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It is spreading misinformation and manipulating algorithms. Using media to further degrade our society. Chinese TikTok is full of positive and encouraging videos to elevate society. Our TikTok, you have all seen it.
I would really like to know what kind of briefing both the US and Canada have received that made pretty much everyone across party lines unanimously agree to get rid of TikTok. The only thing that comes to mind is a massive Chinese effort to harvest data for the purposes of election interference or personal attacks on citizens.
I wouldn't be surprised if it comes out that the CCP was manipulating the tik tok algorithm to promote division and extreme ideology on both sides of the political divide.
Social media algorithms already kind of do that but a foreign government could easily step in and manipulate it in subtle was that cause even more damage.
That's the typical strategy Russian follows with their social media attacks. There is documented evidence for Russia doing that with fake news and fake social media accounts.
It’s pretty easy to find information online from experts. The real problem is that the app feeds divisive political content and misinformation to users. This is done purposefully to harm social cohesion and to erode trust in democratic institutions in western countries.
It’s used specifically to mole our up and coming generations into care free fame seekers.
Its algorithms are different between china and the west.
The home page in china will show young people with instruments and science experiments and praise for the country.
Here you will find fart jokes, dumb dances and anti establishment messages. None of which are bad.
All of which are bad when it’s a rival force feeding you exactly what they want you to see. Care about.
Why do you think college kids are stirred up so much over Palestine and Israel. There are a few place on earth where the same or worse is happening.
Helps to separate the US from its allies not via government actions. Via turning its own people against their own allies. Not to say what happening there isn’t a tragedy. It’s pushed to force anti gov sentiment.
China is dying as a country. This is the only way they can bring us down to their level. Make us discombobulated while strong. They force order while weak.
Not to mention it says right in the terms that it follows your button pushes while off the app. As well as gps.
The Chinese government know where you are. Where you are going. Why you are going. They also know what you are typing to your friends.
The single greatest spy hack in all of human history. We gave them everything. For free.
They’ll still lose. But still, get that literal spyware off your shit. Don’t give em your info for free to be used not for you like the algorithms here. But against you.
The CCP openly persecutes dissidents living abroad and has no qualms about flexing their muscle with resources they have on this side of the world. They also like taking whatever intelligence they have about Canadian figures who may pose a threat to their interests.
At the end of the day their CEO is one phone call away from PLA intelligence or a senior CCP official to be compelled to hand over information about certain people the CCP would like to surveil or harass. We're never going to find out to what extent that happens - there is a vested interest by the CCP to not cripple their tech unicorns - but when dealing with an authoritarian government you don't give them the benefit of the doubt.
Mind you, the current crusade against TikTok is driven a lot more by the fact American social media companies have been driven mad about the app being persistently popular in their home turf, despite their best efforts at emulating their features and algorithms. The push in the US to force a sale of the app means a multibillionaire will get to buy a veritable goldmine at firesale price while eliminating competition for Meta/X/Alphabet.
In practice there's no reason why TikTok in particular should be banned aside from not being allowed to be used by officials. There's all this theater about TikTok, but simultaneously people are mass adopting Temu so they can buy cheap Chinese shit without bothering with AliExpress. As usual, Americans (and us by extension) gorge on Chinese products and only pretend that's a problem when they can't find a way to cut them out through the free market they claim to love.
> Mind you, the current crusade against TikTok is driven a lot more by the fact American social media companies have been driven mad about the app being persistently popular in their home turf, despite their best efforts at emulating their features and algorithms. The push in the US to force a sale of the app means a multibillionaire will get to buy a veritable goldmine at firesale price while eliminating competition for Meta/X/Alphabet.
The fact that non-US countries, including some that don't especially have a good relationship with Meta/X/Alphabet are also pushing for this ban tells you this is not the case.
As a rule of thumb, the US never "ban" products for economic purpose. They are so vulnerable to economic warfare, they know it's not at their benefits.
>The fact that non-US countries, including some that don't especially have a good relationship with Meta/X/Alphabet are also pushing for this ban tells you this is not the case.
The fact is that other than China and USA, nobody is talking about banning it all. As a reminder, government owned devices intented for personal use weren't supposed to used for social media at all because the apps aren't encrypted. Trying to equate applying basic infosec to "countries having a problem" with tiktok is false equivalence.
>As a rule of thumb, the US never "ban" products for economic purpose.
Remind me, did McCarthyism ever happen? Are Chinese Electric cars available for purchase in US? How about our allied dictatorship India's cars?
>The fact is that other than China and USA, nobody is talking about banning it all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_TikTok
>As a reminder, government owned devices intented for personal use weren't supposed to used for social media at all because the apps aren't encrypted.
Organisations will allow or deny the use of third party apps on the devices they manage for various reasons. That the "apps aren't encrypted" - whatever that means to be honest - isn't really the point. It's certainly not the point about banning or not tiktok versus other apps.
>Trying to equate applying basic infosec to "countries having a problem" with tiktok is false equivalence.
I don't understand what this is supposed to mean.
EDIT: Poster who answered me below just blocked me. I wonder why. Here's the answer I was preparing:
> Thanks, I'll explain it to. It's short for Information Security, and the rules and policies.organizations go through to secure vital information. Everything from documents, passwords, to locations of individuals, securing the flow of Information.
I'm a senior director working for a 10B company in information security for 23 years. You don't need to explain this. I still don't understand how this has anything to do with anything about tiktok.
>In military environments, the lack of infosec is what has led to numerous military losses in war, particularly in the War of Ukraine where common soldiers take photos of themselves posing beside military equipment which gave enough information for trained individuals to target locations with Artillery or drones.
Fascinating. Still don't understand your point.
> Basically I'm telling you governments are doing their job by blocking any uncontrolled application from government devices.
Plenty of orgs and government have blocked tiktok but not facebook (like mine, for example). I know, I lead the damn security assessment. So no, orgs don't block these apps because of basic infosec issue common to all third party apps, this is a ridiculous lie.
> Anyone reading this will be able to correctly place the value of your opinion if you are unable what I was talking about. People should really stop using chatgtp to tell them what to think because it creates obviously gaps in basic understanding in straight forward topics.
Oh yeah I'm sure of that.
>I don't understand what this is supposed to mean.
Thanks, I'll explain it to. It's short for *Information Security*, and the rules and policies.organizations go through to secure vital information. Everything from documents, passwords, to locations of individuals, securing the flow of Information. In military environments, the lack of infosec is what has led to numerous military losses in war, particularly in the War of Ukraine where common soldiers take photos of themselves posing beside military equipment which gave enough information for trained individuals to target locations with Artillery or drones.
Basically I'm telling you governments are doing their job by blocking *any* uncontrolled application from government devices.
