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While I think TikTok is a cesspool, Trump banning TikTok is a wild overextension of Federal power. How any "small gov't" conservative is okay with this, while o

While I think TikTok is a cesspool, Trump banning TikTok is a wild overextension of Federal power. How any "small gov't" conservative is okay with this, while over 1000 Americans are dying of COVID per day nonetheless, is beyond me. They need to educate Americans on the predatory nature of TikToks software and move along.

mnd999 6y ago
Looks like protectionism to me, something Trump has been keen on. I got the impression it was done to make it cheaper for an American acquisition, ensuring US companies continuing dominance over social media.
ehsankia 6y ago
> While I think TikTok is a cesspool Is that referring to the content or the company itself? I don't see how it's any more of a cesspool than any other social platform. Twitter? Facebook? Reddit? Every sufficiently large platform is filled with a very wide range of content, from great to awful. As a company, I do agree they have shady practices, but again, don't most other social media apps such as Facebook and the gang use similar tracking and data collection? Of course that's a low bar to compare to but I don't see why they're being singled out here.
- ken47 6y ago
  They're being singled out because they're from China, no?
  - Ygg2 6y ago
    So? China uses data it gathers to track down and arrest dissident (and/or ship them to organ harvesting/re-education camps). Last time I checked, Facebook isn't owned by US, and US doesn't reeducate their people in such a gut wrenching ways (pun intended).
    - buisi 6y ago
      Do you have a source on the organ harvesting?
      - Ygg2 6y ago
        There are several listed in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_transplantation_in_China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_transplantation_in_Chi... But the wait time for organs are suspiciously short. And the accusations of Falun Gong practicioners align with these.
- AnthonyMouse 6y ago
  > I don't see how it's any more of a cesspool than any other social platform. It actually is uniquely bad. A disproportionate amount of the content consists of the sexualization of underage girls. The way the thing is set up, there is some kind of audio, someone does a thing (usually a dance), and then other people try to do the same thing to the same sound. The audio is generally nonsense. One of the currently popular ones is a Russian cereal commercial (mepas zoo zoo zoo). Okay, fine. But then somehow the majority of the audio clips are misogynist or misandrist. Every other one seems to contain the N-word. And they're all catchy tunes that get played over and over and get stuck in your head. It's pretty messed up.
  - virtue3 6y ago
    It's also moderated to show pretty young kids (especially white). And actively tries to censor unattractive and disabled kids and anything against the CCP (on American users on American soil) https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/25/revealed-how-tiktok-censors-videos-that-do-not-please-beijing https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/25/revealed-...
  - Firebrand 6y ago
    TikTok has been skating by the issue of sexualizing young girls because it’s operated by a foreign company. Once an American company like Microsoft owns it...I think the nation will have another moral panic leading to protections that will take away what made TikTok popular in the first place.
  - ehsankia 6y ago
    I've been using TikTok for a year and I have not seen a single girl dance video in months. Not to say that those don't exist but there is far more content, yet people who've never used TikTok is just underage girls dancing to music. That's not too dissimilar than if I went to a subreddit dedicated to posting photos of barely legal girls, and claimed that's what reddit was all about. Similarly, Youtube also struggled with similar issues on its platform.
bryanrasmussen 6y ago
I dislike Trump (not as much as I disliked Bush, because I knew a lot of guys like Bush so I had something to focus my dislike on, and I don't know anyone like Trump) I'm not American but I did live there a long time. I agree the ban is some crazy stuff but: >How any "small gov't" conservative is okay with this, while over 1000 Americans are dying of COVID per day nonetheless, is beyond me. How is it the ban relates to people dying of Covid?
- khuey 6y ago
  Well the President is putting more effort into banning Tik Tok than fighting Covid at the moment.
  - bryanrasmussen 6y ago
    thanks, I wasn't following the logic.
  - virtue3 6y ago
    IMHO, his job is to deal with foreign entities, not fight Covid. He should/should've left that to health professionals and just backed them up.

mnd999 6y ago

Looks like protectionism to me, something Trump has been keen on. I got the impression it was done to make it cheaper for an American acquisition, ensuring US companies continuing dominance over social media.

ehsankia 6y ago

> While I think TikTok is a cesspool Is that referring to the content or the company itself? I don't see how it's any more of a cesspool than any other social platform. Twitter? Facebook? Reddit? Every sufficiently large platform is filled with a very wide range of content, from great to awful. As a company, I do agree they have shady practices, but again, don't most other social media apps such as Facebook and the gang use similar tracking and data collection? Of course that's a low bar to compare to but I don't see why they're being singled out here.

ken47 6y ago
They're being singled out because they're from China, no?
- Ygg2 6y ago
  So? China uses data it gathers to track down and arrest dissident (and/or ship them to organ harvesting/re-education camps). Last time I checked, Facebook isn't owned by US, and US doesn't reeducate their people in such a gut wrenching ways (pun intended).
  - buisi 6y ago
    Do you have a source on the organ harvesting?
    - Ygg2 6y ago
      There are several listed in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_transplantation_in_China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_transplantation_in_Chi... But the wait time for organs are suspiciously short. And the accusations of Falun Gong practicioners align with these.
AnthonyMouse 6y ago
> I don't see how it's any more of a cesspool than any other social platform. It actually is uniquely bad. A disproportionate amount of the content consists of the sexualization of underage girls. The way the thing is set up, there is some kind of audio, someone does a thing (usually a dance), and then other people try to do the same thing to the same sound. The audio is generally nonsense. One of the currently popular ones is a Russian cereal commercial (mepas zoo zoo zoo). Okay, fine. But then somehow the majority of the audio clips are misogynist or misandrist. Every other one seems to contain the N-word. And they're all catchy tunes that get played over and over and get stuck in your head. It's pretty messed up.
- virtue3 6y ago
  It's also moderated to show pretty young kids (especially white). And actively tries to censor unattractive and disabled kids and anything against the CCP (on American users on American soil) https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/25/revealed-how-tiktok-censors-videos-that-do-not-please-beijing https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/25/revealed-...
- Firebrand 6y ago
  TikTok has been skating by the issue of sexualizing young girls because it’s operated by a foreign company. Once an American company like Microsoft owns it...I think the nation will have another moral panic leading to protections that will take away what made TikTok popular in the first place.
- ehsankia 6y ago
  I've been using TikTok for a year and I have not seen a single girl dance video in months. Not to say that those don't exist but there is far more content, yet people who've never used TikTok is just underage girls dancing to music. That's not too dissimilar than if I went to a subreddit dedicated to posting photos of barely legal girls, and claimed that's what reddit was all about. Similarly, Youtube also struggled with similar issues on its platform.

bryanrasmussen 6y ago

I dislike Trump (not as much as I disliked Bush, because I knew a lot of guys like Bush so I had something to focus my dislike on, and I don't know anyone like Trump) I'm not American but I did live there a long time. I agree the ban is some crazy stuff but: >How any "small gov't" conservative is okay with this, while over 1000 Americans are dying of COVID per day nonetheless, is beyond me. How is it the ban relates to people dying of Covid?

khuey 6y ago
Well the President is putting more effort into banning Tik Tok than fighting Covid at the moment.
- bryanrasmussen 6y ago
  thanks, I wasn't following the logic.
- virtue3 6y ago
  IMHO, his job is to deal with foreign entities, not fight Covid. He should/should've left that to health professionals and just backed them up.