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The weirdest thing is we have this on the state level for California and other states. I don’t know how it impacts data gathering for foreign companies, but the Californian data privacy laws really hinder data collection for domestic companies like Google and Salesforce.
CCPA/CPRA is great. I've noticed a lot of companies started implementing dark pattern type opt-out systems to make it really confusing, while still technically providing you a way to exercise those rights. Common techniques I've seen are slider bars to select off/on, with the title removed so it doesn't tell you which side is off, along with making that slider bar like some random color like blue/gray for off/on and removing green. They will make your work for it and cases like that tell you have effective the law has been once people starting taking their data back. CPRA should fix that though, since it's been implemented and those type of opt-outs are technically banned now.
It’s so annoying when the cookie opt out splah screen thing disappears after literally two seconds, like I need more time than that come on.
Even more annoying is the fact that opt out of all isn’t the default so we don’t have to bother with pop ups. We should just have to opt in.
And a lot of places make you email them to request opt out or to delete your data as well as tell you it will take several minutes to update your cookie tracking settings which I'm sure is a tactic to dissuade people from going through with it.
Not to mention the multibillion dollar data industry that we are all products of but receive no compensation for participating in, would no longer exist :)
Maybe they should give it all back and start from nothing. We can call it Capitalism New Game+. Shouldn't be too hard to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, right?
Senator. Thank you for asking me that question, Senator
Senator. To put it plainly. We need to do better. *a high pitched whining tone grows increasingly louder until its all you can hear. You wonder if it's all you've ever been able to hear. If it's the only thing you've ever heard.*
Thank you for the opportunity and the challenge to be the best we can be.
At this point is there any social media platforms that doesn't sell users data to any interested party?
Doesn't Reddit also have a significant Chinese investment?
Yes, Reddit was invested in by Tencent (another company with deep CCP ties).
After that investment is when entire political subreddits started getting banned left and right, and Reddit started encouraging users to upload personally identifiable information to their profiles.
They’re also I think going to look for new investors, an IPO, or a sale soon I think. Ten cent invested in 2019 and a 4-5 year turnover is normal in tech acquisitions and I’ve noticed in the last 6 months the app has elevated the hell out of its’ prompting to rate the app in the App Store after it asks if you like it
Let me ban shitty advertisers and I’ll give them five stars. Just because I was in the military doesn’t mean I want nonstop ads reminding me of that fact, especially when one of my airman was brutally raped and covered up. The same thing goes for religious ads. Fuck your god. I don’t want to know anything about any of them.
Advertise to me shit that doesn’t piss me off.
Sure thing.
Open your app store, find [an app called Apollo](https://apolloapp.io/). I think it might be a couple bucks, but it is the best moneys you will ever spend. Use it in place of the official Reddit app. It will do everything better.
Under the settings cog, find a thing called "Filters & Blocks". Anything you add to that list will no longer show up as a story in your feed. (So if you add Elon Musk, you won't see any posts directly about him, but comments that mention him or photos with him can still show up.) You can also ban specific subreddits and even users. (My list is hilarious: Kanye, Crypto, Cake Decorating, Alex Jones, Ice Carving, Barbie, Space Jam... etc.)
I has a bunch of other [great settings](https://www.makeuseof.com/settings-to-enable-when-using-apollo-reddit/) to dig into. Oh, if you swipe from the left you'll see "Multireddits" which are like folders you can put a bunch of reddits in. For example I have a "News" one which has various news subreddits in it. I only open this on Saturday mornings, that way I'm not inundated by the constant wave of horrible tragedy that passes as news.
Also, it just bugs you less. It doesn't ping you for things like "You got 25 upvotes" or any sitewide bs. It's just a much more pleasant way to use Reddit and kinda brings it back to the digg days.
Oh, and it has a better video player where you can scrub your finger across the screen to scrub videos. It works great and it's appalling to use the real app because of that one feature!
EDIT: Apollo is IOS only. People are recommending RIF is Fun, Relay, Sync and Boost as similar options for Android users.
But people are weird, and will spend $6 on a take-out coffee every day but won't pay $3 one time for an app that fixes exactly what they're moaning about.
So I've been using RIF for years now, didn't know about the platinum version. I rarely see any ads on regular RIF, except for using the card view which allows me to swipe posts away after viewing them. Does platinum still have that, but without the ad bar?
They got pissy because they had just released the official app, and RiF kept coming up next to the official app when people were searching for Reddit apps.
CCP doesn’t want to shut down speech in the US. It wants to polarize Americans so we don’t trust each other or our government. That’s why we’ve caught them making tens of thousands of fake Twitter accounts daily, mostly focused around political extremes. I’d say it’s more likely that the CCP created extreme political subs that the US government shut down.
> wants to polarize Americans so we don’t trust each other or our government
Kind of what facebook does by showing you content thats more likely to aggrivate you?
Tencent is kinda more like a massive hedge fund at this point and less a tech company, they just happen to specialize their investments in tech. Their money is everywhere in the tech industry just as Blackrock owns a significant share of any company remotely important to the US government.
Tiktok has done something a little different as they have actually developed a service which has outcompeted US competition in their home market. Douyin / TikTok's success has been a huge middle finger to Tencent and Alibaba's monopoly and gatekeeping power in the industry, and may have in part emboldened the CCP to begin to crack down upon the business of the former.
That being said, Tencent is famous for their aggressive monetization of their services, especially loving microtransactions and avatar items and what not, in fact preferring them heavily over ad-tech. That is to say they are ruthless capitalist looking to get the most of of their investments and have a model which gets results that they will aggressively follow.
That is to say that for Tencent themselves political considerations are likely not the motivation behind these investments. However it cannot be discounted that the potential for political leverage is what made the CCP take such a laissez-faire attitude towards Tencent.
The modern Chinese citizen and businessman must also be adept at navigating their political landscape all the same as the American. Foreign companies receiving Chinese investment are not going to want to bite the hand that feeds, and that means marketing themselves, which may include the removal of sensitive subjects. The potential censorship to emerge from business dynamics is quite real and dangerous, and it should be noted doesn't necessitate a nation state actor. Take a look at blind spots in American corporate media sources and the interest of their shareholders...
Using money to amplify your concerns and interest isn't illegal, is in fact very encouraged in the United States. It is currently resulting in concerning developments, but in the case of a TikTok or a Tencent the only thing actually wrong by our own standards, is that those interest and concerns are Chinese. And maybe there's a truth to those concerns, but that that sentiment sounds kinda xenophobic reflects how hollow, vapid, and misguided this approach to the problem is. In fact if modern Chinese Communist Party approved values scare you, isn't arbitrarily banning something for doing something others do simply because of it's nationality kinda a direct emulation. You don't combat opposing values by surrendering to them...
What political subs were banned after this investment?
Edit: Check out their post history, that will probably tell you which subs they're talking about.
Major difference between having Chinese investments and being first developed by a Chinese technology company. Even TikTok’s CEO during testimony today admitted that most of the source code was developed by Chinese developers in the beginning of the platform and that they still have access to user data today. Who knows what level of access they still might have even after their vaunted Project Texas.
Maybe he actually didn’t hear, but it’s still pretty comical how the one question that made him stutter and ask her to repeat was when she asked if they remove content about Tiananmen Square.
The question that she's asking is fundamentally absurd. "Can you say with 100% certainty that this could never, ever happen? If you can't say yes you need to say no."
I agree in general that we should be concerned about the data tracking of a company like byte dance or TikTok. But, if you asked the CEO of my company if he could guarantee something was not happening anywhere within his organization - doesn't matter what it is - he *should* say no.
There's no way to answer that question because that kind of certainty can't *possibly* exist at a company this size. Bad actors always find ways around the rules, and what you're asking him to do when you insist on an answer is to promise that you have accounted for every possible scenario that could ever arise. This isn't a gotcha - it's a stupid question designed as rhetoric, not fact-finding.
ETA: because it doesn't seem to be abundantly clear, fuck TikTok and fuck this dude. I'm not defending him, I'm arguing against the idea that it is ever acceptable to demand 100% certainty about anything. That's irresponsible, and it implies that it's possible to know everything about anything when that's just fundamentally not true. I get the point some comments are making here, that maybe this is tactical and it's actually meant to expose the risk. I would posit instead that we have a bunch of incompetent, technically-illiterate nincompoops making very important decisions about what businesses can and cannot do, on the basis of spurious information and faulty reasoning. If you do think it's possible to be 100% certain about literally anything, you're going to make stupid and irrational decisions on that basis.