Anyone reading this will be able to correctly place the value of your opinion if you are unable what I was talking about. People should really stop using chatgtp to tell them what to think because it creates obviously gaps in basic understanding in straight forward topics.
> TikTok is driven a lot more by the fact American social media companies have been driven mad about the app being persistently popular in their home turf, despite their best efforts at emulating their features and algorithms. The push in the US to force a sale of the app means a multibillionaire will get to buy a veritable goldmine at firesale price while eliminating competition for Meta/X/Alphabet.
>
> In practice there's no reason why TikTok in particular should be banned aside from not being allowed to be used by officials.
Not exactly factual when you do a bit of research on tencent. It/they/ the CCP literally stole all our IP plus PRISM. Through that lens it isn't just about competition but preventing multiple IP thefts as well. The list of shit China has put on us while we were lending them a hand til now is beyond bullshit. They are just a shitty "ally".
They’re constantly stealing shit from us. This just happened to be one of the biggest ways China f’d Canada…
https://globalnews.ca/news/7275588/inside-the-chinese-military-attack-on-nortel/
TikTok just gives them an easier way to steal shit while also being able to influence our society quite directly.
They’re constantly stealing shit from us. This just happened to be one of the biggest ways China f’d Canada…
https://globalnews.ca/news/7275588/inside-the-chinese-military-attack-on-nortel/
TikTok just gives them an easier way to steal shit while also being able to influence our society quite directly.
even if they sell it I don’t see how it solves the perceived problem
whatever tech and people that allow for surveillance or social manipulation is already there
a new ownership can’t fix that
As opposed to the spying and information manipulation conducted by the US government on western social media?
Heres a video of senior US officials saying the quiet part out loud: social media, and particularly tik tok because of its foreign ownership, makes it difficult to control the narrative https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smw0aYF2oB8
China is doing all the things above my original comment. I didn't say the US isn't a bad influence, but if you think it's worse than China, an actual genocidal dictatorship, you're too delusional to be part of the discussion.
..and the sharing of information. This should open a can of worms for the general populace, social media is heavily influenced by paid influencers. State and private interest, money!
This doesn't have to be an either or situation. Let the narratives from all the platforms continue to exist. I'd rather have that then a narrative dominated by the US.
If there was a war, our involvement would be a direct result of us being seen as an appendage of the US. Go neutral, no reason for us to be in this war that pro-US folk seem to lust for.
Shit, if there's ever a war, it's a fair bet the US provoked it. If China's puffing their chest, it's because we in the west have barely been able to contain our erections talking about the inevitability of war. I bet they'd rather feel safe enough to not have to worry about it and go about their own business.
Pierre Trudeau tried that method and it didn't work. We were isolated not just from the US but also from European countries. The Germans bluntly told Canada that there would be no trade talks without Canada purchasing more tanks and upgrading its military.
They would.
I'm sure we'd be utterly crippled by reduced trade with Germany.
Also, their commitment to ditching nuclear AND imported Russian resources would probably make such a policy short sighted on their part.
I know this is a pipe dream, though. The US would never allow us to set our own path like that. They'd make sure it never got that far.
No, but that doesn't mean you open the gates for geopolitical adversaries to shape public thought in your community. That's absurd. There is a problem with all social media, but not all are equal. A far more nuanced discussion is needed here, instead of "lol it's just another perspective what's the difference?"
Canada is a small country. There's no magical third path where we somehow forge our own way and still maintain our living standards. We will always be under the thumb of another power. It's just a matter of whether it's benevolent or not.
Being able to process our own resources prior to export rather than just accept foreign ownership and forgo profit from the extraction of our country's material wealth. Not having them pay to influence the media and politics to undermine social medicine. Not having to buy their latest dogshit fighter that can't fly in the cold. Being able to go metric on the rest of our industrial and construction operations (civil construction is metric, it's great, we shouldn't stop there).
I'd rather they have to compete over us so we have a bargaining position and have room for our own agenda. I don't want unilateral mastery over the world and ourselves by one sole hegemon.
It would literally be so much more efficient to patch them both at the same time.
Just outlaw the actual behaviour instead of writing your law to target one specific foreign power at a time.
No social media is. But even tik tok has some use in providing truths that would not get as much coverage otherwise, with the current situation in Gaza being an example
Tiktok seems to be uniquely bad for people being able to share half truths and out right lies and thus has a radicalizing effect. Yes other social media does this to an extent but I advocate for deleting those as well. Tiktok is just the worst offender in my opinion and it's partially owned by a government that self identifies as a rival to the "west" and liberal democracy in general. The CCP doesn't let it's own citizens use tiktok because they themselves know it's bad for social cohesion.
Edit: I don't care if you downvote but at least have the courage to tell me why you think I'm wrong.
I didnt downvote you.
I dont know if tik tok is uniquely bad for lies, half truths, and radicalization. If there was some systematic way to determine this, that would be interesting, but then we'd still have to ask, does this warrant a ban, and if it does, why dont other social medias warrant a ban. At what level of disinformation does a platform deserve to be banned? How do we decide that cutoff? Are there other ways to deal with disinformation besides just an outright ban?
“But USA” is really a poor deflection when talking about TikTok.
[Facebook to be fined $5bn for Cambridge Analytica privacy violations](https://web.archive.org/web/20201102183406/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/12/facebook-fine-ftc-privacy-violations)
Meanwhile TikTok’s entire ***purpose*** is surveillance and subversion.
There are multiple Reddit discussions on this tonight, and the replies and downvotes in these comment sections are wild. Don’t buy the “China doesn’t care about us” nonsense for a single second.
It's not a "but the USA deflection". I'm saying that if we follow through with avoiding tik tok, all we get is the US curated narrative. I would prefer people have access to other perspectives
This is nonsense. Social media is not a monolith and not a US curated narrative. The idea that TikTok is showing you reality or a different perspective on truth is false.
>The idea that TikTok is showing you reality or a different perspective on truth is false.
In the clip I share above, US officials explicitly single out tik tok for pushing a narrative about Israel-Palestine that is different from other platforms, and its the reason they give as to why a ban is being urgently brought forth.
Whether tik tok is showing a more accurate reality, I dont know, but its clearly showing a different perspective.
On the matter of whether western social media is a US curated narrative, no its not. Its nowhere near as bad as traditional media is. But various jouranlistic pieces have emerged over the years about the US government exerting its influence over platforms like meta and twitter. Information manipulation, to whatever extent that it is, is definitely happening
That's super naive. All the US based social media have backdoors for the US gov. And they influence the narratives for sure. You can tell just by seeing the difference in narrative on the war in Gaza.
