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This isn't unique to TikTok -- far from it. Tons of apps written by US-based developers and companies use SDKs that send data to China, as do lots of IoT device

This isn't unique to TikTok -- far from it. Tons of apps written by US-based developers and companies use SDKs that send data to China, as do lots of IoT devices. Plenty of American companies have engineering teams in China or countries with strong ties to China. Even if you set that aside, data brokers will sell data about every American to anyone, anywhere. The problem isn't with a single app, and banning a single app will allow policymakers to pat themselves on the back while ignoring the larger issue. (I co-wrote this piece.)

smt88 4y ago
> This isn't unique to TikTok -- far from it. So what? We shouldn't try to close the TikTok hole just because there are others? TikTok is also at least partly unique in that it repeatedly lied to regulators. > data brokers will sell data about every American to anyone, anywhere Data brokers still have less power than TikTok because TikTok can propagate influence campaigns. It's a black box with a bad actor operating inside of it. > Plenty of American companies have engineering teams in China or countries with strong ties to China. Which ones are as large and influential as TikTok? Which are able to algorithmically manipulate tens of millions of children without any external oversight? > banning a single app will allow policymakers to pat themselves on the back while ignoring the larger issue You could have made the same argument when they banned Huawei, and yet here we are: still not ignoring the larger issue. Banning TikTok would set a (good) precedent about consequences for lying about CCP affiliation and data exfiltration.