3 ms·

The entire premise is backwards. TikTok (and other surveillance apps) are what is the betrayal of the open internet. Banning TikTok alone will not fix it. Bu

by toss1 4y ago

The entire premise is backwards. TikTok (and other surveillance apps) are what is the betrayal of the open internet. Banning TikTok alone will not fix it. But, it is a good start. Banning everything from China would be a better start, considering the insane asymmetry the CCP enforces on everything, and the degree to which they consistently and systematically lie, cheat, spy, and steal from their trading "partners" in order to gain military advantage (and no, don't start with the false equivalency about US companies' surveillance capitalism; although it is also evil, it isn't even close to proportional). Yes, we've got to fix all of the exploitative surveillance, but banning technology seeded by another nation-state actor like CCP because of it's both data harvesting and asymmetric warfare capabilities does not threaten the open internet. And certainly, since CCP has banned most US technology because they won't do their dirty work of surveilling and spreading disinformation in their population, banning all CCP tech (which is all China tech) in response is a good step.

imiric 4y ago
Exactly. Most people don't realize that this isn't about free speech and banning some harmless meme videos, but about information warfare and protecting American citizens from hostile aggression. In the age of social media, information has been weaponized to an alarming extent, with the power to influence masses, incite violence and topple governments. Those Russian troll farms and Chinese bots and CCP shills aren't just doing this for the lulz; they're paid agents working for a government who's found that the easiest and cheapest way to harm your enemy is via the same channels they've built and opened for everyone to use. The East and West have been at war for decades now, and these operations no longer require sophisticated IT knowledge and expensive hackers; they only need thousands of agents willing to spread disinformation and propaganda on the internet. This sows division and panic, which eventually causes societies to crumble from the inside out. There's no doubt in my mind that the mass hysteria we've seen in the past decade has been stirred in part by foreign agents. I encourage everyone to watch this interview of a former KGB agent[1]. He explains the power of psyops and information warfare. This was well known and in widespread use in the 1980s. Imagine how sophisticated these operations have become today with the internet. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ol0M6P9LLY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ol0M6P9LLY

by toss1 4y ago

imiric 4y ago

Exactly. Most people don't realize that this isn't about free speech and banning some harmless meme videos, but about information warfare and protecting American citizens from hostile aggression. In the age of social media, information has been weaponized to an alarming extent, with the power to influence masses, incite violence and topple governments. Those Russian troll farms and Chinese bots and CCP shills aren't just doing this for the lulz; they're paid agents working for a government who's found that the easiest and cheapest way to harm your enemy is via the same channels they've built and opened for everyone to use. The East and West have been at war for decades now, and these operations no longer require sophisticated IT knowledge and expensive hackers; they only need thousands of agents willing to spread disinformation and propaganda on the internet. This sows division and panic, which eventually causes societies to crumble from the inside out. There's no doubt in my mind that the mass hysteria we've seen in the past decade has been stirred in part by foreign agents. I encourage everyone to watch this interview of a former KGB agent[1]. He explains the power of psyops and information warfare. This was well known and in widespread use in the 1980s. Imagine how sophisticated these operations have become today with the internet. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ol0M6P9LLY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ol0M6P9LLY