this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
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[–] [email protected] 72 points 9 months ago (4 children)

The difference is the US government believes that TikTok is beholden to the Chinese government. When a corporation acts this way it is an invasion of privacy. When a foreign government acts this way it is espionage.

If TikTok is sold to an entity the US government thinks is sufficiently independent from a foreign government, then they can continue spying on users.

Alternatively, they may be able to registers under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. I don't know how that would impact TikTok's ability to operate though.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Not just another country, but a hostile foreign country. If France owned TikTok no one would care. But to the US government, China is in the top 5 of most hostile nations and is definitely the top of hostile nations in terms of world power and reach. It's essentially giving out a LOT of info to what they see as "the enemy". And also it has a lot of potential use to track US government employees like diplomats and high-level military leaders. Even if those people don't have TikTok installed, their kids might.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

But if Facebook/Instagram, X, reddit, whoever sell their data to a data broker who has Chinese clients/partners I doubt anyone gives half a shit, otherwise those same safeguards could be employed against TikTok without the need for new federal legislation.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Hostile meaning "not beholden to the American imperialist empire"?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

The thing is, the Chinese Government has some serious real aspirations for world domination. They literally want to supplant the US as THE world power. And tik tok is very open exposing US citizens to propaganda if nothing else. On top of that Tik Tok literally admitted that their algorithm was used to try to spy on journalists and track down their sources. They claim it was a lapse of judgement. But that alone has terrifying implications. I don't use tik tok but my understanding is it still has data on me and other people like me because I know several people who use it.

All the other tech companies who are gathering data like this on their users are a problem. And the number of algorithms used by theses companies and their effect on the mental health of the users are also a problem. But the only reason the US government is going after tik tok is specifically because of its ties to the CCP.

https://www.welivesecurity.com/2023/03/24/what-tiktok-knows-you-should-know-tiktok/

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

Hah, I would assume they mean not beholden to a government that tracks its citizens with facial recognition, data mines its citizens' personal communications to arrest them before they can even organize a protest, and is run by a dictator who literally made it illegal to call him Pooh Bear.

The sphere that America exerts control over is not without its issues and is surely corrupt. But it is nowhere near as corrupt, oppressive, and lacking in individual freedom as China and the other contender for world domination. Unlike China, America has no social credit score enforced by an all-seeing mass surveillance mechanism where VPN's and other attempts to hide from it are strictly illegal. And while many Americans might be racist toward Muslims, the American government does not dehumanize them and force them into labor camps.

Your whataboutism is clearly just a Chinese troll, but I'll leave this comment as a reminder to others reading that there is zero equivalence.

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

Fuck em, hegemony is cringe and America can go fuck itself with whatever it wants to call "enemy states"

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

Finally someone who understands the nuance here.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

What's bad for the goose is bad for the gander.

The line between corporations and governments is not so clear when it comes to what's in a citizens best interests.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It’s very clear tbh. The US corporations are beholden to a government that at least some of the time does what’s in the best interests of citizens, because it itself is at least somewhat beholden to the desires of its citizens. The exact degree to which those things are true can be blurry, and have at different points in history been more or less accurate.

A hostile foreign government on the other hand definitely, 100% confirmed in every case does not have your interests at heart. There is no one, not a single person in the Chinese government who has your best interests at heart, at any point in time. You have instead of distressingly little power over them, absolutely zero power over them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

The US government believes its hegemony over global surveillance and propaganda is dying. And it has to ban apps as an act of coping over their failures. They expect their puppet states around the world to follow suit.

FTFY

Honestly, Fvck em' both.