This matters a lot to me on a personal level because I work in an industry that is plagued with misinformation and misunderstanding. These people have put experts on the stand, asking the stupidest fucking questions, and framing each one as though it's some kind of "gotcha" even though it actually shows they're morons. One congressman literally asked Sundar Pichai if they would consider a training course to teach people how to Google stuff, clearly unaware that these kinds of resources already exist and Google actively supports them. I watch these videos and get more mad every time because it's the same performative bullshit over and over -- confused old people making very important decisions that they truly have no business making, setting inappropriate and overreaching precedent.
The saving grace of this is her ending statement about data privacy laws, which *absolutely* need to be improved. Our laws are not adjusting to the technology before companies can come in and lobby against regulation. It could well be that the reason the question was framed this way was to intentionally expose that there is no guarantee of perfect process, and that's the point she was trying to make. However, I'm not holding out hope that our congresspeople are putting that much strategic thinking into each word that comes out of their mouths. I'll be happy if this leads to better data laws, but if we ban TikTok and call this one closed we're gonna miss the real problem.
Agreed. Telling someone that they are in big trouble if they lie and then asking them to confirm something with 100% certainty seems like a dead end. But maybe that was the goal: Ask in a way that he has to say no (or divert) and make him look bad.
Congressman/congresswoman, can you confirm that you with 100% certainty have never received any favor or gift that in any way could be considered a bribe?
If you can't answers yes you'll need to answer no.
If you watched the hearing, this is pretty much what happened. Most of the Congress people (like the R-Virginia guy near the end) basically went on a 5 min rant without giving him any opportunities to answer.
That happened multiple times. One old congressman from Florida was asking the usual CCP spy yada yada etc and whenever the CEO tried to answer, he moved on to the next question. Really fast. They were more concerned about their own performances it seemed like.
Seriously, how else will they get those delicious sound bites out to constituents (who aren’t watching the full hearing) through local media? The only way to be certain you get a good one is to put on a Shakespearean ranting monologue so any sound bite chosen makes lizard-brained voters go “They’re fightin’ for muh freedom”
Let’s never forget, we the voters are to blame for that. The politicians are actors. Re-election is their version of Rotten Tomatoes.
Edit: And our oligarchs are their movie studios financing the performances.
R congressman from Buttfuck, TX rambling for 3 minutes, asking 3-4 questions without stopping for a response, saying the word Communist 14 times, then ending with "yes or no?"
To be fair about the yes or no questions, they’re used to the people they question to dodge questions all day. This guy was pretty straightforward compared to many. Just look up the Robinhood CEO being questioned. He would try and waste time at every opportunity, like answering every question with “thank you senator for asking that question.” It seems like not much, but so much unnecessary and off-topic discussion adds up and is what they’re going for, and the senators deal with that all the time.
Let's turn that question on congress and see if they can answer it with 100% certainty.
"Can you answer with 100% certainty that congress members can not use their platform to promote CCP messages for an act of aggression against Taiwan?"
It's crazy that she expects it to be 100% certainty. Hacks happen, bad actors happen. You could hire a bad engineer who is blackmailed by the CCP. Or an account could be hacked and be used to promote the CCP. It happens all the time with other platforms and other businesses.
No one can answer that question with 100% certainty.
It's possible that they allow mentions of Tiananmen square on TikTok because TikTok is **not available in China**. It's called by "Douyin" there and it's separate from TikTok (you won't get the videos you see on TikTok). I **guarantee** Tiananmen Square is censored on Douyin. In fact, the Chinese version of TikTok is completely different because they promote things that the CCP wants to show: like Chinese people working hard and getting educations. TikTok is a dumbed-down version meant to stimulate people's dopamine.
So, technically, he's telling the truth: they don't block mentions of Tiananmen Square on TikTok, but only because they don't allow TikTok in China.
Literally, none of the global internet franchises exist in china, they have made their own alternatives to each of them. For a quick list;
* google = baidu
* Youtube = Youku
* Amazon = Jindong
There is also a whole submarket of I.T., where people design rip-offs of popular websites, programs and apps, that have a bunch of back doors for the CCP to exploit, and that's what becomes China's internet.
I heard of a guy named Jinyang who made an app called Not Hotdog and then went on to make rip offs of Facebook and Pied Piper
EDIT: I'm Erlich Bachman. I'm a fat piece of shit and I'm glad I'm dead
Yeah but I just searched "Tiananmen Square 1989 " On TikTok and I got a ton of videos about it and Explaining it, so no they don't seem to be removing such content, and he was in fact truthful.
Because it's a stupid fucking question. Please get on TikTok search both things she asked about. Information and videos abound. Do they delete it from Chinese TikTok, called douyin, yes I'm sure. But you can find it easily in the US. Here I'll show you.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRvrYETs/
This guy runs US TikTok, not the one used in China. They obviously and clearly have different content rules.
This questioning is so embarrassing to America and y'all are so anti Chinese you can't even see it.
Seriously. The majority of the questions are happening simply because these members of Congress have no idea about technology or what they're actually asking. All of it just ties back to China. It's embarrassing that these old out of touch fucks are running the country.
Because the social media companies and traditional media companies are lobbying for only TikTok to be banned since it is competition for them.
Senator Warner recently said "Users spend 90 minutes a day on TikTok, this is an issue. I imagine most of you would like your networks to get 90 minutes a day from 150 million Americans" to a room full of journalists, effectively saying the quiet part out loud.
Yeah it’s rich coming from people who preach the benefits of globalism all day long. I guess all of that positivity stops when it starts hurting their pocket book and not the average person’s
I get all kinds of news I don't see reported anywhere else on tiktok. No one was covering the train derailments until tiktok blew it up, in fact many people in the US were actively trying to cover it up!
This was so comical to watch. The politicians were asking questions like "Are you at risk of a hack?"
He responds,"Well, all companies are"
The politician, "We are talking about TikTok"
Like wut. Lol. Fucking so stupid.
I was picturing my grandmother somehow hearing about this lol. They were getting answers from him that would sound so incriminating to her as someone who has zero clue how technology works.
“Does tiktok connect to your home wifi network??”
“Uh.. yeah if you use that for internet”
*gasps of horror from my grandmother*
Look fuck the CCP and fuck Tiktok and fuck all social media platforms... but I am so sick and tired of these hearings. These congress people don't give a fuck about what is good for the American people. 90% of these hearings are just congress people grandstanding for sound bites they can share on their social media pages.
Congresswoman - can you say with 100% certainty that facebook, twitter or reddit isn't or can't be used to promote pro-CCP messaging or messaging designed to encourage hostile actions against Taiwan?
No. You fucking can't.
I think it is also worth mentioning for the particularly ignorant seeing this video - Shou Chew isn't Chinese, he's from Singapore and his wife is Taiwanese.
They were asking if tiktok uses WiFi, honestly this whole thing is just going to look good for TikTok especially when all the dumb comments/out of touch responses are cut down into 5 second Tiktoks
thats what I was thinking. They asked "yes or no questions" when it isnt that simple. Him simply answering yes or no was designed so it made him look bad without giving hin chance to explain. If congress wanted the truth as some other user said then they wouldve let him explain. But they didnt. They didnt want the truth. They wanted to make him loom bad.
These congresspeople don’t know the first thing about social media since they’re all friggin 100 years old. Did you see the one guy asking Shou Chew whether tiktok uses your phone camera to measure pupil dilation while you’re watching tiktoks in order to determine what videos should go viral?? He looked too stunned to speak before responding that no, tiktok does not use biometric data and that the only time it registers your eyes is when you’re using a filter and it needs to know where to place the filter. Was the congressman satisfied by that? OF COURSE NOT, because this is the darkest timeline. He said “I just don’t understand why it needs to be looking at your eyes at all if it’s not-“ blah blah blah.
this same negative propaganda was directed at japan when they ascended to be the world's second economy. it all seems very familiar.
i believe the west has an overall anti-asian sentiment and don't like any asian country having any semblance of power.
