6 ms·

What exactly is the national security risk with TikTok?

by schoolornot 6y ago

_jahh 6y ago
child forces parent to install tiktok so they can watch memes, parent works anywhere sensitive TT pwns that phone
mike503 6y ago
They’ll know all the social media patterns and likes of 14 year olds!
- bravo22 6y ago
  Or they can push narratives and stories to manipulate their audience? If the main search engine in a country was controlled by a foreign entity that would be cause for concern.
  - YarickR2 6y ago
    Like.. IDK...Google ?
    - bravo22 6y ago
      Exactly.
- triceratops 6y ago
  14 year olds grow up eventually and occupy important positions in society - judges, lawmakers, businesspeople and the like.
- dapids 6y ago
  And that is somehow acceptable?
  - dapids 6y ago
    thanks for the downvotes
- TheCuckedKing 6y ago
  Our pathetic ignorance is the reason the party that you and I will vote for will never win in America again in our lifetimes. We are cuck.
- sheeshkebab 6y ago
  An incident in 2020 where TikTok users apparently tanked some Trump campaign rally probably is a bit more practical preview what controlling recommendations and likes could let CCP do (eventually... if they were not involved this time around) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-tulsa.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-...
  - rgbrenner 6y ago
    I went to an Obama rally when he was running and just showed up.. no tickets. Got all the way to the front of the crowd. Another option is to charge a nominal fee for a ticket. Trump's problem was that he wanted to hand out free tickets over the internet. Just don't do that.. problem solved. If that's the limit of TikTok's power.. then I think we're going to be ok.
slimsag 6y ago
Information warfare - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_warfare#Books https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_warfare#Books
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  Given that the oldest item on that list is 1993, I'm going to say they were all written by newbies. (my current bibliography only goes back to 1919, but a historical survey in a mid-century work came up with biblical examples of information warfare.)
jtdev 6y ago
Mass behavioral data exfiltration... mass biometric data exfiltration (faces)... censorship of those critical of CCP within the U.S... psychological persuasion of the masses... etc., etc.
libraryatnight 6y ago
Propaganda. You don't have to bother making troll farm accounts to spread misinformation and sow doubt when you control the platform and can create and drip content you want into peoples feeds, and you know what they like, you're already serving them an addictive stream of content based on their behaviors.
- UncleMeat 6y ago
  What makes TikTok different than literally any other website in this manner?
  - guywhocodes 6y ago
    None really, the next Chinese successful "social media" platform will face the same treatment
  - mtrpcic 6y ago
    ...being controlled by the CCP is what makes it different. All of these sites/apps have the ability to shove propaganda in the faces of millions of people, only one of them is run by a government.
    - FpUser 6y ago
      And what prohibits any three letter agency hiring some intermediary and do the same thing on Facebook for example?
      - pessimizer 6y ago
        > hiring some intermediaries There's absolutely no need. Facebook cooperates with three-letter agencies, and we expect them to.
        FpUser 6y ago
        You seriously think that if one of those decided to influence election (for a greater good of course) you would expect direct cooperation of FB in the matter? I'd think that the guilty party should be prosecuted for doing things like that.
crumbshot 6y ago
I reckon it was probably just this: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-tulsa.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-...
- IfOnlyYouKnew 6y ago
  You may be right (and the publicity alone would be sufficcient for this thin-skinned lunatic), but... doesn't that story rest on somewhat tenuous logic? I. e. they claim to have reserved far more tickets than capacity would allow to attend. But that seems to demonstrate that tickets weren't limited by capacity. So how did their action prevent other people from getting tickets?
- rvz 6y ago
  > probably Please. Perhaps you didn't realise that they already launched an investigation before the Tulsa rally and also against FaceApp for the same reason: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50639443 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50639443 EDIT: Downvoters: So the concerns, investigation requests of both TikTok and FaceApp didn't occur in 2019 and for the former, the investigations didn't happen before the Tulsa rally? Are you sure? [0] [1] [0] https://www.cotton.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1239 https://www.cotton.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1239 [1] https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-cfius-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-opens-national-security-investigation-into-tiktok-sources-idUKKBN1XB4IL https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-cfius-exclusive/exc...
- rgbrenner 6y ago
  Yes, I've said it before. Trump will attack you for writing an mean article about him. But somehow people believe that Trump leaving a rally visibly upset because of actions by TikTok's users and him attacking TikTok literally 3 weeks later are unrelated events. They're definitely related. It's literally an action->response... and it fits Trumps modus operandi perfectly... he's done it numerous times.
LK83 6y ago
I think they are just angry that TikTok users trolled the Trump Tulsa Rally.
ekianjo 6y ago
What exactly is the risk of a single channel of information controlled by one of the worst governments on Earth, massively used by younger people who are in the age of voting? Are you sure you need an explanation?
- xvector 6y ago
  > a single channel of information You mean one channel out of hundreds? > controlled by one of the worst governments on Earth, As opposed to our current channels of information, that are controlled by billionaires that also couldn’t care less about Americans?
gpm 6y ago
Blackmail material gathered from it. Various forms of location data gathered from it, e.g. the location of any member of the military that uses it. Launching pad for zero days if China feels the need to root someones (or many someones) phones. Massive social graph, massive amounts of behavioral data. Useful, for doing things like identifying who was likely recruited by a spy agency or identifying potential assets that can be turned. Potential to pressure speech that China prefers, e.g. by rewarding popular creators with money only if they don't say things China likes, or by decreasing the reach of people who say things China dislikes. Potential for foreign control of the general trends of content people see. E.g. tweaking the algorithm so "it just happens" to suppress the potential to suppress topics china would prefer we didn't talk about (e.g. their "re-education" camps) or to boost topics they would prefer we did (likely things like political infighting). Most of these involve various levels of overtness. Many of them it probably only makes sense to start doing once you've captured the market (right now it's more important to onboard more people than to push a message). But I would view all of them as real threats if I was the US government.

