Summary
TikTok, with 170 million US users, faces a nationwide US ban starting January 19 unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sells the platform.
A court rejected ByteDance’s bid to delay the ban, forcing TikTok to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The US government cites national security concerns over data collection, while TikTok argues its US user data is stored domestically.
President Biden may grant a 90-day extension, but the decision could fall to Trump, who has opposed banning TikTok.
To not have to ever hear or see that stupid tiktok logo again would be nice. Too bad it’s not a global ban.
To be real: it would better if it’s use just declined until it went away.
I’d love to have a social media platform without Americans. I’m hoping on TikTok if the US bans it
You would WANT to use that shit? It is awful. Curious why you feel the need to have any social media at all? I get setting up private groups, chats, etc on your own hardware. But corporate made algorithm driven and profit centered applications out of your control seem like a horrible idea. And it turns out they are.
Not everyone thinks that way. I’m somewhere in the middle.
While I like setting up my own servers and having private groups etc.
I also find some main stream social media entertaining. I’d prefer if everyone switches to decentralised social media, but yea that’ll take time.
There are some echo chambers on here too, it’s almost impossible to escape echo chambers.
I feel the best it to see all of them and form your own opinions
It isnt the echo chambers, I get that. But it is the “social media” part. I have no desire to put anything personal on the internet, and don’t find anyone else’s shit all that interesting either. That is the part I have no use for, at least on someone elses device, public, and corporate.
Don’t Republicans hate TikTok? I’m confused.
Just the ones that expose their corruption to millions. I’m pretty sure one or two wants to buy it specifically to ban that sort of thing
There are legitimate security concerns in having large numbers of your citizens using a platform that directly controls algorithms to show specific content, run by a foreign company known to have direct government control, force them to do what they want. TikTok may deny it, but Chinese law allows the government to essentially force them to do whatever they want. And yes, that includes the US and other countries as well, this is not a US or China thing, it’s a general foreign narrative control issue.
Nothing prevents the Chinese government from forcing TikTok to adjust their algorithm to promote whatever points of view they want and suppress others. Many other countries do the same with their own companies, whether overtly or not, but a foreign government that is known to do what they want, regardless of any agreements, treaties, etc. having the ability to directly control what your citizens see is a massive security risk.
Is a full ban the right approach? The US doesn’t really have any way to force TikTok to ignore Chinese government demands, it is a Chinese company after all. The only way to force compliance, is not allowing them to operate in the US as the alternative, and the company can choose to either do what the US government wants, or abandon the market. It seems that’s the stage the politicians have decided we’re at, and TikTok hasn’t made changes to accommodate US requirements to operate here anymore.
It seems to me that simply exposing the possibility of Chinese interference to the public should be sufficient. Once the public is aware, then every individual’s personal, informed decision to use or not use TikTok is a protected form of political expression.
I expect that most Americans who use TikTok would choose to keep using it, but that’s an option that freedom of expression gives them. They have a right to consume Chinese propaganda if that’s what they want, in the same way that they have a right to listen to any speaker or read any book that they want to.