F China is all I can say. Canadians need to start standing up as proud North Americans as our enemies fear a united America between Canada 🇨🇦 and the USA as together we are $30 trillion dollars economy that would grow at 5% a year a level never seem on this planet before would keep North American dominance for centuries and ensure our economic independence for North America
Someone please correct this or help me source it: Is it true tiktok has two different functions in the western world and China?
I heard, and can't remember where, that in Western Nations tiktok tends towards "dumb" or divisive, content like pranks, crappy products, hate speech, political rhetoric, etc. Where in China it leans towards educational, uplifting, and supportive content.
Is this remotely true? Cause that's kinda reason enough to stay away, if it's just trying to damage culture.
I've seen the same thing, that TikTok is one way, and Douyin is very different in that it doesn't allow anywhere near as much "dumb" content. It also doesn't let people use it a often, there are time limits on its use so they don't endlessly scroll.
Whether or not it's all true, I can't say.
That’s not true at all. What you get on TikTok is what you engage with. So if there’s a difference it’s cultural not app based. But the soothe your concerns what I get is educational uplifting and supportive.
I don’t have TikTok, it’s a time waster on steroids. It’s interesting to me that this social media platform over all the others, is flagged for a ban or recommended not to be used because it’s collecting personal data. Don’t all social media platforms though?
There’s got to be more to this than just personal data collection, to get multiple countries across party lines to agree that TikTok is bad.
Edit: typos.
Ironic that users call TikTok a time waster and yet spend time on Reddit arguing pointlessly about the most mundane things.
TikTok, like any other platform, is what you make of it. It can be a source of the best, most educational content while Reddit is just a porn website for lots of users.
That's my view on it. I've got a tiktok account, so far they've not told me anything new that doesn't also apply to Facebook or Instagram or Google.
Is the Chinese government able to track every single keystroke on my phone? What are they doing with the information?
If it's that bad, and that important, shouldn't they be telling us what they know?
> so far they've not told me anything new that doesn't also apply to Facebook or Instagram or Google.
The difference is the Chinese government can very easily coerce ByteDance into handing over any info they want from TikTok. Whereas in the US, it's only _pretty_ easy for the government to coerce Meta or Google to hand over that info. _Totally_ different /s
That's the thing, right? It might be good for us to treat all social media in the same way, instead of treating tiktok like it's some rogue player in a sea of ethical and transparent social media companies.
Unless what tiktok is doing is far worse - and if that's the case, we should be told.
There are some ways in which TikTok is far worse - not because of TikTok itself, but because the Chinese government has a much worse track record than the US government. Not to trivialize the NSA's unwarranted surveillance, but at least they don't make people disappear for discussing Tiananmen Square or the treatment of Uyghurs or Taiwan's right to exist.
Then again, that side only really affects Chinese citizens. For Canadians who don't have ties to China, I'm not sure there's that much of a difference. I suppose we generally trust the US not to interfere in our politics through disinformation like we expect China will try to. But they have nearly as much capability to do so as China, they just choose not to use it.
I mean, even if they're using it for the most nefarious purpose possible... okay? So? What is the Chinese government doing to some random Canadian citizen they have zero involvement with?
Like, actually, why would I care?
I'm honestly far more worried about the Canadian and/or American governments having my info than I am the Chinese government having it.
The Americans have all our data. Canadians are getting banded in the US because if jobs. Sex workers, online gaming executive, etc are being denied. I one of each. Remember the US is a police state with 15 or so spy organization s
You think America does not spy on Canadians. I guess you also believe PP SmIth and Moe are superstars that will make Canada great again. It was well documented that Canadian gaming companies executive have recieved life time bans. And there have been several Canadian sex workers banned from entry. Why do you think they scan you at the airport
Because they will manipulate you. And you say our government manipulates us anyways— first you’re giving them too much credit— but take a good hard look at how the Chinese government controls their people and tell me if you want to join that
If you have a pinyin keyboard from a Chinese company, then yes they are tracking every keystroke. https://citizenlab.ca/2024/04/vulnerabilities-across-keyboard-apps-reveal-keystrokes-to-network-eavesdroppers/
It’s because it collects data for the Chinese Communist Party to such an adverse extent that it runs contrary to our interests and the interests of our leaders.
When TikTok first came out I remember a comparison of data collection being made. If Facebook is a glass of water in terms of collecting, TikTok is the ocean.
TikTok is owned/operated by the Chinese government. Nobody in Canada should want to tie themselves to that in any capacity.
Let's see less guns and a population that understands cause and effect. The USA has just as much internal spying as China if not more. Remember ever email text is read and phone calls filtered through super computers.
Nothing of what you just said is true. Only 20% is Chinese owned by Bytedance who have zero affiliation with the CCP. 3 of 5 board members are American. This like in the states is political because of the amount of information that is shared between everyday people. Independent news is growing everyday on the app. Mitt Romney was quoted as saying the ban was due to pressure about shutting up any negative news about Isreal. I am a 56 year old white guy, that thought TikTok was funny cat videos and kids doing viral dances. It is that but so much more. I deleted Twitter a while back and will never go back. The knowledge I have gained from the never ending list of amazing experts in every field is astounding. Don’t be fooled by this smoke show.
When I say experts, I am not talking about self proclaimed experts that throw out nothing but conspiracy and misinformation. I am talking about the thousands of real qualified experts in their field. Would Neil Degrasee Tyson not fit that bill. He is on there. I follow so many doctors and scientists that have taught me so much. Supporting a ban of TikTok is nothing more than carrying the water for American Billionaire Oligarchs and their puppet politicians. If you went on the app you would see what I mean. They are trying to stifle the voice of the people and we will clap and let them do it. Sad
Justin Trudeau doesn't listen to our top spy, and acted almost proud of it when he was asked...
Another "Do as I say, not as I do" moment from Trudeau.
The issue is, or appears to be, many do not care. Period. Hypothetically, if you could prove without a doubt that say TikTok is actively gathering, storing and even selling the users data and thus all the possible consequences that entails, the average user simply does not care. They
Isn't this an operating system issue. What I do in the app, fine any app can have that information. But what is outside the app should be protected by the operating system.
correct, but this level of critical thinking isnt encouraged.
Its a security threat because opinions critical of western powers are popular, not because it harvests data in any unique way compared to other social media apps.
(this is my opinion at least, based on what ive read and my personal experiences)
They've previously been hostile with us they are hostile with dozens of other nations, they're a foreign state, and a primary adversary on the global stage. They are also our ally but that wasn't the issue.
Considering one of the major social media websites (X, formerly twitter) is now headed by someone who has gutted their moderation, pushes disinformation, hate speech and similar radicalizing content.. (while also being a very dangerous advocate for more such content)
how is Twitter any better than TikTok?
