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if tiktok were banned from the store, they could just publish an api and let 3rd party developers create client apps. an app store ban might even have the oppos

if tiktok were banned from the store, they could just publish an api and let 3rd party developers create client apps. an app store ban might even have the opposite of the intended effect. which would be pretty much on par as far as sanctions go.

prpl 4y ago
So ban any app that uses the API
- inconceivable 4y ago
  it sounds so easy, doesn't it? they've been trying to ban tiktok for 4 years now.
- fspeech 4y ago
  How? Apps will be created by US developers. Banning them would be infringing on their first amendment right. In addition no more excuses of TikTok doing something funny on user phones without their knowledge if the access is through third party apps.
cykros 4y ago
Given the user base for TikTok in the US, I don't think this is a likely issue, because this is not a group of people clamoring tenaciously to get something; rather, it is a group of people following the path of least resistance. If TikTok is suddenly gone from the app store, you're not going to see swarms of bored teenagers and soccer moms jailbreaking their iPhones to install some third party TikTok workaround; you're going to see them switch to Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts. TikTok's popularity, while in part fueled by the algorithm, is largely a matter of network effect. Sure, a small portion of the users may "stick it to the man" and go through the trouble of working around the ban, but it won't be anything close to a majority of the 150+ million users they currently have in the US. This is all also somewhat beside the point -- the bill in question here isn't bad because it bans TikTok; it's bad because it hands almost unfettered Internet censorship power to the executive branch and provides stiff penalties for workarounds such as VPN use to circumvent blocks. Which is why it's been called by some the USA PATRIOT Act 2.0.

prpl 4y ago

So ban any app that uses the API

inconceivable 4y ago
it sounds so easy, doesn't it? they've been trying to ban tiktok for 4 years now.
fspeech 4y ago
How? Apps will be created by US developers. Banning them would be infringing on their first amendment right. In addition no more excuses of TikTok doing something funny on user phones without their knowledge if the access is through third party apps.

cykros 4y ago

Given the user base for TikTok in the US, I don't think this is a likely issue, because this is not a group of people clamoring tenaciously to get something; rather, it is a group of people following the path of least resistance. If TikTok is suddenly gone from the app store, you're not going to see swarms of bored teenagers and soccer moms jailbreaking their iPhones to install some third party TikTok workaround; you're going to see them switch to Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts. TikTok's popularity, while in part fueled by the algorithm, is largely a matter of network effect. Sure, a small portion of the users may "stick it to the man" and go through the trouble of working around the ban, but it won't be anything close to a majority of the 150+ million users they currently have in the US. This is all also somewhat beside the point -- the bill in question here isn't bad because it bans TikTok; it's bad because it hands almost unfettered Internet censorship power to the executive branch and provides stiff penalties for workarounds such as VPN use to circumvent blocks. Which is why it's been called by some the USA PATRIOT Act 2.0.