TikTok and China (2 Viewers)

[Huntn]

I have a question about TikTok, if there is an ability to “spy” I’m not sure what that means other than the ability to do something like insert false narratives during election time or to blunt valid critiques of China through manipulation by agents of China which btw is a valid concern in all social media, and not just China but all foreign players if they are validly deemed hostile to the US (or apply this standard to any country on either end of the issue, as manipulator or manipulated).

For the former, ”spying” , I would think that programming experts would be able dissect the software and find the ability to spy, but for the latter which is a valid concern I am more sympathetic to the idea of banning China if there is a history of false narratives favorable to China, or detrimental to US elections being used to manipulate the sheep.

Is TikTok getting banned? CEO in for 'tough fight' defending Chinese ownership on Capitol Hill

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is headed to Capitol Hill for a political showdown over the fate of the popular short-form video app. Will TikTok be banned?

finance.yahoo.com

 

[superchuck500]

I just went on the app. Big red box that says Welcome Back! Thanks to President Trump you can access TikTok in the US again.

It had another sentence or so, I failed to take a screenshot and it only shows up the first time you opened the app today apparently.

This tells me that TikTok took itself down yesterday evening. And that there’s something rotten going on.

TikTok definitely took itself down - that’s clear. And Trump didn’t actually do anything as far as the law goes. So yeah, this appears to have been a stunt.

 

[superchuck500]

 

[superchuck500]

 

[Dragon]

So Marco Rubio - Trumps nominee for secretary of state were the sponsor of this ban in the senate and now Tik-tok is thanking Trump for not banning the app.... This was bi-partisan law, Seems like a little praise and underhand negotiations (most likely involving a deal where Musk get a share of TicToc and Trump gets a "donation) are all that Trump need to forget China spying on the US multiple times over the last few years...

 

[fooferdoggie]

So Marco Rubio - Trumps nominee for secretary of state were the sponsor of this ban in the senate and now Tik-tok is thanking Trump for not banning the app.... This was bi-partisan law, Seems like a little praise and underhand negotiations (most likely involving a deal where Musk get a share of TicToc and Trump gets a "donation) are all that Trump need to forget China spying on the US multiple times over the last few years...

Trump already got a donation thats why he started backing it months ago. I am sure he is getting more now.

 

[coldseat]

Trump hasn't even been sworn in and he's already turned the US into his buddy Putin's country, a mob boss ruled oligarchy where all the players pay their tribute. And with all the phony optics of China and North Korea. Lol, America is forked.

 

[J-DONK]

This entire situation is conserative grifting 101. You create an imaginary problem. You then solve that problem. Give yourself a big pat on the back, and talk about how awesome you are.

Now go buy my new meme coin.

 

[Neworleansfan]

This entire situation is conserative grifting 101. You create an imaginary problem. You then solve that problem. Give yourself a big pat on the back, and talk about how awesome you are.

Now go buy my new meme coin.

The ban wouldn’t have happened without the Dems though. They fell for it.

 

[J-DONK]

The ban wouldn’t have happened without the Dems though. They fell for it.

It's not the ban that's the issue. It's closing the service down at all. It was made clear that enforcement was completely up to Trump.

All that happened:

TikTok shut itself down
Comes up hours later thanking Trump.

 

[superchuck500]

It's not the ban that's the issue. It's closing the service down at all. It was made clear that enforcement was completely up to Trump.

All that happened:

TikTok shut itself down
Comes up hours later thanking Trump.

A new message tonight says we owe it to the efforts of Trump that TikTok is back.

He. Didn’t. Do. Anything!!

 

[MT15]

So Facebook, Meta and Instagram all have TikTok pages. And the photo editor on TikTok is evidently disabled with the Instagram CEO making a pitch on TikTok for their new photo-editor app.

I don’t know if this is true - but I’ve seen a couple videos from people claiming these are all new developments. And people speculating that Meta will be taking over TikTok.