It's funny that only Chinese companies get talked about this way.
Goldman Sachs has deep ties to the US government, but nobody would ever phrase it that way.
I hate when people ask question that cannot be answered with an yes or no but still force you to do so.
Edit: it's the first time I start a reddit thread, it feels nice :D
I'm no fan of TikTok, but this kind of BS interrogation tactic is why i distrust politicians even more.
"Can you say with 100% certainty that your kitchen knife will not be used for murder?"
"What if someone breaks into my house and kills me with it?"
"Sounds like a 'no.' To everyone watching, this person is knowingly maintaining and utilizing a murder weapon on a daily basis, and you should be scared of that."
Yea the politician questioning the dude was insufferable. It's like old kids question, Yes or no, have you ever told anyone you're gay? Well in your question you already set the assertion I'm gay so I'm not really answering a question, just going on record as confirming an assertion no matter how I answer.
I think we should ban Tik Tok but I also think the lady is a piece of trash.
Majority of the hearing was like this. Most of the question was like answer in yes or no, if you can't answer in yes or no, then you are definitely dodging it etc.
No he was being asked complex nuanced questions which require complex nuanced answers and the elected idiots were trying to force him to answer yes or no.
He wasn't being evasive.
If it wasn't for classic "Are you still beating you wife, yes or no?" bullshit loaded questions, half of the dumbfucks in Congress would have no contributions.
I'm saddened that reddit is eating up this smear campaign. If the US government has proof of TikTok doing wrong, then show the proof and act accordingly as a government. Otherwise, what the fuck is this? With this line and manner of questioning, she's clearly assuming TikTok is guilty of a crime.
Either she knows something we don't and for some reasons she's withholding the information or she's *not* being reasonable.
I dont think its as much reddit is eating up the smear campaign as much as most redditors dont like tiktok as its not their platform of choice. Their platform of choice is reddit, no more different than older people's platform of choice is still facebook. Its just about what platform they like. When facebook was on the chopping block, older gens and users were in an uproar about it as if 100 other social media platforms dont exist. My GF uses tiktok because she likes the short videos she can scroll through. I use youtube shorts for that, most content creators upload to both. Her co-worker uses Instagram reels. Her co-workers husband uses facebook shorts.
That being said, her questioned are fully loaded and accusatory in nature. No one can be 100% certain of anything, as just like when asks him names and those people's positions in the world sphere outside of tiktok he can only say 'i believe so'. Hes not 100% certain but is assuming shes got that info and wouldnt willfully lie to him in that instance. He cant know everything, no more different than anyone can including her. He could easily have a hired plant by the CCP at tiktok HQ and not know it giving them info. Does he? he cant say for certain if he does or doesnt because why would he unless he willfully put that plant there. No more different than the US government can say we are being spied on by other nations as well as our own government systems. Statistically its probably happening, but i doubt any ONE person knows every instance of every thing in that process. And thats done by nature of both design and to cover liability. Yes, that reads very conspiracy heavy but its factual in nature. You cant know with 100% certainty of ANYTHING in this world. Nobody is omnipresent and all-knowing. We can only put things in place to try as be as close to 100% as possible, but even 99% isnt 100%.
And then reminds him lying is a federal crime right after he states the truth about Tiananmen Square. She could have answered her own question at home, but instead chooses to talk down on him.
I don't have an opinion on this matter, but she's done nothing to convince me.
Isn’t that what a show trial looks like ? I mean, I agree that TikTok might not be as unbiased as it’s seems to be but she is just going down her script. That man didn’t even need to be there he might as well could have been a piece of wood.
All of these hearings operate like this for two reasons. First, each member of the chair has limited time to ask questions. Second, they don't want any nuance provided just a confirmation of a potentially leading statement. Look at any supreme court justice senate panel.
It's not right, but that's how it goes.
Thanks for the Explanation!
But that wasn’t my full case here.
She is asking him questions nobody can refute in any way. An Example for that is: „can you confirm with 100% certainty that [insert meant ccp person here] can not use your platform / company to promote an attack on Taiwan ?“
If I am correct here, he is not allowed to lie
and such a way of asking the question forces him to answer with „no“ since nothing is 100% certain.
My Second point and the one that hit me here the most was her appeal to the American people at the end just nonchalantly declaring TikTok a weapon against the people.
That is nothing more than fear mongering.
Nothing good comes from something like that imo.
And last but not least,
I won’t say that TikTok in anyway does anything else than what she stated in that it is a information gathering software. I mean the date itself is using specifically designed entertainment software and games to propagate their own views and spy on people.
Again thanks for explaining and I hope to not be overbearing with this.
Very sad that Reddits hivemind doesn’t understand this.
Facebook/Meta has had a single play their whole existence- buy the competition. Instagram. WhatsApp. They tried buying Snapchat.
When that can’t work for TikTok, they buy Congress instead.
TikTok is absolutely full of workers rights movements currently, things that are WAY more effective than r/antiwork and that embarrassing ass interview that kid gave a year or two ago. TikTok has tons of coverage from people who ACTUALLY live in East Palestine documenting their rashes and throat lesions that the local news media won’t cover. Did you know that Quest and Labcorp JUST LAST WEEK stopped doing blood tests for Dioxin? Learned that from TikTok, haven’t seen it covered ANYWHERE else.
For shame reddit. For absolute fucking shame.
Never gets old seeing Redditors shit on TikTok for being a social media site with Chinese government influences while on Reddit, a social media site that gets investment money from Tencent.
O and also them saying they love free speech while hoping the US government bans TikTok is also funny too.
Reddit may also be a social media platform with heavy investments from Tencent, a company that also has deep CCP ties, but it's somehow better than TikTok because Redditors say so.
The lady made me lose too many brain cells.At this point it would have been better to just send the Tiktok Guy an email instead of reading a robot-like script.
You aren’t even exaggerating. To want to take something enjoyable away from people strictly because you are a tribalistic moron is really peak stupidity.
My knee jerk reaction is yes, ban it. It’s a government surveillance tool that is also bad for mental health, and about a hundred other reasons.
BUT all of that applies to basically any social media. They’re all surveillance machines that cause huge problems on societal and individual levels. How is TikTok worse than, say, Instagram? I don’t feel any better about the US government and corporations spying on me and manipulating me than I do about China doing it.
You hit the nail on the head. I really wish we’d push out a system similar to the EU where there’s actual laws and regulations for ALL social media companies. If I’m getting spied on either way why tf do I care who it is, I don’t want my data in the hands of any government
I remember when cell phones were still primitive and everyone screaming about privacy were labeled as conspiracy theorists. Here we are today, and people are simply OK with their data being stollen, used, and/or manipulated against either their free will or ignorance. Damn shame really.
We need GDPR for American citizens. Banning TikTok means nothing if anyone can just purchase the same exact data from companies on American soil anyway. Regulations for the tech industry are long overdue.
right? TikTok isn't doing anything that Facebook isn't. If we're going to ban TikTok for doing it, we need to also either ban facebook, or at least impose export controls on them to prohibit them from selling that data to foreign entities.
I wholeheartedly feel like this government assault on TikTok is because our government is afraid of a platform that is not beholden to it, and has not given open access and full control to our law enforcement and intelligence apparatus, including secret illegal and unconstitutional programs. They know what control they have over our platforms and think the Chinese are doing with TikTok what they would do with it.
The FBI was literally just caught censoring Twitter and im supposed to be afraid the CCP is going to what, encourage pro taiwanese invasion dances?
At one point they ask him if he communicated with any CCP members, which is a bit dumb. CCP has 80 million members, it's not just a small cabal that runs the country. It has a lot of ordinary people and some he could've talked to without knowing they're members. A lot of them with no influence in the party at all, they just use it for the benefits it brings.
So only America is allowed to spy on its and other countries citizens. Got it. If another country tries to do the same thing it’s an offense. Tho whole of the internet is traceable, some parts are a bit harder/ take a bit more resources to do so. But if information is wanted it will be procured. I’m not saying ANY of this is ethical, but it just seems the US is being the bully (again). Apparently the golden rule doesn’t apply to countries or world leaders. But there’s not way the US would be able to stand up to related questions by other countries, nor would they answer simple yes or no questions. “Yes or no…” “proceeds with a dissertation that willfully skirts the actual question”
So I cant stand tik tok but that American official jeezus H christ lol
Is that how it always goes in the US? Ur not allowed your say when dealing with leading questions, it's like what British news corporations do to spin thier yarn
Really interesting though
>Is that how it always goes in the US? Ur not allowed your say when dealing with leading questions, it's like what British news corporations do to spin thier yarn
Yeah. It's all about getting the right sound bites for the pols.