What exactly is the national security risk with TikTok?

_jahh 6y ago

child forces parent to install tiktok so they can watch memes, parent works anywhere sensitive TT pwns that phone

mike503 6y ago

They’ll know all the social media patterns and likes of 14 year olds!

bravo22 6y ago
Or they can push narratives and stories to manipulate their audience? If the main search engine in a country was controlled by a foreign entity that would be cause for concern.
- YarickR2 6y ago
  Like.. IDK...Google ?
  - bravo22 6y ago
    Exactly.
triceratops 6y ago
14 year olds grow up eventually and occupy important positions in society - judges, lawmakers, businesspeople and the like.
dapids 6y ago
And that is somehow acceptable?
- dapids 6y ago
  thanks for the downvotes
TheCuckedKing 6y ago
Our pathetic ignorance is the reason the party that you and I will vote for will never win in America again in our lifetimes. We are cuck.
sheeshkebab 6y ago
An incident in 2020 where TikTok users apparently tanked some Trump campaign rally probably is a bit more practical preview what controlling recommendations and likes could let CCP do (eventually... if they were not involved this time around) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-tulsa.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-...
- rgbrenner 6y ago
  I went to an Obama rally when he was running and just showed up.. no tickets. Got all the way to the front of the crowd. Another option is to charge a nominal fee for a ticket. Trump's problem was that he wanted to hand out free tickets over the internet. Just don't do that.. problem solved. If that's the limit of TikTok's power.. then I think we're going to be ok.

slimsag 6y ago

Information warfare - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_warfare#Books https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_warfare#Books

082349872349872 6y ago
Given that the oldest item on that list is 1993, I'm going to say they were all written by newbies. (my current bibliography only goes back to 1919, but a historical survey in a mid-century work came up with biblical examples of information warfare.)

jtdev 6y ago

Mass behavioral data exfiltration... mass biometric data exfiltration (faces)... censorship of those critical of CCP within the U.S... psychological persuasion of the masses... etc., etc.

libraryatnight 6y ago

Propaganda. You don't have to bother making troll farm accounts to spread misinformation and sow doubt when you control the platform and can create and drip content you want into peoples feeds, and you know what they like, you're already serving them an addictive stream of content based on their behaviors.