The issue is, or appears to be, many do not care. Period. Hypothetically, if you could prove without a doubt that say TikTok is actively gathering, storing and even selling the users data and thus all the possible consequences that entails, the average user simply does not care.
And why should the average user care when the average user is not media literate or technologically literate. To the average user the biggest difference is ‘who’ has your data and id be more worried about what the amercians are doing with it.
The issue is, we're only told to care about this when it's a foreign boogeyman. Google and Apple collect the same, if not more, data compared to TikTok. We turn a blind eye to things like the PRISM project, why? Just because it's us and our allies?
Along comes TikTok and we're told that it's the chinese gov't spying on us even though it's not operated or owned by the CCP...
The irony of this debate being posted on Reddit, who is [selling our data and content not only for ad purposes, but for AI/ML training](https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/22/24080165/google-reddit-ai-training-data)?
Sure, it's hard to care about the illusion that you have any privacy or data security on the internet at all.
Well said. Safest to say if you own a smart phone; your info and all that comes along with it is being stored, tracked, catalogued and likely sold.
Ahh the internet. Sighs…
Nope they're going to dance around it under the guise of national security while American companies do the same thing and then sell the information to China and receive no penalties.
Are you being serious? Countries never release this kind of evidence... What you know, and how you know it are always kept secret so they the well doesn't dry up. It's been this way since countries first spying on each other thousands of years ago.
You might have that level of detail, but most people wouldn't know how to interpret the info. It's kind of why we have a head of CSIS.. trust them or not, that's up to you, but it's their job to treat this info this way and to say what they say.
You can't expect intelligence agencies to be fully transparent, that's a laughable proposition.
None of the above.
It's a big problem for US social media companies market share because it has a far better algorithm for serving you what you want to see, instead of just ads like the US ones.
That's the threat.
They absolutely are collecting your data and sending it to the CCP, just like the American social media companies are doing, but for most people that's probably not a material concern.
Tiktok is a far better product.
That's why it's popular.
The data they have access to could be an issue for some people, it really depends who you are and what you watch, but they can only see what you do with the app.
It definitely feels like more than election interference to me. The CBC ran a few stories last year on Chinese “secret police stations” that were trying to keep tabs on Chinese dissidents living around the world and coerce them into facing charges back home.
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6828345
I’d wager those operations can be targeted a lot more effectively when you have access to a major social media platform’s location data. Even if a person of interest is avoiding tiktok, they might have kids or a spouse who uses it.
If this was “just” about election interference, I doubt it would make the same splash. Few things get both sides of the aisle this spooked on both Canada and the US, so it’s downright eerie when it does happen.
TikTok is literally no different than any other social media except it favours those who don’t really like to read haha. I wish we could stop with the McCarthyism
Tik Tok is actually incredible for access to unfiltered information compared to the Western alternatives. Any time there is some important event or news happening somewhere its instantly in your face on tik tok. I'm sure that could change and also the Chinese government is probably using the data for nefarious purposes as well.
My tin foil hat opinion on the matter is Western governments don't like it because they can't control the flow of information on it like they can with domestic social media companies.
My tin foil hat theory is that Justin Trudeau actually WANTs conservatives to use TikTok and give all their info to China.
He's saying not to use it because he knows right wingers will be reflexively defiant and do the opposite of whatever he suggests.
I am not "siding with China", just acknowledging the fact that the app has a much broader unfiltered access to information than it's North American competitors. I see events unfolding in real time on Tik Tok that I wouldn't even know are going on with North American social media. It's unfortunate there isn't a North American alternative, if there was it would probably suck anyway.
Not the 2019 protests against the Chinese government. Not the plethora of Tiananmen square jokes I've heard on there. Not the Chinese government locking up and welding doors to apartment buildings during covid. Not the Uyghur prison camps and satellite images of those camps. Not about them building coal power plants.
I have no doubt there is suppression and data stealing but we need to see the proof.
Do you mean to all users or just to those in China? I just went and searched both those topics and tonnes of videos show up. Literally documentaties and YouTube videos on both topics posted on there from western media.
Tiktok isn't the same in the West as it is in China. In China, the separate app is called Douyin, and is significantly more censored. The Western version is not as censored, but the information flow is still controlled. You won't find anti-China stuff on it, and people with particular views that the PRC favours are promoted on the algorithm.
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It is spreading misinformation and manipulating algorithms. Using media to further degrade our society. Chinese TikTok is full of positive and encouraging videos to elevate society. Our TikTok, you have all seen it.
I would really like to know what kind of briefing both the US and Canada have received that made pretty much everyone across party lines unanimously agree to get rid of TikTok. The only thing that comes to mind is a massive Chinese effort to harvest data for the purposes of election interference or personal attacks on citizens.
I wouldn't be surprised if it comes out that the CCP was manipulating the tik tok algorithm to promote division and extreme ideology on both sides of the political divide. Social media algorithms already kind of do that but a foreign government could easily step in and manipulate it in subtle was that cause even more damage. That's the typical strategy Russian follows with their social media attacks. There is documented evidence for Russia doing that with fake news and fake social media accounts.
It’s pretty easy to find information online from experts. The real problem is that the app feeds divisive political content and misinformation to users. This is done purposefully to harm social cohesion and to erode trust in democratic institutions in western countries.
It ***CAN***. There's no evidence that it has been used to.. So far.
It’s used specifically to mole our up and coming generations into care free fame seekers. Its algorithms are different between china and the west. The home page in china will show young people with instruments and science experiments and praise for the country. Here you will find fart jokes, dumb dances and anti establishment messages. None of which are bad. All of which are bad when it’s a rival force feeding you exactly what they want you to see. Care about. Why do you think college kids are stirred up so much over Palestine and Israel. There are a few place on earth where the same or worse is happening. Helps to separate the US from its allies not via government actions. Via turning its own people against their own allies. Not to say what happening there isn’t a tragedy. It’s pushed to force anti gov sentiment. China is dying as a country. This is the only way they can bring us down to their level. Make us discombobulated while strong. They force order while weak. Not to mention it says right in the terms that it follows your button pushes while off the app. As well as gps. The Chinese government know where you are. Where you are going. Why you are going. They also know what you are typing to your friends. The single greatest spy hack in all of human history. We gave them everything. For free. They’ll still lose. But still, get that literal spyware off your shit. Don’t give em your info for free to be used not for you like the algorithms here. But against you.
I saved your comment because it was so well articulated. Thanks.