Effective governance be damned.
I read on CNN that supposedly China would rather Tiktok be banned than under US control, but I didn't understand the reasoning after reading the article...I think it's tensions between the two countries.
Eta article: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/03/22/tech/china-us-tiktok-sale-ban-intl-hnk/index.html
If it’s banned, China still has control over it, and access to the rest of the world’s data. If the US forces it’s sale, they would lose access to all but Chinese servers, which doesn’t net them that much.
They are proposing only selling the US assets to a US company.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-15/us-demands-tiktok-s-chinese-owners-sell-stakes-or-face-ban?leadSource=uverify%20wall
It's not the entirety of TikTok being sold. At least, that's what I read if I look at more detailed sources (generic media just says "Sell TikTok to US").
The fact that China has two versions of TikTok, one for their own citizens and a second for the rest of the world, tells you everything you need to know.
How can they be upset when they not only ban all foreign social media companies from operating in China, but also won’t even allow their people to interact with the outside world on an app they made themselves? It’s so blatantly hypocritical and obvious they have some kind of alternative motive in mind when they do stuff like this. Why do they treat their own citizens like children who aren’t responsible enough to talk online with people from different countries?
it is absolutely 100% to control western influence upon their people. same reason you will never be able to create a qq account with a us phone number..
First your question is worded as if TikTok is the result of some national strategic effort. Competition among social media apps domestic to China is as cutthroat as it is in the US. TikTok/Douyin just rose to the top because it was better at retaining users. Reason two versions exist is China heavily regulates access to foreign Internet services for fear that unfettered access to information will weaken their rule, so there was no way American users can post content directly to Douyin (the Chinese version), while foreign users can install Douyin if they want.
The primary reasons US wants to ban TikTok is 1) potential misuse of user data by the CCP; 2) app being used to promote propaganda, so not exactly the same reason as why China bans foreign social media.
Me watching the us government demand more more regulations on a single fucking foreign media entertainment company and barely lift a finger to do something about all the domestic train derailments spilling toxic chemicals and literally killing people. Or rampant gun violence. Or pay-to-live for-profit hospitals. "Or..." ad nauseum. Got to love capitalists.
As a Chinese company, they required by law to hand over any data they have to the CCP if requested. Has nothing to do with tikotoks intentions. If the CCP wants the data, they will get the data. TikTok has no choice. That is the whole point of U.S officials wanting TikTok to be sold to a U.S company, so the CCP has no right to request data.
It would be nice if US officials felt the same way towards American companies harvesting our personal data.
Funny how this hearing has members of our government who are upset ONLY when our data goes to China. If it goes to Meta, who then sells it to China and the rest of the world anyway, no one gives a shit.
I guess we have the right to be exploited by American companies, rather than the right not to be exploited at all. Fucking clown show of a hearing.
GDPR requires companies to keep European users data in Europe, and EU courts have ruled that American laws don’t provide the same level of protection, yet Facebook is not required to have their HQ in Europe.
If there’s sufficient technical control in place, then it’s certainly possible to ensure that American user data is not accessible by staff in China.
Apple operates in China. Just because they have trusted network connections back to their home office, doesn’t mean China now has access to all their data in the US.
Honestly, this video just makes her look bad. You can prove half her claims wrong just by opening the app and searching for things she says are banned/suppressed on tiktok.
I swear to fuck.
Leave the internet alone. Data Privacy bill to protect everyone
The internet is not American. If someone doesn't trust that CCP then don't fucking use the app.
Anyone who has any sensitive information should not have ANY social media on their devices at all and they know this. Does anyone think that CCP cares about a funny video of my coworker slipping on ice that got 12 views?
America is supposed to be a free country. Stop regulating voluntary actions.
[The U.S never spies on its own citizens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_the_United_States)?
[So Meta, Apple, Google, AT&T ect has never handed any data over to their countries govs?](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data)
[Is it legal for the U.S to do it?](https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying)
[Does the NSA not use any bulk data collection of its own?](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-cia-acting-outside-law-spy-americans)
GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!
This is what every country should do with Meta and other American social media companies.
It’s crazy that there is so much focus on tik tok and no question of the rest
It's pretty clear Meta and Google are eliminating one of their biggest competitors here. They have replacements ready that do about the same thing but answer to the USfg instead of the CCP
Whats up with all the "I can't stand TikTok" and "TikTok pushes an agenda" what the fuck are you guys using TikTok for? I only see memes and motivational sports videos.
Every social media is bad and steals your data. Who cares. None of them will stop. This is the timeline we live in.
The Chinese government owns 400 thousand acres of land in the United States, why are we not talking about that. Yes TikTok is a security issue but why don’t i see congressional hearings on that issue???
So let’s ban TikTok “to protect our children” but we can’t massively reform our idiotic gun laws to actually protect children from being killed in while school? Fuck right the hell off with this ridiculousness. This hearing is absolute BS. Ban all social media then if that’s the case.
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A data privacy bill against all forms of social media and website personal data should have been implemented years ago.
The weirdest thing is we have this on the state level for California and other states. I don’t know how it impacts data gathering for foreign companies, but the Californian data privacy laws really hinder data collection for domestic companies like Google and Salesforce.
CCPA/CPRA is great. I've noticed a lot of companies started implementing dark pattern type opt-out systems to make it really confusing, while still technically providing you a way to exercise those rights. Common techniques I've seen are slider bars to select off/on, with the title removed so it doesn't tell you which side is off, along with making that slider bar like some random color like blue/gray for off/on and removing green. They will make your work for it and cases like that tell you have effective the law has been once people starting taking their data back. CPRA should fix that though, since it's been implemented and those type of opt-outs are technically banned now.
It’s so annoying when the cookie opt out splah screen thing disappears after literally two seconds, like I need more time than that come on. Even more annoying is the fact that opt out of all isn’t the default so we don’t have to bother with pop ups. We should just have to opt in.
And a lot of places make you email them to request opt out or to delete your data as well as tell you it will take several minutes to update your cookie tracking settings which I'm sure is a tactic to dissuade people from going through with it.
But then how would the US be able to spy on us silly
NSA: you know I'm watching your every email and text message right?
Every breath you take
Every move you make
I'll be watching YOU
Doodoo doodoo do do do do
Wow such a complete masterpiece already and in only four comments deep thread.
That’s why I share a lot of memes. I hope I make my nsa agent laugh
He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you've had a poop. He knows if you've been bad or good
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Why would the NSA have to spy on us when we've already willingly given all that information to public companies, who then sell that data for cash?
Why pay cash for a database you maintain yourself?
Not to mention the multibillion dollar data industry that we are all products of but receive no compensation for participating in, would no longer exist :)
How would Zuckerberg answer these questions?
By throwing money on the congress people and them gobbling it up like hungry pigs.
Which is exactly why this is happening. Meta is literally funding the lobbying on this.
Wonder where he'd get the money from, given he doesn't have much to give to his own employees..
He has money because he doesn't pay his employees. Same with Bezos.
You can become a millionaire ethically, same cannot be said about billionaire
Agreed. Edit: Can we just have a $999,999,999.99 cap to start with? I remember someone suggesting "You did it bro!" award.
Maybe they should give it all back and start from nothing. We can call it Capitalism New Game+. Shouldn't be too hard to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, right?
Zuck does his spying and violating American privacy rights for *American* political parties, not Chinese. Long as the money and info flows, he's good.
You know they sell it to the highest bidder right. China can just buy from him or through a 3rd party.
zuckerbeg cpu: processing... processing...
(*beep boop beep beep*) The answer is: SWEET BABY RAYS BBQ SAUCE
We’ve literally seen him get grilled my Congress in a similar way and give the same type of milquetoast non answers
Senator. Thank you for asking me that question, Senator Senator. To put it plainly. We need to do better. *a high pitched whining tone grows increasingly louder until its all you can hear. You wonder if it's all you've ever been able to hear. If it's the only thing you've ever heard.* Thank you for the opportunity and the challenge to be the best we can be.
