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Literally, any evidence at all. I’d even accept the word of a security agency, but there’s nothing besides the “strong beliefs” of some politicians.

lazyeye 4y ago
1. China operates the most sophisticated, comprehensive surveillance state in human history. 2. China is well known for running hacking campaigns against foreign adversaries (there are many examples of this). 3. Chinese companies by law are required to act under the direction of the CCP when requested. 4. It is well-established that TikTok harvests personal data way beyond what is required to target advertising or run a social media company. If you read up on espionage history, and consider the lengths nation states go to gain intelligence (e.g sending nuclear submarines to the bottom of the ocean to tap cables), the idea that China would not make use of one of the largest troves of personal data in human history, from their primary geo-strategic competitor, is ridiculously naive.
- olyjohn 4y ago
  Yeah and they don't even need TikTok for any of this. There are millions of apps built by Chinese companies already installed on millions of phones. I also have no doubt that they are also buying data from American companies who are selling it in bulk. If they really have so much power and intelligence, do you really think they'd put all their eggs into one app? They know that a ban of TikTok is totally possible, and have plenty of other things in place to harvest intelligence. I bet they are laughing at how we are all so scared of TikTok and wasting all of our time worrying about it.
  - lazyeye 4y ago
    Agreed. It would be good to take action across the entire spectrum of threats, but I'm struggling to understand the logic of "because there are a variety of threats, therefore no action should be taken against one of the biggest".
- guntars 4y ago
  If the issue is the CCP connection, why aren’t all Chinese apps banned? If the issue is the excessive data collection, why isn’t that banned, regardless of who does it? The most logical conclusion imo is that these reasons are simply bullshit.
  - lazyeye 4y ago
    What are the reasons for the CCP blocking all foreign media apps? I sometimes wonder what the long-term impact is going to be of allowing advocates for foreign powers to fully participate in Western conversations, whilst not even Chinese citizens (let alone foreigners) can advocate against their own govt in China.

lazyeye 4y ago

1. China operates the most sophisticated, comprehensive surveillance state in human history. 2. China is well known for running hacking campaigns against foreign adversaries (there are many examples of this). 3. Chinese companies by law are required to act under the direction of the CCP when requested. 4. It is well-established that TikTok harvests personal data way beyond what is required to target advertising or run a social media company. If you read up on espionage history, and consider the lengths nation states go to gain intelligence (e.g sending nuclear submarines to the bottom of the ocean to tap cables), the idea that China would not make use of one of the largest troves of personal data in human history, from their primary geo-strategic competitor, is ridiculously naive.

olyjohn 4y ago
Yeah and they don't even need TikTok for any of this. There are millions of apps built by Chinese companies already installed on millions of phones. I also have no doubt that they are also buying data from American companies who are selling it in bulk. If they really have so much power and intelligence, do you really think they'd put all their eggs into one app? They know that a ban of TikTok is totally possible, and have plenty of other things in place to harvest intelligence. I bet they are laughing at how we are all so scared of TikTok and wasting all of our time worrying about it.
- lazyeye 4y ago
  Agreed. It would be good to take action across the entire spectrum of threats, but I'm struggling to understand the logic of "because there are a variety of threats, therefore no action should be taken against one of the biggest".
guntars 4y ago
If the issue is the CCP connection, why aren’t all Chinese apps banned? If the issue is the excessive data collection, why isn’t that banned, regardless of who does it? The most logical conclusion imo is that these reasons are simply bullshit.
- lazyeye 4y ago
  What are the reasons for the CCP blocking all foreign media apps? I sometimes wonder what the long-term impact is going to be of allowing advocates for foreign powers to fully participate in Western conversations, whilst not even Chinese citizens (let alone foreigners) can advocate against their own govt in China.