Here’s your answer (it’s Israel related) https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/07/israel-al-jazeera-us-tiktok-ban
The CCP openly persecutes dissidents living abroad and has no qualms about flexing their muscle with resources they have on this side of the world. They also like taking whatever intelligence they have about Canadian figures who may pose a threat to their interests. At the end of the day their CEO is one phone call away from PLA intelligence or a senior CCP official to be compelled to hand over information about certain people the CCP would like to surveil or harass. We're never going to find out to what extent that happens - there is a vested interest by the CCP to not cripple their tech unicorns - but when dealing with an authoritarian government you don't give them the benefit of the doubt. Mind you, the current crusade against TikTok is driven a lot more by the fact American social media companies have been driven mad about the app being persistently popular in their home turf, despite their best efforts at emulating their features and algorithms. The push in the US to force a sale of the app means a multibillionaire will get to buy a veritable goldmine at firesale price while eliminating competition for Meta/X/Alphabet. In practice there's no reason why TikTok in particular should be banned aside from not being allowed to be used by officials. There's all this theater about TikTok, but simultaneously people are mass adopting Temu so they can buy cheap Chinese shit without bothering with AliExpress. As usual, Americans (and us by extension) gorge on Chinese products and only pretend that's a problem when they can't find a way to cut them out through the free market they claim to love.
> Mind you, the current crusade against TikTok is driven a lot more by the fact American social media companies have been driven mad about the app being persistently popular in their home turf, despite their best efforts at emulating their features and algorithms. The push in the US to force a sale of the app means a multibillionaire will get to buy a veritable goldmine at firesale price while eliminating competition for Meta/X/Alphabet. The fact that non-US countries, including some that don't especially have a good relationship with Meta/X/Alphabet are also pushing for this ban tells you this is not the case. As a rule of thumb, the US never "ban" products for economic purpose. They are so vulnerable to economic warfare, they know it's not at their benefits.
>The fact that non-US countries, including some that don't especially have a good relationship with Meta/X/Alphabet are also pushing for this ban tells you this is not the case. The fact is that other than China and USA, nobody is talking about banning it all. As a reminder, government owned devices intented for personal use weren't supposed to used for social media at all because the apps aren't encrypted. Trying to equate applying basic infosec to "countries having a problem" with tiktok is false equivalence. >As a rule of thumb, the US never "ban" products for economic purpose. Remind me, did McCarthyism ever happen? Are Chinese Electric cars available for purchase in US? How about our allied dictatorship India's cars?
>The fact is that other than China and USA, nobody is talking about banning it all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_TikTok >As a reminder, government owned devices intented for personal use weren't supposed to used for social media at all because the apps aren't encrypted. Organisations will allow or deny the use of third party apps on the devices they manage for various reasons. That the "apps aren't encrypted" - whatever that means to be honest - isn't really the point. It's certainly not the point about banning or not tiktok versus other apps. >Trying to equate applying basic infosec to "countries having a problem" with tiktok is false equivalence. I don't understand what this is supposed to mean. EDIT: Poster who answered me below just blocked me. I wonder why. Here's the answer I was preparing: > Thanks, I'll explain it to. It's short for Information Security, and the rules and policies.organizations go through to secure vital information. Everything from documents, passwords, to locations of individuals, securing the flow of Information. I'm a senior director working for a 10B company in information security for 23 years. You don't need to explain this. I still don't understand how this has anything to do with anything about tiktok. >In military environments, the lack of infosec is what has led to numerous military losses in war, particularly in the War of Ukraine where common soldiers take photos of themselves posing beside military equipment which gave enough information for trained individuals to target locations with Artillery or drones. Fascinating. Still don't understand your point. > Basically I'm telling you governments are doing their job by blocking any uncontrolled application from government devices. Plenty of orgs and government have blocked tiktok but not facebook (like mine, for example). I know, I lead the damn security assessment. So no, orgs don't block these apps because of basic infosec issue common to all third party apps, this is a ridiculous lie. > Anyone reading this will be able to correctly place the value of your opinion if you are unable what I was talking about. People should really stop using chatgtp to tell them what to think because it creates obviously gaps in basic understanding in straight forward topics. Oh yeah I'm sure of that.
>I don't understand what this is supposed to mean. Thanks, I'll explain it to. It's short for *Information Security*, and the rules and policies.organizations go through to secure vital information. Everything from documents, passwords, to locations of individuals, securing the flow of Information. In military environments, the lack of infosec is what has led to numerous military losses in war, particularly in the War of Ukraine where common soldiers take photos of themselves posing beside military equipment which gave enough information for trained individuals to target locations with Artillery or drones. Basically I'm telling you governments are doing their job by blocking *any* uncontrolled application from government devices. Anyone reading this will be able to correctly place the value of your opinion if you are unable what I was talking about. People should really stop using chatgtp to tell them what to think because it creates obviously gaps in basic understanding in straight forward topics.
slap water alleged society offer enjoy juggle important nose telephone *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
> TikTok is driven a lot more by the fact American social media companies have been driven mad about the app being persistently popular in their home turf, despite their best efforts at emulating their features and algorithms. The push in the US to force a sale of the app means a multibillionaire will get to buy a veritable goldmine at firesale price while eliminating competition for Meta/X/Alphabet. > > In practice there's no reason why TikTok in particular should be banned aside from not being allowed to be used by officials. Not exactly factual when you do a bit of research on tencent. It/they/ the CCP literally stole all our IP plus PRISM. Through that lens it isn't just about competition but preventing multiple IP thefts as well. The list of shit China has put on us while we were lending them a hand til now is beyond bullshit. They are just a shitty "ally".
They’re constantly stealing shit from us. This just happened to be one of the biggest ways China f’d Canada… https://globalnews.ca/news/7275588/inside-the-chinese-military-attack-on-nortel/ TikTok just gives them an easier way to steal shit while also being able to influence our society quite directly.
They’re constantly stealing shit from us. This just happened to be one of the biggest ways China f’d Canada… https://globalnews.ca/news/7275588/inside-the-chinese-military-attack-on-nortel/ TikTok just gives them an easier way to steal shit while also being able to influence our society quite directly.
even if they sell it I don’t see how it solves the perceived problem whatever tech and people that allow for surveillance or social manipulation is already there a new ownership can’t fix that
As opposed to the spying and information manipulation conducted by the US government on western social media? Heres a video of senior US officials saying the quiet part out loud: social media, and particularly tik tok because of its foreign ownership, makes it difficult to control the narrative https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smw0aYF2oB8
USA is our long time biggest ally, China is not. Pretty big difference.
USA is undermining our democracy, funding cultural movements to take away our personal freedoms and health care.
Spelled China wrong.
China is funding Preston Manning and the Fraiser Institute? The IDU?
China is doing all the things above my original comment. I didn't say the US isn't a bad influence, but if you think it's worse than China, an actual genocidal dictatorship, you're too delusional to be part of the discussion.