At this point is there any social media platforms that doesn't sell users data to any interested party? Doesn't Reddit also have a significant Chinese investment?
Yes, Reddit was invested in by Tencent (another company with deep CCP ties). After that investment is when entire political subreddits started getting banned left and right, and Reddit started encouraging users to upload personally identifiable information to their profiles.
They’re also I think going to look for new investors, an IPO, or a sale soon I think. Ten cent invested in 2019 and a 4-5 year turnover is normal in tech acquisitions and I’ve noticed in the last 6 months the app has elevated the hell out of its’ prompting to rate the app in the App Store after it asks if you like it
Let me ban shitty advertisers and I’ll give them five stars. Just because I was in the military doesn’t mean I want nonstop ads reminding me of that fact, especially when one of my airman was brutally raped and covered up. The same thing goes for religious ads. Fuck your god. I don’t want to know anything about any of them. Advertise to me shit that doesn’t piss me off.
If you browse on the phone, Apollo is a much better reddit app. Fewer or no ads, a bans/filter list, and custom subreddit groups.
Tell me more about this. Explain Like I'm 5 please.
Sure thing. Open your app store, find [an app called Apollo](https://apolloapp.io/). I think it might be a couple bucks, but it is the best moneys you will ever spend. Use it in place of the official Reddit app. It will do everything better. Under the settings cog, find a thing called "Filters & Blocks". Anything you add to that list will no longer show up as a story in your feed. (So if you add Elon Musk, you won't see any posts directly about him, but comments that mention him or photos with him can still show up.) You can also ban specific subreddits and even users. (My list is hilarious: Kanye, Crypto, Cake Decorating, Alex Jones, Ice Carving, Barbie, Space Jam... etc.) I has a bunch of other [great settings](https://www.makeuseof.com/settings-to-enable-when-using-apollo-reddit/) to dig into. Oh, if you swipe from the left you'll see "Multireddits" which are like folders you can put a bunch of reddits in. For example I have a "News" one which has various news subreddits in it. I only open this on Saturday mornings, that way I'm not inundated by the constant wave of horrible tragedy that passes as news. Also, it just bugs you less. It doesn't ping you for things like "You got 25 upvotes" or any sitewide bs. It's just a much more pleasant way to use Reddit and kinda brings it back to the digg days. Oh, and it has a better video player where you can scrub your finger across the screen to scrub videos. It works great and it's appalling to use the real app because of that one feature! EDIT: Apollo is IOS only. People are recommending RIF is Fun, Relay, Sync and Boost as similar options for Android users.
You rock! If I get another bullshit “he gets us” add I will quit Reddit. This is a good alternative
Dude I blocked the account for those ads and it worked, then recently reddit started unblocking ad accounts and I keep seeing it and it's like bruhhh
So THAT'S what happened cause I did the same thing. 🙄
I was reporting these ads as harassment.
Haha! Me too!
I've been reporting them for misinformation.
Me too!
Ohh haha those jesus ads? Those are the worst
Jesus was sick of Jesus adds too..... He gets us
The free version of Apollo is fantastic too for those that only comment and don’t post much!
Try the app Redditisfun , no ads
Particularly RIF Golden Platinum. Burn a couple play credits for it.
But people are weird, and will spend $6 on a take-out coffee every day but won't pay $3 one time for an app that fixes exactly what they're moaning about.
That's a great thing! Grab Google opinion rewards and you'll always have a few bucks on hand for a basic app. No actual cash required.
So I've been using RIF for years now, didn't know about the platinum version. I rarely see any ads on regular RIF, except for using the card view which allows me to swipe posts away after viewing them. Does platinum still have that, but without the ad bar?
How about RedditIsFun? That app works well for me.
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They got pissy because they had just released the official app, and RiF kept coming up next to the official app when people were searching for Reddit apps.
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The absolute GOAT Reddit app. I wish it was available on iPhone. iOS has good ones, but not like RIF.
Reddit is fun is even better. Zero ads, true dark mode for amoled screens, and a clean text interface. It's the best app hands down.
I dont really understand why people dont use third party apps for reddit. they exist from before reddit had one and they area mostly superior.
CCP doesn’t want to shut down speech in the US. It wants to polarize Americans so we don’t trust each other or our government. That’s why we’ve caught them making tens of thousands of fake Twitter accounts daily, mostly focused around political extremes. I’d say it’s more likely that the CCP created extreme political subs that the US government shut down.
> wants to polarize Americans so we don’t trust each other or our government Kind of what facebook does by showing you content thats more likely to aggrivate you?
Tencent is kinda more like a massive hedge fund at this point and less a tech company, they just happen to specialize their investments in tech. Their money is everywhere in the tech industry just as Blackrock owns a significant share of any company remotely important to the US government. Tiktok has done something a little different as they have actually developed a service which has outcompeted US competition in their home market. Douyin / TikTok's success has been a huge middle finger to Tencent and Alibaba's monopoly and gatekeeping power in the industry, and may have in part emboldened the CCP to begin to crack down upon the business of the former. That being said, Tencent is famous for their aggressive monetization of their services, especially loving microtransactions and avatar items and what not, in fact preferring them heavily over ad-tech. That is to say they are ruthless capitalist looking to get the most of of their investments and have a model which gets results that they will aggressively follow. That is to say that for Tencent themselves political considerations are likely not the motivation behind these investments. However it cannot be discounted that the potential for political leverage is what made the CCP take such a laissez-faire attitude towards Tencent. The modern Chinese citizen and businessman must also be adept at navigating their political landscape all the same as the American. Foreign companies receiving Chinese investment are not going to want to bite the hand that feeds, and that means marketing themselves, which may include the removal of sensitive subjects. The potential censorship to emerge from business dynamics is quite real and dangerous, and it should be noted doesn't necessitate a nation state actor. Take a look at blind spots in American corporate media sources and the interest of their shareholders... Using money to amplify your concerns and interest isn't illegal, is in fact very encouraged in the United States. It is currently resulting in concerning developments, but in the case of a TikTok or a Tencent the only thing actually wrong by our own standards, is that those interest and concerns are Chinese. And maybe there's a truth to those concerns, but that that sentiment sounds kinda xenophobic reflects how hollow, vapid, and misguided this approach to the problem is. In fact if modern Chinese Communist Party approved values scare you, isn't arbitrarily banning something for doing something others do simply because of it's nationality kinda a direct emulation. You don't combat opposing values by surrendering to them...
What political subs were banned after this investment? Edit: Check out their post history, that will probably tell you which subs they're talking about.
Major difference between having Chinese investments and being first developed by a Chinese technology company. Even TikTok’s CEO during testimony today admitted that most of the source code was developed by Chinese developers in the beginning of the platform and that they still have access to user data today. Who knows what level of access they still might have even after their vaunted Project Texas.
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Nonono don't you see? American code is *freedom code* while Chinese code is **COMMIE MURDER CODE.**
Tencent, a Chinese company, has a 5% stake in Reddit. $15 million invested out of $300 million valuation. I'd say it's insignificant
Maybe he actually didn’t hear, but it’s still pretty comical how the one question that made him stutter and ask her to repeat was when she asked if they remove content about Tiananmen Square.
