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Another way to look at it is the fact that China does not let American social media in its market. Why should America give China access to it's markets when tha
by Manuel_D 3y ago
Another way to look at it is the fact that China does not let American social media in its market. Why should America give China access to it's markets when that's not reciprocated?
- nova22033 3y agoTikTok is banned in China.
- Manuel_D 3y agoBut ByteDance, TikTok's owner, operates it's own analogous app in China, Douyin
- est 3y agoWhich means Tiktok was banned.
- Manuel_D 3y agoTikTok is Douyin with a different coat of paint. They're near identical apps run by the same company, ByteDance. It's not banned in China, it just has a different name.
- dotancohen 3y agoAnd different content, which is what matters.
- Manuel_D 3y agoSure, by virtue of China's stricter regulation of social media. But for all intents and purposes, Douyin is TikTok in China. Or rather TikTok is Douyin in the rest of the world outside of China.
- tsol 3y agoAmericans spend a lot of time complaining about artificial Chinese filtering. It makes sense they'd serve them different content.
- nova22033 3y agoWhy isn't TikTok available in China? Do you think it makes business sense to operate two different apps if they're "analogous"?
- Manuel_D 3y agoDouyin is TikTok in China. Or perhaps it's more appropriate to say that TikTok is the export version of Douyin. Reasons for having two apps are rife with speculation. One is that censorship in Douyin is more prevalent than on the export version (that one is pretty obvious). There's also speculation that the export version of Douyin has an algorithm tuned to be more addictive. But let's be clear, by ByteDance's own statements the two apps have shared management and technology.
- itishappy 3y agoAmericans claim to value open access to information. We could go even further and implement a copy of the great firewall of China, but should we?
- Manuel_D 3y agoNo, we shouldn't. Be we also shouldn't be schmucks that give market access that isn't reciprocated. Most free trade agreements work on reciprocity. We agree not to put tariffs on country X's cars because they agree not to put tariffs on ours. A ban is essentially an infinite tariff. If that's how a foreign country is going to treat American companies, why not respond in kind?
- itishappy 3y agoBecause it goes against one of our purported values. I'd hope that this action had some inherent merit (I'm not claiming it doesn't), and it's not just retaliation. Are we protecting America's trade interests with this bill? I don't think so...
- Manuel_D 3y agoWhat purported value is it going against? Allowing market access to countries that don't reciprocate is not one of our values. Nor is it one of China's. Or most countries, for that matter. When other countries erect tariffs, we usually respond on kind. And when we raise tariffs other countries - including close friends like Canada - they respond with their own tariffs against American imports too. You've got it backwards: reciprocal trade agreements are the norm not just in US politics but across the world.
- itishappy 3y agoFreedom of expression. Our government is banning a major platform that Americans use to access information. Are we doing this because they banned Facebook? Again, I don't think so.
- RobotToaster 3y agoThat's false, American social media simply refused to follow Chinese law. (I believe facebook specifically refused to remove accounts belonging to ETIM/TIP, an organisation recognised by the UN, EU and at the time the USA as a terrorist group)
- Manuel_D 3y agoIncorrect, Facebook is flat out banned in China no matter whether they comply with CCP censorship. I'm very interested in sources to substantiate the claim that Facebook is refusing to ban groups that even the US designates as terrorists.
- RobotToaster 3y agoHere's at least one source http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2014-10/02/content_18692790.htm http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2014-10/02/content_18692... Although I appear to be wrong that it was specifically what caused the block. I'd be interested to know the source of your claim that facebook wouldn't be allowed if it complied fully with Chinese law?
- Manuel_D 3y agoOne, this article was published years after Facebook was blocked in China so it can't be the cause of the block. Also, China daily is a propaganda outlet. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Daily https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Daily It's literally run by the "Central Propaganda Department".
- tw1984 3y agoZuckerberg tried damn hard to get his crap into China, he even asked the Chinese president Xi in person to name his unborn baby. He became quite "unfriendly" to China/CCP after all those efforts got him nothing in return.
- codedokode 3y agoSo if TikTok was fully sponsored by the govt and didn't show ads and didn't earn any profit in US, then it can continue operating in US?
- Manuel_D 3y agoYou can profit off of recording viewership patterns and activities, too. It's be very hard to prove ByteDance isn't doing that.