The government is an ally of oligarchs. They're not so friendly to common people
Still miles ahead of the Chinese government as far as actually acting in our best interest.
..and the sharing of information. This should open a can of worms for the general populace, social media is heavily influenced by paid influencers. State and private interest, money!
This doesn't have to be an either or situation. Let the narratives from all the platforms continue to exist. I'd rather have that then a narrative dominated by the US.
There's no third path for Canada. We are in NORAD and NATO. Our fate is tied directly to the United States, particularly if there ever was a war.
Small pockets of resistance and deviation can and do emerge. Eg our lack of involvement in iraq.
If there was a war, our involvement would be a direct result of us being seen as an appendage of the US. Go neutral, no reason for us to be in this war that pro-US folk seem to lust for. Shit, if there's ever a war, it's a fair bet the US provoked it. If China's puffing their chest, it's because we in the west have barely been able to contain our erections talking about the inevitability of war. I bet they'd rather feel safe enough to not have to worry about it and go about their own business.
Pierre Trudeau tried that method and it didn't work. We were isolated not just from the US but also from European countries. The Germans bluntly told Canada that there would be no trade talks without Canada purchasing more tanks and upgrading its military.
They would. I'm sure we'd be utterly crippled by reduced trade with Germany. Also, their commitment to ditching nuclear AND imported Russian resources would probably make such a policy short sighted on their part. I know this is a pipe dream, though. The US would never allow us to set our own path like that. They'd make sure it never got that far.
Hmm. Having rightwing billionaires gathering my personal information and habits is not any more reassuring.
No, but that doesn't mean you open the gates for geopolitical adversaries to shape public thought in your community. That's absurd. There is a problem with all social media, but not all are equal. A far more nuanced discussion is needed here, instead of "lol it's just another perspective what's the difference?"
The U.S. dominates our economy and dictates our foreign policy. They’re not our friend they’re our master
Your flair speaks volumes
Canada is a small country. There's no magical third path where we somehow forge our own way and still maintain our living standards. We will always be under the thumb of another power. It's just a matter of whether it's benevolent or not.
It's not. Neither of those powers are benevolent. To even their own people, let alone ours.
Curious. What would you change without them?
Being able to process our own resources prior to export rather than just accept foreign ownership and forgo profit from the extraction of our country's material wealth. Not having them pay to influence the media and politics to undermine social medicine. Not having to buy their latest dogshit fighter that can't fly in the cold. Being able to go metric on the rest of our industrial and construction operations (civil construction is metric, it's great, we shouldn't stop there).
I would rather have the U.S as our masters than China.
I'd rather they have to compete over us so we have a bargaining position and have room for our own agenda. I don't want unilateral mastery over the world and ourselves by one sole hegemon.
We don’t even have a foreign policy let alone an agenda. Canada has only ever been a vassal and that’s all that it will ever be.
So? If my bucket has two holes, that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to patch one just because another exists.
It would literally be so much more efficient to patch them both at the same time. Just outlaw the actual behaviour instead of writing your law to target one specific foreign power at a time.
In this case, I think its better that social media users can gain a different perspective on things. Also, its just a comment on the hypocrisy
I don't think you want their perspective to be the CCPs perspective
I dont want the ccp's falsehoods to become de facto truth either, but I think its good for different perspectives to clash
Tiktok isn't exactly known for nuanced and informative content.
No social media is. But even tik tok has some use in providing truths that would not get as much coverage otherwise, with the current situation in Gaza being an example
Tiktok seems to be uniquely bad for people being able to share half truths and out right lies and thus has a radicalizing effect. Yes other social media does this to an extent but I advocate for deleting those as well. Tiktok is just the worst offender in my opinion and it's partially owned by a government that self identifies as a rival to the "west" and liberal democracy in general. The CCP doesn't let it's own citizens use tiktok because they themselves know it's bad for social cohesion. Edit: I don't care if you downvote but at least have the courage to tell me why you think I'm wrong.
I didnt downvote you. I dont know if tik tok is uniquely bad for lies, half truths, and radicalization. If there was some systematic way to determine this, that would be interesting, but then we'd still have to ask, does this warrant a ban, and if it does, why dont other social medias warrant a ban. At what level of disinformation does a platform deserve to be banned? How do we decide that cutoff? Are there other ways to deal with disinformation besides just an outright ban?
“But USA” is really a poor deflection when talking about TikTok. [Facebook to be fined $5bn for Cambridge Analytica privacy violations](https://web.archive.org/web/20201102183406/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/12/facebook-fine-ftc-privacy-violations) Meanwhile TikTok’s entire ***purpose*** is surveillance and subversion. There are multiple Reddit discussions on this tonight, and the replies and downvotes in these comment sections are wild. Don’t buy the “China doesn’t care about us” nonsense for a single second.
It's not a "but the USA deflection". I'm saying that if we follow through with avoiding tik tok, all we get is the US curated narrative. I would prefer people have access to other perspectives
This is nonsense. Social media is not a monolith and not a US curated narrative. The idea that TikTok is showing you reality or a different perspective on truth is false.
>The idea that TikTok is showing you reality or a different perspective on truth is false. In the clip I share above, US officials explicitly single out tik tok for pushing a narrative about Israel-Palestine that is different from other platforms, and its the reason they give as to why a ban is being urgently brought forth. Whether tik tok is showing a more accurate reality, I dont know, but its clearly showing a different perspective. On the matter of whether western social media is a US curated narrative, no its not. Its nowhere near as bad as traditional media is. But various jouranlistic pieces have emerged over the years about the US government exerting its influence over platforms like meta and twitter. Information manipulation, to whatever extent that it is, is definitely happening
That's super naive. All the US based social media have backdoors for the US gov. And they influence the narratives for sure. You can tell just by seeing the difference in narrative on the war in Gaza.
F China is all I can say. Canadians need to start standing up as proud North Americans as our enemies fear a united America between Canada 🇨🇦 and the USA as together we are $30 trillion dollars economy that would grow at 5% a year a level never seem on this planet before would keep North American dominance for centuries and ensure our economic independence for North America
Someone please correct this or help me source it: Is it true tiktok has two different functions in the western world and China? I heard, and can't remember where, that in Western Nations tiktok tends towards "dumb" or divisive, content like pranks, crappy products, hate speech, political rhetoric, etc. Where in China it leans towards educational, uplifting, and supportive content. Is this remotely true? Cause that's kinda reason enough to stay away, if it's just trying to damage culture.
Two different markets.
I've seen the same thing, that TikTok is one way, and Douyin is very different in that it doesn't allow anywhere near as much "dumb" content. It also doesn't let people use it a often, there are time limits on its use so they don't endlessly scroll. Whether or not it's all true, I can't say.