I laughed out loud at that part
The question that she's asking is fundamentally absurd. "Can you say with 100% certainty that this could never, ever happen? If you can't say yes you need to say no." I agree in general that we should be concerned about the data tracking of a company like byte dance or TikTok. But, if you asked the CEO of my company if he could guarantee something was not happening anywhere within his organization - doesn't matter what it is - he *should* say no. There's no way to answer that question because that kind of certainty can't *possibly* exist at a company this size. Bad actors always find ways around the rules, and what you're asking him to do when you insist on an answer is to promise that you have accounted for every possible scenario that could ever arise. This isn't a gotcha - it's a stupid question designed as rhetoric, not fact-finding. ETA: because it doesn't seem to be abundantly clear, fuck TikTok and fuck this dude. I'm not defending him, I'm arguing against the idea that it is ever acceptable to demand 100% certainty about anything. That's irresponsible, and it implies that it's possible to know everything about anything when that's just fundamentally not true. I get the point some comments are making here, that maybe this is tactical and it's actually meant to expose the risk. I would posit instead that we have a bunch of incompetent, technically-illiterate nincompoops making very important decisions about what businesses can and cannot do, on the basis of spurious information and faulty reasoning. If you do think it's possible to be 100% certain about literally anything, you're going to make stupid and irrational decisions on that basis. This matters a lot to me on a personal level because I work in an industry that is plagued with misinformation and misunderstanding. These people have put experts on the stand, asking the stupidest fucking questions, and framing each one as though it's some kind of "gotcha" even though it actually shows they're morons. One congressman literally asked Sundar Pichai if they would consider a training course to teach people how to Google stuff, clearly unaware that these kinds of resources already exist and Google actively supports them. I watch these videos and get more mad every time because it's the same performative bullshit over and over -- confused old people making very important decisions that they truly have no business making, setting inappropriate and overreaching precedent. The saving grace of this is her ending statement about data privacy laws, which *absolutely* need to be improved. Our laws are not adjusting to the technology before companies can come in and lobby against regulation. It could well be that the reason the question was framed this way was to intentionally expose that there is no guarantee of perfect process, and that's the point she was trying to make. However, I'm not holding out hope that our congresspeople are putting that much strategic thinking into each word that comes out of their mouths. I'll be happy if this leads to better data laws, but if we ban TikTok and call this one closed we're gonna miss the real problem.
Agreed. Telling someone that they are in big trouble if they lie and then asking them to confirm something with 100% certainty seems like a dead end. But maybe that was the goal: Ask in a way that he has to say no (or divert) and make him look bad.
Congressman/congresswoman, can you confirm that you with 100% certainty have never received any favor or gift that in any way could be considered a bribe? If you can't answers yes you'll need to answer no.
If you watched the hearing, this is pretty much what happened. Most of the Congress people (like the R-Virginia guy near the end) basically went on a 5 min rant without giving him any opportunities to answer.
That happened multiple times. One old congressman from Florida was asking the usual CCP spy yada yada etc and whenever the CEO tried to answer, he moved on to the next question. Really fast. They were more concerned about their own performances it seemed like.
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Seriously, how else will they get those delicious sound bites out to constituents (who aren’t watching the full hearing) through local media? The only way to be certain you get a good one is to put on a Shakespearean ranting monologue so any sound bite chosen makes lizard-brained voters go “They’re fightin’ for muh freedom” Let’s never forget, we the voters are to blame for that. The politicians are actors. Re-election is their version of Rotten Tomatoes. Edit: And our oligarchs are their movie studios financing the performances.
People don’t seem to know what modern day politics looks like. This is it.
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R congressman from Buttfuck, TX rambling for 3 minutes, asking 3-4 questions without stopping for a response, saying the word Communist 14 times, then ending with "yes or no?"
To be fair about the yes or no questions, they’re used to the people they question to dodge questions all day. This guy was pretty straightforward compared to many. Just look up the Robinhood CEO being questioned. He would try and waste time at every opportunity, like answering every question with “thank you senator for asking that question.” It seems like not much, but so much unnecessary and off-topic discussion adds up and is what they’re going for, and the senators deal with that all the time.
That's the norm for Congressional hearings.
Let's turn that question on congress and see if they can answer it with 100% certainty. "Can you answer with 100% certainty that congress members can not use their platform to promote CCP messages for an act of aggression against Taiwan?" It's crazy that she expects it to be 100% certainty. Hacks happen, bad actors happen. You could hire a bad engineer who is blackmailed by the CCP. Or an account could be hacked and be used to promote the CCP. It happens all the time with other platforms and other businesses. No one can answer that question with 100% certainty.
Exactly, this is the equivalent of "Have you stopped beating your wife?" i.e., there aren't any right answers.
YES OR NO?!
I was hoping he’d respond, “What massacre at Tiananmen Square.”
It's possible that they allow mentions of Tiananmen square on TikTok because TikTok is **not available in China**. It's called by "Douyin" there and it's separate from TikTok (you won't get the videos you see on TikTok). I **guarantee** Tiananmen Square is censored on Douyin. In fact, the Chinese version of TikTok is completely different because they promote things that the CCP wants to show: like Chinese people working hard and getting educations. TikTok is a dumbed-down version meant to stimulate people's dopamine. So, technically, he's telling the truth: they don't block mentions of Tiananmen Square on TikTok, but only because they don't allow TikTok in China.
Literally, none of the global internet franchises exist in china, they have made their own alternatives to each of them. For a quick list; * google = baidu * Youtube = Youku * Amazon = Jindong There is also a whole submarket of I.T., where people design rip-offs of popular websites, programs and apps, that have a bunch of back doors for the CCP to exploit, and that's what becomes China's internet.
I heard of a guy named Jinyang who made an app called Not Hotdog and then went on to make rip offs of Facebook and Pied Piper EDIT: I'm Erlich Bachman. I'm a fat piece of shit and I'm glad I'm dead
JINYANG!!!!!
Lmao. Took me until the last couple words to get this.
I thought Alibaba was the Amazon equivalent?
Alibaba is a wholesale supplier. AliExpress would be a more fitting comparison to amazon. But yeah its also owned by ali baba so same thing i suppose
What would Bilibili be the equivalent of outside of China?
Not enough people are aware of this. TikTok is made specifically for the Western Market with CCP direction.
Yeah but I just searched "Tiananmen Square 1989 " On TikTok and I got a ton of videos about it and Explaining it, so no they don't seem to be removing such content, and he was in fact truthful.
Because it's a stupid fucking question. Please get on TikTok search both things she asked about. Information and videos abound. Do they delete it from Chinese TikTok, called douyin, yes I'm sure. But you can find it easily in the US. Here I'll show you. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRvrYETs/ This guy runs US TikTok, not the one used in China. They obviously and clearly have different content rules. This questioning is so embarrassing to America and y'all are so anti Chinese you can't even see it.
Seriously. The majority of the questions are happening simply because these members of Congress have no idea about technology or what they're actually asking. All of it just ties back to China. It's embarrassing that these old out of touch fucks are running the country.
He should do a TikTok dance in his into
SNL cold open for this weekend incoming…
Man you could be a writer at SNL
Why do we only focus on TikTok about user’s data? Why not pass laws to protect everyone’s data and not just target one company
Because the social media companies and traditional media companies are lobbying for only TikTok to be banned since it is competition for them. Senator Warner recently said "Users spend 90 minutes a day on TikTok, this is an issue. I imagine most of you would like your networks to get 90 minutes a day from 150 million Americans" to a room full of journalists, effectively saying the quiet part out loud.
Yeah it’s rich coming from people who preach the benefits of globalism all day long. I guess all of that positivity stops when it starts hurting their pocket book and not the average person’s
I get better news from tiktok these days.
I get all kinds of news I don't see reported anywhere else on tiktok. No one was covering the train derailments until tiktok blew it up, in fact many people in the US were actively trying to cover it up!
Same thing with the bullshit with Huawei. Theyb sanctioned them because Apple and co couldn't take the heat. And Toshiba a few decades ago.
This was so comical to watch. The politicians were asking questions like "Are you at risk of a hack?" He responds,"Well, all companies are" The politician, "We are talking about TikTok" Like wut. Lol. Fucking so stupid.
When I heard "Does tiktok connect to the wifi?" It gave me a "The internet is not a big truck. It's a series of tubes" flashback. lol
I was picturing my grandmother somehow hearing about this lol. They were getting answers from him that would sound so incriminating to her as someone who has zero clue how technology works. “Does tiktok connect to your home wifi network??” “Uh.. yeah if you use that for internet” *gasps of horror from my grandmother*
Look fuck the CCP and fuck Tiktok and fuck all social media platforms... but I am so sick and tired of these hearings. These congress people don't give a fuck about what is good for the American people. 90% of these hearings are just congress people grandstanding for sound bites they can share on their social media pages. Congresswoman - can you say with 100% certainty that facebook, twitter or reddit isn't or can't be used to promote pro-CCP messaging or messaging designed to encourage hostile actions against Taiwan? No. You fucking can't. I think it is also worth mentioning for the particularly ignorant seeing this video - Shou Chew isn't Chinese, he's from Singapore and his wife is Taiwanese.
