this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2024

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How dare you! (lemmy.world)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 84 points 5 months ago (6 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 76 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (5 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 62 points 5 months ago (4 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (9 children)

Also I know it's the whole "you are not immune to propoganda" meme but look at the reactions to this bill online. If this isn't proof enough that ByteDance has the tools and ability to push an agenda through their app idk what is, and the U.S. has already had enough problems with foreign interference. If we cannot trust ByteDance not to retaliate against the U.S. when profits are on the line, they probably shouldn't be trusted with so much control on what our citizens are watching and hearing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I don't like this bill because it's another bandaid solution to a systemic problem. Okay, so we ban Tik Tok, but that won't stop Chinese and Russian actors from using other social media to do the same thing. If Tik Tok is a problem then so are Truth Social and Parler.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (10 children)

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 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.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 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.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Europe should ban Facebook for national security reasons, and TikTok too.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Agreed.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago (2 children)

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?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Yes, 100%.

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

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago

You're not wrong.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago (5 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago

What if I hate the CCP more than I hate social media companies, and I think all of them need to be taken down a peg but our government is too chicken shit to do that.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (6 children)

This isn't one of them...

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Yes and fuck tankies. They're all over this platform.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

It's funny. Laugh. F the CCP

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 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)

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 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 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

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 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

How else mega corps are going to find out my ballsack shaving schedule?

[–] lurch 2 points 5 months ago

😄 It's significant for when to show you more balls related ads on the big screen of the smart TV 😆

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 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."

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago (2 children)

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

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

The devil you know vs the devil you hey, wait, no I wasn’t calling China a d

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I mean you are not wrong. One pest less is an absolute win im my books though.

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