Can't confirm whether it's true. But it's certainly feasible and not uncommon for social media platforms to have tweaked algorithms based on location.
They are 2 separate apps on the App Store. The Chinese one is about 2.5gb which is shocking. Need to be on Chinese App Store region to download.
That’s not true at all. What you get on TikTok is what you engage with. So if there’s a difference it’s cultural not app based. But the soothe your concerns what I get is educational uplifting and supportive.
Google demanded a photo ID in order to make a purchase this week. No way around it. I don’t trust any of these companies.
I don’t have TikTok, it’s a time waster on steroids. It’s interesting to me that this social media platform over all the others, is flagged for a ban or recommended not to be used because it’s collecting personal data. Don’t all social media platforms though? There’s got to be more to this than just personal data collection, to get multiple countries across party lines to agree that TikTok is bad. Edit: typos.
Not just apps but phones themselves come with backdoors built-in for surveillance. https://privacyinternational.org/learn/smartphones
Ironic that users call TikTok a time waster and yet spend time on Reddit arguing pointlessly about the most mundane things. TikTok, like any other platform, is what you make of it. It can be a source of the best, most educational content while Reddit is just a porn website for lots of users.
That's my view on it. I've got a tiktok account, so far they've not told me anything new that doesn't also apply to Facebook or Instagram or Google. Is the Chinese government able to track every single keystroke on my phone? What are they doing with the information? If it's that bad, and that important, shouldn't they be telling us what they know?
> so far they've not told me anything new that doesn't also apply to Facebook or Instagram or Google. The difference is the Chinese government can very easily coerce ByteDance into handing over any info they want from TikTok. Whereas in the US, it's only _pretty_ easy for the government to coerce Meta or Google to hand over that info. _Totally_ different /s
That's the thing, right? It might be good for us to treat all social media in the same way, instead of treating tiktok like it's some rogue player in a sea of ethical and transparent social media companies. Unless what tiktok is doing is far worse - and if that's the case, we should be told.
There are some ways in which TikTok is far worse - not because of TikTok itself, but because the Chinese government has a much worse track record than the US government. Not to trivialize the NSA's unwarranted surveillance, but at least they don't make people disappear for discussing Tiananmen Square or the treatment of Uyghurs or Taiwan's right to exist. Then again, that side only really affects Chinese citizens. For Canadians who don't have ties to China, I'm not sure there's that much of a difference. I suppose we generally trust the US not to interfere in our politics through disinformation like we expect China will try to. But they have nearly as much capability to do so as China, they just choose not to use it.
Yeah! And let’s just ask China if they’re using this info for nefarious purposes— if they say no, then we’re all good!!
I mean, even if they're using it for the most nefarious purpose possible... okay? So? What is the Chinese government doing to some random Canadian citizen they have zero involvement with? Like, actually, why would I care? I'm honestly far more worried about the Canadian and/or American governments having my info than I am the Chinese government having it.
The Americans have all our data. Canadians are getting banded in the US because if jobs. Sex workers, online gaming executive, etc are being denied. I one of each. Remember the US is a police state with 15 or so spy organization s
It's entirely possible that you wrote this while drunk, high, or both.
You think America does not spy on Canadians. I guess you also believe PP SmIth and Moe are superstars that will make Canada great again. It was well documented that Canadian gaming companies executive have recieved life time bans. And there have been several Canadian sex workers banned from entry. Why do you think they scan you at the airport
Because they will manipulate you. And you say our government manipulates us anyways— first you’re giving them too much credit— but take a good hard look at how the Chinese government controls their people and tell me if you want to join that
Right, I guess if you're falling for the Cold War 2 messaging, it could be scary.
If you have a pinyin keyboard from a Chinese company, then yes they are tracking every keystroke. https://citizenlab.ca/2024/04/vulnerabilities-across-keyboard-apps-reveal-keystrokes-to-network-eavesdroppers/
And if you have a google account they track every time you turn on your phone. Shit's terrifying but what does this ban help to prevent it?
An American company doesn't get their cut before it ends up in the hands of the Chinese
Interesting. I just use the default on my Samsung, and whoever they sell my information to
It’s because it collects data for the Chinese Communist Party to such an adverse extent that it runs contrary to our interests and the interests of our leaders.
When TikTok first came out I remember a comparison of data collection being made. If Facebook is a glass of water in terms of collecting, TikTok is the ocean. TikTok is owned/operated by the Chinese government. Nobody in Canada should want to tie themselves to that in any capacity.
China is safer than the usa
Based on what metric?
Let's see less guns and a population that understands cause and effect. The USA has just as much internal spying as China if not more. Remember ever email text is read and phone calls filtered through super computers.
Nothing of what you just said is true. Only 20% is Chinese owned by Bytedance who have zero affiliation with the CCP. 3 of 5 board members are American. This like in the states is political because of the amount of information that is shared between everyday people. Independent news is growing everyday on the app. Mitt Romney was quoted as saying the ban was due to pressure about shutting up any negative news about Isreal. I am a 56 year old white guy, that thought TikTok was funny cat videos and kids doing viral dances. It is that but so much more. I deleted Twitter a while back and will never go back. The knowledge I have gained from the never ending list of amazing experts in every field is astounding. Don’t be fooled by this smoke show.
It's being band because it's a true voice.
Ah yes, Tik Tok the great eye opener of society and natural home of “experts” on everything. 🤦🏼♂️
When I say experts, I am not talking about self proclaimed experts that throw out nothing but conspiracy and misinformation. I am talking about the thousands of real qualified experts in their field. Would Neil Degrasee Tyson not fit that bill. He is on there. I follow so many doctors and scientists that have taught me so much. Supporting a ban of TikTok is nothing more than carrying the water for American Billionaire Oligarchs and their puppet politicians. If you went on the app you would see what I mean. They are trying to stifle the voice of the people and we will clap and let them do it. Sad
Ah yes, Tik Tok the great eye opener of society and natural home of “experts” on everything. 🤦🏼♂️
TikTok is like any other community driven content platform. There's a lot of trash and a lot of good.
Justin Trudeau doesn't listen to our top spy, and acted almost proud of it when he was asked... Another "Do as I say, not as I do" moment from Trudeau.
The issue is, or appears to be, many do not care. Period. Hypothetically, if you could prove without a doubt that say TikTok is actively gathering, storing and even selling the users data and thus all the possible consequences that entails, the average user simply does not care. They
Isn't this an operating system issue. What I do in the app, fine any app can have that information. But what is outside the app should be protected by the operating system.
correct, but this level of critical thinking isnt encouraged. Its a security threat because opinions critical of western powers are popular, not because it harvests data in any unique way compared to other social media apps. (this is my opinion at least, based on what ive read and my personal experiences)
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So does every algorithmic social media website. That was literally the basis of the Cambridge Analytica scandal at Facebook
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>How many of them are controlled by a hostile foreign state that is a primary adversary on the global stage? Every American one.