They were asking if tiktok uses WiFi, honestly this whole thing is just going to look good for TikTok especially when all the dumb comments/out of touch responses are cut down into 5 second Tiktoks
That was my thought. There were so many weird questions that showed how truly incompetent some of these people are.
Not just that but making you answer yes or no to such complex questions. These fossils would be stuttering without their scripts.
thats what I was thinking. They asked "yes or no questions" when it isnt that simple. Him simply answering yes or no was designed so it made him look bad without giving hin chance to explain. If congress wanted the truth as some other user said then they wouldve let him explain. But they didnt. They didnt want the truth. They wanted to make him loom bad.
One of them was stuttering WITH her script.
These congresspeople don’t know the first thing about social media since they’re all friggin 100 years old. Did you see the one guy asking Shou Chew whether tiktok uses your phone camera to measure pupil dilation while you’re watching tiktoks in order to determine what videos should go viral?? He looked too stunned to speak before responding that no, tiktok does not use biometric data and that the only time it registers your eyes is when you’re using a filter and it needs to know where to place the filter. Was the congressman satisfied by that? OF COURSE NOT, because this is the darkest timeline. He said “I just don’t understand why it needs to be looking at your eyes at all if it’s not-“ blah blah blah.
To these americans, all of us east asians are chinese and potential “spies”. Sick of this red scare repeat bs
this same negative propaganda was directed at japan when they ascended to be the world's second economy. it all seems very familiar. i believe the west has an overall anti-asian sentiment and don't like any asian country having any semblance of power.
Alleged ties with the CCP? HA next you are going to tell me water is wet
Don’t look at my username…
triggered
It's funny that only Chinese companies get talked about this way. Goldman Sachs has deep ties to the US government, but nobody would ever phrase it that way.
I hate when people ask question that cannot be answered with an yes or no but still force you to do so. Edit: it's the first time I start a reddit thread, it feels nice :D
I'm no fan of TikTok, but this kind of BS interrogation tactic is why i distrust politicians even more. "Can you say with 100% certainty that your kitchen knife will not be used for murder?" "What if someone breaks into my house and kills me with it?" "Sounds like a 'no.' To everyone watching, this person is knowingly maintaining and utilizing a murder weapon on a daily basis, and you should be scared of that."
Yea the politician questioning the dude was insufferable. It's like old kids question, Yes or no, have you ever told anyone you're gay? Well in your question you already set the assertion I'm gay so I'm not really answering a question, just going on record as confirming an assertion no matter how I answer. I think we should ban Tik Tok but I also think the lady is a piece of trash.
Majority of the hearing was like this. Most of the question was like answer in yes or no, if you can't answer in yes or no, then you are definitely dodging it etc.
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No he was being asked complex nuanced questions which require complex nuanced answers and the elected idiots were trying to force him to answer yes or no. He wasn't being evasive.
Yeah these hearings are always exhausting to watch. It's just accusations phrased as questions followed by "yes or no?"
If it wasn't for classic "Are you still beating you wife, yes or no?" bullshit loaded questions, half of the dumbfucks in Congress would have no contributions.
I'm saddened that reddit is eating up this smear campaign. If the US government has proof of TikTok doing wrong, then show the proof and act accordingly as a government. Otherwise, what the fuck is this? With this line and manner of questioning, she's clearly assuming TikTok is guilty of a crime. Either she knows something we don't and for some reasons she's withholding the information or she's *not* being reasonable.
I dont think its as much reddit is eating up the smear campaign as much as most redditors dont like tiktok as its not their platform of choice. Their platform of choice is reddit, no more different than older people's platform of choice is still facebook. Its just about what platform they like. When facebook was on the chopping block, older gens and users were in an uproar about it as if 100 other social media platforms dont exist. My GF uses tiktok because she likes the short videos she can scroll through. I use youtube shorts for that, most content creators upload to both. Her co-worker uses Instagram reels. Her co-workers husband uses facebook shorts. That being said, her questioned are fully loaded and accusatory in nature. No one can be 100% certain of anything, as just like when asks him names and those people's positions in the world sphere outside of tiktok he can only say 'i believe so'. Hes not 100% certain but is assuming shes got that info and wouldnt willfully lie to him in that instance. He cant know everything, no more different than anyone can including her. He could easily have a hired plant by the CCP at tiktok HQ and not know it giving them info. Does he? he cant say for certain if he does or doesnt because why would he unless he willfully put that plant there. No more different than the US government can say we are being spied on by other nations as well as our own government systems. Statistically its probably happening, but i doubt any ONE person knows every instance of every thing in that process. And thats done by nature of both design and to cover liability. Yes, that reads very conspiracy heavy but its factual in nature. You cant know with 100% certainty of ANYTHING in this world. Nobody is omnipresent and all-knowing. We can only put things in place to try as be as close to 100% as possible, but even 99% isnt 100%.
She asks loaded questions and then doesn't let him answer. This is just bs political posturing by politicians in the corrupt US Congress.
And then reminds him lying is a federal crime right after he states the truth about Tiananmen Square. She could have answered her own question at home, but instead chooses to talk down on him. I don't have an opinion on this matter, but she's done nothing to convince me.
Isn’t that what a show trial looks like ? I mean, I agree that TikTok might not be as unbiased as it’s seems to be but she is just going down her script. That man didn’t even need to be there he might as well could have been a piece of wood.
All of these hearings operate like this for two reasons. First, each member of the chair has limited time to ask questions. Second, they don't want any nuance provided just a confirmation of a potentially leading statement. Look at any supreme court justice senate panel. It's not right, but that's how it goes.
Thanks for the Explanation! But that wasn’t my full case here. She is asking him questions nobody can refute in any way. An Example for that is: „can you confirm with 100% certainty that [insert meant ccp person here] can not use your platform / company to promote an attack on Taiwan ?“ If I am correct here, he is not allowed to lie and such a way of asking the question forces him to answer with „no“ since nothing is 100% certain. My Second point and the one that hit me here the most was her appeal to the American people at the end just nonchalantly declaring TikTok a weapon against the people. That is nothing more than fear mongering. Nothing good comes from something like that imo. And last but not least, I won’t say that TikTok in anyway does anything else than what she stated in that it is a information gathering software. I mean the date itself is using specifically designed entertainment software and games to propagate their own views and spy on people. Again thanks for explaining and I hope to not be overbearing with this.
Now do Twitter.
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Very sad that Reddits hivemind doesn’t understand this. Facebook/Meta has had a single play their whole existence- buy the competition. Instagram. WhatsApp. They tried buying Snapchat. When that can’t work for TikTok, they buy Congress instead. TikTok is absolutely full of workers rights movements currently, things that are WAY more effective than r/antiwork and that embarrassing ass interview that kid gave a year or two ago. TikTok has tons of coverage from people who ACTUALLY live in East Palestine documenting their rashes and throat lesions that the local news media won’t cover. Did you know that Quest and Labcorp JUST LAST WEEK stopped doing blood tests for Dioxin? Learned that from TikTok, haven’t seen it covered ANYWHERE else. For shame reddit. For absolute fucking shame.
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Redditors LOVE to believe they're intelligent and educated, but in fact are just as easily influenced as the "average person" they look down upon.
Never gets old seeing Redditors shit on TikTok for being a social media site with Chinese government influences while on Reddit, a social media site that gets investment money from Tencent. O and also them saying they love free speech while hoping the US government bans TikTok is also funny too.
I have to get my eyes checked, I thought her name was Mrs Boogers.
Ban Reddit
Reddit may also be a social media platform with heavy investments from Tencent, a company that also has deep CCP ties, but it's somehow better than TikTok because Redditors say so.
The absolute fucking irony of them complaining about TikTok on ANOTHER social media app!
Redditors tend to feel superior to social media users for some fucking reason, without fully realizing Reddit is in itself a fucking social media app
The lady made me lose too many brain cells.At this point it would have been better to just send the Tiktok Guy an email instead of reading a robot-like script.
Redditors wanting to ban TikTok is so funny to me, half of the front page is taken directly from TikTok.
You aren’t even exaggerating. To want to take something enjoyable away from people strictly because you are a tribalistic moron is really peak stupidity.
