincing influencers to switch platforms, maybe it’s dumping some money into alternatives like the fediverse. Or you could just wait a year or two until TikTok loses popularity like every other social media platform ever.

      Anyway, we need to stop pretending this argument is about anything like spying or Chinese mind control. For Republicans it’s simply China bad. For Democrats it’s about protecting meta and Google, donors, from TikTok kicking their ass in the free market.

      It’s dumb, short sighted, a horrible precedent, and people cheer it on at their own perril.

    • ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Europe should be prepared to ban Facebook and currently ban tiktok. American companies aren’t the same type of threat. Europe can reliably get them to follow their legislation.

      When it comes to the intelligence aspect. America will share it’s intelligence and intelligence capabilities with most of Europe. Even when it doesn’t, it’s intended outcomes are aligned with Europe.

      America supports Europes defence and economy substantially. In both things they are generally aligned. China doesn’t. It’s hostile to Europe and the US. China frequently performs industrial sabotage and theft against Europe and the US.

      Europe should be challenging Facebook more, but the problems with Facebook are the same issue US citizens face. Europe can trust that the American government and Facebook to follow it’s laws in Europe. Regulations don’t matter to tiktok, it exists as part of the state apparatus. It will only ever feign compliance.

  • jacktherippah@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    You know what? Good. Fuck China. Fuck the CCP. Fuck TikTok. My country borders China and has active territorial disputes with it. When I last went on Facebook I saw people from my country reposting TikTok content from China. They actually fucking support China in all of its territorial disputes, they think that China is the greatest country in the world and they want it to have the nine dash line basically. Really? Supporting a totalian regime, a hostile foreign power? Really?

    • twig@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      4 months ago

      Yes, 100%.

      There are way too many fucking tankies on this platform and they need to be reminded of this.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      If I download that app I am not doing it because I endorse any of the policies of the Mainland Taiwan I am doing it I want to get content.

  • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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    4 months ago

    Man the fuck is up with the amount of pro-Chinese-Dictatorship memes?

    Fuck the CCP, all my homies hate the CCP! Some other unethical asshole can buy TikTok and it’ll still be an improvement.

  • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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    4 months ago

    Way more people than I would have expected in here - a social media site who’s entire purpose is to be free from corporate ownership and control - upset this meme is too soft on China, instead of in agreement that legislators should be addressing the entire social media platform market (and china’s platform with it)

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    To solve this problem, I’m thinking of just getting a dumb phone again, and maybe throwing out all of my other electronics. Actually, I’ll have to just move to the middle of the woods somewhere with no electricity to get actual privacy.

    Man this sucks. I wish we could all just mind our own business.

    • Neato@ttrpg.network
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      4 months ago

      We have never, at any point in human civilization, ever just minded our own business.

      • assembly@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Don’t think that’s humanities M.O. we kinda tend to be in each others shit constantly. If there is anything we need to learn as a species it’s to focus on our own shit.

        • Neato@ttrpg.network
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          4 months ago

          The only reason humanity has a civilization is its preoccupation with its members shit. You see this in some other intelligent group species. Wolves, apes, anything with group dynamics. Enforcing conformity was essential to survival. You can argue that’s no longer necessary, but it’s how we evolved.

    • lurch@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      idk. i think you just don’t need all the “smart” devices in your hut in the woods. electricity is fine. we had solar panels in dumb calculators and dumb watches for >20 years. plus the dumb stuff needs even less electricity and is easy to repair. you can have a dumb mixer, dumb fridge, dumb washing machine, dumb dishwasher and a vacuum, just not a roomba that scans your home while it cleans.

      • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Funny you mention dumb devices.I’ve been searching for a dumb TV now for a bit, can’t find them anymore. It’s so annoying that everything is connected to the internet now. I don’t need my entire life hooked into the internet.

        • lurch@sh.itjust.works
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          4 months ago

          yeah, anything media is hard to get without “smart” stuff, but you don’t need the bluetooth enabled shaver, trust me.

          i also bought a tv/monitor recently and the size and features i wanted were only available on a smart one, but i never connected it to the web. it just complains about it in a grey box top right every start. it probably uses a bit more electricity, because of a proper CPU running all the time.

        • wjrii@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Probably not in stores, but you can get PC monitors up to about 43", and there are also “commercial signage” or “business” displays which are about $150-200 more than a similarly spec’ed smart TV from the same company (lots of Samsungs on Amazon), and may not come with a stand or possibly speakers. Some smart TVs also let you switch inputs without connecting to WiFi. I think most mainstream media projectors are not smart yet, though it’s creeping into that space as well. If everything else is already tracking you, I do tend to wonder how much worse the TV is, but there are ways to pay for a little less privacy invasion from your “TV.”

        • TheKingBee@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          I’ve been searching for a dumb TV now for a bit, can’t find them anymore

          Every TV can be a dumb TV if you don’t give it your wifi password…

  • twinnie@feddit.uk
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    4 months ago

    It’s because they’re shipping all the user data back to China despite repeatedly promising they wouldn’t.

  • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    4 months ago

    honestly, i just don’t really care, unless you want to try and argue first amendment, i think that’s the only realistic outcome here.

  • Yamainwitch@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    You can’t just make me spit out my wine with this incredible Simpsons meme hahaha jk I love it 🤣