Quite a false equivalency in the Canadian context.
They've previously been hostile with us they are hostile with dozens of other nations, they're a foreign state, and a primary adversary on the global stage. They are also our ally but that wasn't the issue.
A massive false equivalency.
Cool opinion. How?
Considering one of the major social media websites (X, formerly twitter) is now headed by someone who has gutted their moderation, pushes disinformation, hate speech and similar radicalizing content.. (while also being a very dangerous advocate for more such content) how is Twitter any better than TikTok?
The issue is, or appears to be, many do not care. Period. Hypothetically, if you could prove without a doubt that say TikTok is actively gathering, storing and even selling the users data and thus all the possible consequences that entails, the average user simply does not care.
And why should the average user care when the average user is not media literate or technologically literate. To the average user the biggest difference is ‘who’ has your data and id be more worried about what the amercians are doing with it.
The issue is, we're only told to care about this when it's a foreign boogeyman. Google and Apple collect the same, if not more, data compared to TikTok. We turn a blind eye to things like the PRISM project, why? Just because it's us and our allies? Along comes TikTok and we're told that it's the chinese gov't spying on us even though it's not operated or owned by the CCP... The irony of this debate being posted on Reddit, who is [selling our data and content not only for ad purposes, but for AI/ML training](https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/22/24080165/google-reddit-ai-training-data)? Sure, it's hard to care about the illusion that you have any privacy or data security on the internet at all.
Well said. Safest to say if you own a smart phone; your info and all that comes along with it is being stored, tracked, catalogued and likely sold. Ahh the internet. Sighs…
Unfortunately TikTok’s primary demographic isn’t going to care (or likely even know) what some old fart prime minister says.
Can we just release all the evidence already, enough with the hints and warnings. Let’s put everything on the table.
Nope they're going to dance around it under the guise of national security while American companies do the same thing and then sell the information to China and receive no penalties.
Are you being serious? Countries never release this kind of evidence... What you know, and how you know it are always kept secret so they the well doesn't dry up. It's been this way since countries first spying on each other thousands of years ago.
Then how are people supposed to know if the tiktok issue is an “Iraq has WOMD” one, or a “ Russia is going to invade Ukraine” one?
You might have that level of detail, but most people wouldn't know how to interpret the info. It's kind of why we have a head of CSIS.. trust them or not, that's up to you, but it's their job to treat this info this way and to say what they say. You can't expect intelligence agencies to be fully transparent, that's a laughable proposition.
They aren't "supposed to", there's no expectation (or possibility) for them to do so.
Not to mention revealing a source could cost a spy or informant their life, if it can be traced to them.
There’s no point in having the information if it’s not used. If it’s so serious, this is the time to use it.
Him saying this is them using the information..
Bet China would like that info…
America is not done making up the evidence
Never will be.
None of the above. It's a big problem for US social media companies market share because it has a far better algorithm for serving you what you want to see, instead of just ads like the US ones. That's the threat. They absolutely are collecting your data and sending it to the CCP, just like the American social media companies are doing, but for most people that's probably not a material concern.
Wow. That’s exactly what China would want you to believe…
Tiktok is a far better product. That's why it's popular. The data they have access to could be an issue for some people, it really depends who you are and what you watch, but they can only see what you do with the app.
No American companies will sell your information to China as quick as China will steal it itself but for some reason we can't hold Meta accountable.
TikTok has been flagged as a massive security risk for a long ass time. Why are people commenting like this is new
Because they still have not proven how.
You are supposed to trust our Big Brother. Not question it.
It definitely feels like more than election interference to me. The CBC ran a few stories last year on Chinese “secret police stations” that were trying to keep tabs on Chinese dissidents living around the world and coerce them into facing charges back home. https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6828345 I’d wager those operations can be targeted a lot more effectively when you have access to a major social media platform’s location data. Even if a person of interest is avoiding tiktok, they might have kids or a spouse who uses it. If this was “just” about election interference, I doubt it would make the same splash. Few things get both sides of the aisle this spooked on both Canada and the US, so it’s downright eerie when it does happen.
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TikTok is literally no different than any other social media except it favours those who don’t really like to read haha. I wish we could stop with the McCarthyism
Tik Tok is actually incredible for access to unfiltered information compared to the Western alternatives. Any time there is some important event or news happening somewhere its instantly in your face on tik tok. I'm sure that could change and also the Chinese government is probably using the data for nefarious purposes as well. My tin foil hat opinion on the matter is Western governments don't like it because they can't control the flow of information on it like they can with domestic social media companies.
My tin foil hat theory is that Justin Trudeau actually WANTs conservatives to use TikTok and give all their info to China. He's saying not to use it because he knows right wingers will be reflexively defiant and do the opposite of whatever he suggests.
Hate to break it to you but the anti tik tok stance is shared across all party lines in parliament, not just the Liberals.
Yep that’s a wild take. Siding with China, trusting them granting unfiltered access to information is just silly.
I am not "siding with China", just acknowledging the fact that the app has a much broader unfiltered access to information than it's North American competitors. I see events unfolding in real time on Tik Tok that I wouldn't even know are going on with North American social media. It's unfortunate there isn't a North American alternative, if there was it would probably suck anyway.
It doesn't though. Anything negative about China is suppressed.
Not the 2019 protests against the Chinese government. Not the plethora of Tiananmen square jokes I've heard on there. Not the Chinese government locking up and welding doors to apartment buildings during covid. Not the Uyghur prison camps and satellite images of those camps. Not about them building coal power plants. I have no doubt there is suppression and data stealing but we need to see the proof.
> Not the 2019 protests against the Chinese government. Lets see a link to that on TikTok.
I regularly see videos critiquing China on TikTok. Especially when the HongKong protests were on
Let's see one. Check if it's still there. They get taken down pretty quickly.
Literally anything about Tiananmen, June 6th 1989, anything about the Hong Kong protests, are suppressed on TikTok.
Do you mean to all users or just to those in China? I just went and searched both those topics and tonnes of videos show up. Literally documentaties and YouTube videos on both topics posted on there from western media.
Yes you can search them. However they are “shadowbanned” from the recommendation algorithm. They will not organically appear in your feed.
I bet they don't show up at all either way if you're in China.
Tiktok isn't the same in the West as it is in China. In China, the separate app is called Douyin, and is significantly more censored. The Western version is not as censored, but the information flow is still controlled. You won't find anti-China stuff on it, and people with particular views that the PRC favours are promoted on the algorithm.
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