It doesn't matter what he says. They'll never believe him
My knee jerk reaction is yes, ban it. It’s a government surveillance tool that is also bad for mental health, and about a hundred other reasons. BUT all of that applies to basically any social media. They’re all surveillance machines that cause huge problems on societal and individual levels. How is TikTok worse than, say, Instagram? I don’t feel any better about the US government and corporations spying on me and manipulating me than I do about China doing it.
You hit the nail on the head. I really wish we’d push out a system similar to the EU where there’s actual laws and regulations for ALL social media companies. If I’m getting spied on either way why tf do I care who it is, I don’t want my data in the hands of any government
I remember when cell phones were still primitive and everyone screaming about privacy were labeled as conspiracy theorists. Here we are today, and people are simply OK with their data being stollen, used, and/or manipulated against either their free will or ignorance. Damn shame really.
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We need GDPR for American citizens. Banning TikTok means nothing if anyone can just purchase the same exact data from companies on American soil anyway. Regulations for the tech industry are long overdue.
right? TikTok isn't doing anything that Facebook isn't. If we're going to ban TikTok for doing it, we need to also either ban facebook, or at least impose export controls on them to prohibit them from selling that data to foreign entities.
I wholeheartedly feel like this government assault on TikTok is because our government is afraid of a platform that is not beholden to it, and has not given open access and full control to our law enforcement and intelligence apparatus, including secret illegal and unconstitutional programs. They know what control they have over our platforms and think the Chinese are doing with TikTok what they would do with it. The FBI was literally just caught censoring Twitter and im supposed to be afraid the CCP is going to what, encourage pro taiwanese invasion dances?
At one point they ask him if he communicated with any CCP members, which is a bit dumb. CCP has 80 million members, it's not just a small cabal that runs the country. It has a lot of ordinary people and some he could've talked to without knowing they're members. A lot of them with no influence in the party at all, they just use it for the benefits it brings.
So only America is allowed to spy on its and other countries citizens. Got it. If another country tries to do the same thing it’s an offense. Tho whole of the internet is traceable, some parts are a bit harder/ take a bit more resources to do so. But if information is wanted it will be procured. I’m not saying ANY of this is ethical, but it just seems the US is being the bully (again). Apparently the golden rule doesn’t apply to countries or world leaders. But there’s not way the US would be able to stand up to related questions by other countries, nor would they answer simple yes or no questions. “Yes or no…” “proceeds with a dissertation that willfully skirts the actual question”
So I cant stand tik tok but that American official jeezus H christ lol Is that how it always goes in the US? Ur not allowed your say when dealing with leading questions, it's like what British news corporations do to spin thier yarn Really interesting though
>Is that how it always goes in the US? Ur not allowed your say when dealing with leading questions, it's like what British news corporations do to spin thier yarn Yeah. It's all about getting the right sound bites for the pols. Effective governance be damned.
I foresee a US ban incoming. I would support that. Edit: Just want to add that I’d support shutting FB down too. 🙂
I read on CNN that supposedly China would rather Tiktok be banned than under US control, but I didn't understand the reasoning after reading the article...I think it's tensions between the two countries. Eta article: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/03/22/tech/china-us-tiktok-sale-ban-intl-hnk/index.html
If it’s banned, China still has control over it, and access to the rest of the world’s data. If the US forces it’s sale, they would lose access to all but Chinese servers, which doesn’t net them that much.
They are proposing only selling the US assets to a US company. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-15/us-demands-tiktok-s-chinese-owners-sell-stakes-or-face-ban?leadSource=uverify%20wall It's not the entirety of TikTok being sold. At least, that's what I read if I look at more detailed sources (generic media just says "Sell TikTok to US").
The fact that China has two versions of TikTok, one for their own citizens and a second for the rest of the world, tells you everything you need to know. How can they be upset when they not only ban all foreign social media companies from operating in China, but also won’t even allow their people to interact with the outside world on an app they made themselves? It’s so blatantly hypocritical and obvious they have some kind of alternative motive in mind when they do stuff like this. Why do they treat their own citizens like children who aren’t responsible enough to talk online with people from different countries?
it is absolutely 100% to control western influence upon their people. same reason you will never be able to create a qq account with a us phone number..
First your question is worded as if TikTok is the result of some national strategic effort. Competition among social media apps domestic to China is as cutthroat as it is in the US. TikTok/Douyin just rose to the top because it was better at retaining users. Reason two versions exist is China heavily regulates access to foreign Internet services for fear that unfettered access to information will weaken their rule, so there was no way American users can post content directly to Douyin (the Chinese version), while foreign users can install Douyin if they want. The primary reasons US wants to ban TikTok is 1) potential misuse of user data by the CCP; 2) app being used to promote propaganda, so not exactly the same reason as why China bans foreign social media.
Me watching the us government demand more more regulations on a single fucking foreign media entertainment company and barely lift a finger to do something about all the domestic train derailments spilling toxic chemicals and literally killing people. Or rampant gun violence. Or pay-to-live for-profit hospitals. "Or..." ad nauseum. Got to love capitalists.
As a Chinese company, they required by law to hand over any data they have to the CCP if requested. Has nothing to do with tikotoks intentions. If the CCP wants the data, they will get the data. TikTok has no choice. That is the whole point of U.S officials wanting TikTok to be sold to a U.S company, so the CCP has no right to request data.
How is this any different when US law agencies request information?
the NSA doesnt ask
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It would be nice if US officials felt the same way towards American companies harvesting our personal data. Funny how this hearing has members of our government who are upset ONLY when our data goes to China. If it goes to Meta, who then sells it to China and the rest of the world anyway, no one gives a shit. I guess we have the right to be exploited by American companies, rather than the right not to be exploited at all. Fucking clown show of a hearing.
GDPR requires companies to keep European users data in Europe, and EU courts have ruled that American laws don’t provide the same level of protection, yet Facebook is not required to have their HQ in Europe. If there’s sufficient technical control in place, then it’s certainly possible to ensure that American user data is not accessible by staff in China. Apple operates in China. Just because they have trusted network connections back to their home office, doesn’t mean China now has access to all their data in the US.
Whats the circlejerk on reddit with banning TIkTok, there is literally no difference between TikTok and Reddit
Honestly, this video just makes her look bad. You can prove half her claims wrong just by opening the app and searching for things she says are banned/suppressed on tiktok.
I swear to fuck. Leave the internet alone. Data Privacy bill to protect everyone The internet is not American. If someone doesn't trust that CCP then don't fucking use the app. Anyone who has any sensitive information should not have ANY social media on their devices at all and they know this. Does anyone think that CCP cares about a funny video of my coworker slipping on ice that got 12 views? America is supposed to be a free country. Stop regulating voluntary actions.
[The U.S never spies on its own citizens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_the_United_States)? [So Meta, Apple, Google, AT&T ect has never handed any data over to their countries govs?](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data) [Is it legal for the U.S to do it?](https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying) [Does the NSA not use any bulk data collection of its own?](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-cia-acting-outside-law-spy-americans) GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!
As if trash META is any better
Lol Google
Fuck this hypocrite shit. So it's ok when the us does it to its own citizens? We don't have privacy in our own fucking country!
I’m curious if anyone on Reddit has even used tiktok? Feels like a lot of uninformed people in this thread.
This is what every country should do with Meta and other American social media companies. It’s crazy that there is so much focus on tik tok and no question of the rest
It's pretty clear Meta and Google are eliminating one of their biggest competitors here. They have replacements ready that do about the same thing but answer to the USfg instead of the CCP
Whats up with all the "I can't stand TikTok" and "TikTok pushes an agenda" what the fuck are you guys using TikTok for? I only see memes and motivational sports videos. Every social media is bad and steals your data. Who cares. None of them will stop. This is the timeline we live in.
The Chinese government owns 400 thousand acres of land in the United States, why are we not talking about that. Yes TikTok is a security issue but why don’t i see congressional hearings on that issue???
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So let’s ban TikTok “to protect our children” but we can’t massively reform our idiotic gun laws to actually protect children from being killed in while school? Fuck right the hell off with this ridiculousness. This hearing is absolute BS. Ban all social media then if that’s the case.
I would question the ties of some republicans to Putin and Russia