Who knows? I just know one thing - Trump won’t be doing anything the ethical way. It will be all cronyism and under the table corruption.

 

[superchuck500]

 

[Lapaz]

I think China is already in the process of replacing TikTok with other apps owned by Bytedance. Tiktok didn’t seem to make much effort to sell its ownership. That tells me that the owners of TikTok don’t care about the app and were just pawns. That also tells me that China is expecting TikTok users to transition to their new app. It doesn’t want to lose access to those users, which would’ve stayed with TikTok had it been sold.

I don’t know what the threat is, but if users transition to another copy of TikTok, it seems like nothing will have been achieved. If the threat is real, which I tend to believe, then the law should’ve been written more broadly to outlaw all Chinese owned social media companies.

 

[superchuck500]

I think China is already in the process of replacing TikTok with other apps owned by Bytedance. Tiktok didn’t seem to make much effort to sell its ownership. That tells me that the owners of TikTok don’t care about the app and were just pawns. That also tells me that China is expecting TikTok users to transition to their new app. It doesn’t want to lose access to those users, which would’ve stayed with TikTok had it been sold.

I don’t know what the threat, but if users transition to another copy of TikTok, it seems like nothing will have been achieved. If the threat is real, which intend to believe, then the law should’ve been written more broadly to outlaw all Chinese owned social media companies.

60% of ByteDance is owned by non-Chinese investors.

 

[Lapaz]

60% of ByteDance is owned by non-Chinese investors.

How does that affect their independence? I know the case against TilTok hasn’t been made to the public, but the fact that over 75% of Congress voted to ban it, after being briefed, tells me the threat is real. I think the case should be made, but I don’t have problem with getting that explanation after the fact. I’m more concerned that the ban could be reversed without an explanation as well.

 

[superchuck500]

How does that affect their independence? I know the case against TilTok hasn’t been made to the public, but the fact that over 75% of Congress voted to ban it, after being briefed, tells me the threat is real. I think the case should be made, but I don’t have problem with getting that explanation after the fact. I’m more concerned that the ban could be reversed without an explanation as well.

The SCOTUS case explains some of it - Congress was apparently concerned that the algorithm is “in China” and Chinese law requires the company provide all sorts of information about users, data, etc on the platform.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-656_ca7d.pdf

 

[Lapaz]

The SCOTUS case explains some of it - Congress was apparently concerned that the algorithm is “in China” and Chinese law requires the company provide all sorts of information about users, data, etc on the platform.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-656_ca7d.pdf

That’s the unclassified portion. It could be just the concern that China will collect our private data, and they can use it to cultivate human assets, which is a serious concern, but I believe there are classified details that persuaded the vast majority of Congress. I don’t think the possibility would’ve been enough. If so, that same concern applies to the TokTok replacements. I know you said Chinese investors only own about 40%, but are they less susceptible than Toktok? If not, nothing is solved, unless the ban is expanded.

 

[Dragon]

Tik-tok and Europe

Background: data transfers out of EU only as an exception. In principle, companies are not allowed to transfer Europeans’ data outside of the EU. If, for whatever reason, they still need to do so, companies can rely on a number of exceptions (“derogations”). However, if companies just outsource data out of convenience, they must meet strict requirements to ensure the security of personal data. For countries like China, companies usually rely on “Standard Contractual Clauses” (SCCs). SCCs are a contract in which the Chinese recipient pledges to follow EU protections – even in China. For this to be allowed, companies must conduct an impact assessment to verify that Europeans’ data is secure in the destination country and that the SCCs are not conflicting with national laws that require access to data. Given that China is an authoritarian surveillance state, there is no adequacy decision and no company can provide such a guarantee. Chinese data protection laws do not limit the access by authorities in any way.

https://www.webtoffee.com/tiktok-pixel-gdpr-compliance/

https://noyb.eu/en/tiktok-aliexpress-shein-co-surrender-europeans-data-authoritarian-china

https://www.politico.eu/article/tiktok-fine-social-media-china-violate-children-privacy/