UncleMeat 6y ago
What makes TikTok different than literally any other website in this manner?
- guywhocodes 6y ago
  None really, the next Chinese successful "social media" platform will face the same treatment
- mtrpcic 6y ago
  ...being controlled by the CCP is what makes it different. All of these sites/apps have the ability to shove propaganda in the faces of millions of people, only one of them is run by a government.
  - FpUser 6y ago
    And what prohibits any three letter agency hiring some intermediary and do the same thing on Facebook for example?
    - pessimizer 6y ago
      > hiring some intermediaries There's absolutely no need. Facebook cooperates with three-letter agencies, and we expect them to.
      - FpUser 6y ago
        You seriously think that if one of those decided to influence election (for a greater good of course) you would expect direct cooperation of FB in the matter? I'd think that the guilty party should be prosecuted for doing things like that.

crumbshot 6y ago

I reckon it was probably just this: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-tulsa.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-...

IfOnlyYouKnew 6y ago
You may be right (and the publicity alone would be sufficcient for this thin-skinned lunatic), but... doesn't that story rest on somewhat tenuous logic? I. e. they claim to have reserved far more tickets than capacity would allow to attend. But that seems to demonstrate that tickets weren't limited by capacity. So how did their action prevent other people from getting tickets?
rvz 6y ago
> probably Please. Perhaps you didn't realise that they already launched an investigation before the Tulsa rally and also against FaceApp for the same reason: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50639443 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50639443 EDIT: Downvoters: So the concerns, investigation requests of both TikTok and FaceApp didn't occur in 2019 and for the former, the investigations didn't happen before the Tulsa rally? Are you sure? [0] [1] [0] https://www.cotton.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1239 https://www.cotton.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1239 [1] https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-cfius-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-opens-national-security-investigation-into-tiktok-sources-idUKKBN1XB4IL https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-cfius-exclusive/exc...
rgbrenner 6y ago
Yes, I've said it before. Trump will attack you for writing an mean article about him. But somehow people believe that Trump leaving a rally visibly upset because of actions by TikTok's users and him attacking TikTok literally 3 weeks later are unrelated events. They're definitely related. It's literally an action->response... and it fits Trumps modus operandi perfectly... he's done it numerous times.

LK83 6y ago

I think they are just angry that TikTok users trolled the Trump Tulsa Rally.

ekianjo 6y ago

What exactly is the risk of a single channel of information controlled by one of the worst governments on Earth, massively used by younger people who are in the age of voting? Are you sure you need an explanation?

xvector 6y ago
> a single channel of information You mean one channel out of hundreds? > controlled by one of the worst governments on Earth, As opposed to our current channels of information, that are controlled by billionaires that also couldn’t care less about Americans?

gpm 6y ago

Blackmail material gathered from it. Various forms of location data gathered from it, e.g. the location of any member of the military that uses it. Launching pad for zero days if China feels the need to root someones (or many someones) phones. Massive social graph, massive amounts of behavioral data. Useful, for doing things like identifying who was likely recruited by a spy agency or identifying potential assets that can be turned. Potential to pressure speech that China prefers, e.g. by rewarding popular creators with money only if they don't say things China likes, or by decreasing the reach of people who say things China dislikes. Potential for foreign control of the general trends of content people see. E.g. tweaking the algorithm so "it just happens" to suppress the potential to suppress topics china would prefer we didn't talk about (e.g. their "re-education" camps) or to boost topics they would prefer we did (likely things like political infighting). Most of these involve various levels of overtness. Many of them it probably only makes sense to start doing once you've captured the market (right now it's more important to onboard more people than to push a message). But I would view all of them as real threats if I was the US government.