Close to half of American adults favor TikTok ban, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows

...then they aught to ban every app with user generated content. YouTube might be the biggest propaganda vector we have right now, and the powers that be would not be able to tell which nation is pumping out anti-us videos due to it being so easy to lie about stuff like that.

That's quite a bad response if that's really the reason. If they're worried about propaganda, the best defense against it is education on what is propaganda, and how to spot it, not banning a single vector of it when so many others exist already.

This only supports my theory that this is red-scare nonsense (though please let me know if I misunderstood, I really do want to understand)

I don't disagree with that which is why I'm currently in the "this is red-scare" camp. If Washington (more specifically, the NSA and friends) hadn't been buying our data to peruse via the lax privacy laws we currently have, maybe they'd have a leg to stand on with any of this...

The exact same shit, it's just what continent it's stored on.

Well I mean, that does make sense. I still believe tiktok [https://youtu.be/Ti8v4eL8oIE](really is a bit of spyware) (sorry for the longish YouTube video) but that could definitely be a contributing factor to this case

I think the paranoia is what I was looking for, so thank you for delivering!

For the most obvious: idk, I think people should generally have a healthy distrust of those in government positions. Maybe ideally not, but in reality, it's necessary to not be taken advantage of by any manner of power hungry people. If tiktok half truths inspire someone to start actually looking at what xyz government has done, then that's a win in my book. If they just eat the half truths as is straight from tiktok, that's when there's a problem, but that's what my "why don't they educate people on how to spot propaganda" is to address.

Less reasonable: I think people should be allowed to do what they want to do long as it doesn't infringe on the health and safety of another. I guess you can split hairs about it decreasing health due to people working out less or something like that, but I don't think that's a good enough reason for government action.

Unreasonable: this actually seems the most reasonable to me, believe it or not. Military people posting the wrong thing at the wrong time from even a personal account can and has had bad effects on security before. That's why I would support a ban of any spyware-like app on government devices and on military bases (this was originally only support for a ban on gov devices, but I think if we're thinking about security, banning it in places where leaks may cost lives makes sense)

As for the endless possibilities of leveraging mental illness knowledge of a user, I'm afraid I can't imagine what one could do. The only time I can imagine that would really matter is if China takes over the US and goes full genocide on the population. I think the world would go down in nuclear flames before that would happen though...

Unfortunately I literally can't imagine anything convincing coming out of the US's mouth given that case. It's not like we can Manchurian candidate sleeper cells in Russia using our influence, and I'd argue China also has similar limitations.

The worst I can imagine is "us bad" with a lot of easily disprovable half truths that only stand for idiots who believe whatever tiktok gives them. And if the politicians who support this ban are arguing that most Americans are like that, then they'd better be pushing for better education or else they are also nefarious (because why else would they want people to be susceptible to propaganda, but not XYZ's propaganda?)

I guess maybe my issue now is that it almost seems that republicans are trying to do their own propaganda machine, but are incensed that China might be stealing morons who are, as another commenter put it, ripe for radicalization. But that doesn't seem right because I'd be surprised if they didn't also have a bunch of outreach shit through tiktok.... Idk, this is already delving into conspiracy theory territory so I'm gonna just stop myself here.

But all in all, I totally agree with your last paragraph, especially "if you don't like it, then don't use it".

I had it for two days and I spent over 36 hours on the app.

So that justifies the federal government stepping in to save you from yourself? Should we have a War on Algorithms next? War on drugs has been going swimmingly.

I can't disagree with an opinion like that coupled with an anecdote like that.

I disagree that it's the federal government who should be stepping in to limit screen time though.

In fact, tiktok is the only app I've seen that has a "why don't you go touch grass" timer, so in that regard, it's got less nefarious design patterns than, say, Facebook.

I don't think I understand what you mean by dangerous in this context, honestly. When I think danger, I think of bodily harm. What does your definition of dangerous entail when it comes to social media apps that physically can't cause harm? Is my understanding of danger too simplistic?

Hmm... I hadn't thought about it like that, that actually makes it make sense in a roundabout way. I'll keep that one in the back of my head for now...

I'm not saying that's not concerning (it's why I won't use it). I think what they can do with widespread analytics and pseudonymous data collection is... potentially impactful in ways we can't foresee.

But the Bill of Rights does not only apply to US citizens. And targeted bans are just a tool of government censorship that I'd rather not see wielded by politicians. I think the only reason it's targeted is because they either don't have evidence of the negative behavior or they're unwilling to ban the it because it would impact domestic platforms.

But in that case, it would be a far better option to ban anyone from placing keyloggers on your computer and GPS trackers in your clothing, because that not only stops Steve from doing it, but also Steve's cousin Alex, and anyone else who would want to do so.

I had never heard of Wolf Warrior, looks sick! Thanks!

again? 🤨

6.5/10

It's just so sad that Bli$$ard shafted the game so hard. It had so much promise. Not the same repetitive shit like in League, actual variety with different maps and game modes and stuff. Truly one-of-a-kind game.

Then where's the call to ban apple products? They famously defied the FBI's call for a backdoor during a terrorist investigation after all. Apple's actions have proven themselves to be more resistant to regulatory actions than frickin tiktok which actually proposed letting an American company host and oversee tiktok's infrastructure and data collection for the USA as a solution to such concerns.

It's probably exactly this. There's no inherent danger to tiktok compared to any other shitty data gathering corporation.

How is standardizing privacy law incompatible with cool shit?

Yeah the only proper solution is using fucking headphones around people. Like, some people really have no manners. If you're gonna listen to that shit on your phone speakers might as well get a proper bluetooth speaker and entertain the entire city with that brainrot.

Weren’t what?

Do you favor other platforms over it or think they should all go?