3 ms·

During COVID there was the whole ivermectin thing. It turns out ivermectin actually really does statistically improve COVID outcomes, but only in places where

During COVID there was the whole ivermectin thing. It turns out ivermectin actually really does statistically improve COVID outcomes, but only in places where it is common for people to have parasitic infections. So there is a truth, but there is also a greater more true truth. It might be true that TikTok was drumming up support for Israel and that's "why" it was banned. On the other hand, the genocide that is definitely happening in Gaza is (rightly) de-legitimizing to the ruling party in Washington and threatens to demoralize their voters, opening up the US to a candidate who has been very clear about ending democracy and constitutional rule. So while it could be that china supports Gaza in a meaningful way (which I very much doubt given their own genocides), it could also be that China is attempting to further agitate political divides and cause chaos. I find it much more believable that China is promoting those stories to hurt the US than to help Gaza.

nemothekid 3y ago
>it could also be that China is attempting to further agitate political divides One thing that always seems to be a given, and never challenged (in this narrative) is that China is "boosting" pro-palestine content. However, it seems to me that TikTok is working neutrally, "as designed", and that pro-palestine content is actually popular among TikTok's demographic. China isn't boosting pro-palestine content anymore than they do Love is Blind. I say this because Meta has been accused by the Human Rights Watch[1] of censoring palestine content, and banning TikTok here has subtle big brother vibes here. ByteDance may not "get with the program" and that spells trouble for American soft-power. It's interesting to frame American censorship this way; it's not that America is "censoring" anything, it's that $COUNTRY is "boosting" $CONTENT. [1] https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/12/21/metas-broken-promises/systemic-censorship-palestine-content-instagram-and https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/12/21/metas-broken-promises/...
- kelipso 3y ago
  I think TikTok is the only big social media platform that's not banning (or soft banning) pro-Palestine content. The content is all likelihood is organic and the bans basically result in TikTok being the platform that contains most of the pro-Palestine content.
arandomusername 3y ago
> China is promoting those stories to hurt the US than to help Gaza. Can you tell me why you think China promoting stories of Gazan citizens suffering, hurts the US?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- hayst4ck 3y ago
  The question isn't why the action would hurt the US, the question is what is the motivating ideology behind the action. I am open to believing it's to provoke engagement and therefore profit which makes TikTok no better than American social media and an agent that profits from the suffering of Gazans. I am open to believing it's to try to further drive dissatisfaction with our government that is wrongly supporting Israel (likely for realpolitik reasons that can't be openly discussed, which still don't justify our support of genocide). I am not at all open to believing it's because China has any empathy for Gazan citizens or belief that genocide is wrong. The "One Israel" policy robs Gazans of statehood. Lack of statehood is a key ingredient to genocide. China has the One China policy explicitly to rob Taiwanese of statehood and therefore make them vulnerable to genocide and/or justify their colonization efforts (as seen in tibet, xinjiang, and hong kong). It very well might be that the US government wants to be able to force their support for genocide and see TikTok as an agent of resistance. That is the small truth. The big truth is that TikTok is a credible threat to American security, a threat China sees as so big that they enacted a ban on foreign social media within their borders with a major and society effecting piece of engineering. The point is that TikTok is like a gun, it is a gun in our enemies hands. It is a gun in the hands of an enemy that is building an army to be used against us. It is a gun in the hands of an entity that has repeatedly and openly said they are willing to do the same thing Israel is doing to Gaza, to Taiwan. I strongly do not believe that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

nemothekid 3y ago

>it could also be that China is attempting to further agitate political divides One thing that always seems to be a given, and never challenged (in this narrative) is that China is "boosting" pro-palestine content. However, it seems to me that TikTok is working neutrally, "as designed", and that pro-palestine content is actually popular among TikTok's demographic. China isn't boosting pro-palestine content anymore than they do Love is Blind. I say this because Meta has been accused by the Human Rights Watch[1] of censoring palestine content, and banning TikTok here has subtle big brother vibes here. ByteDance may not "get with the program" and that spells trouble for American soft-power. It's interesting to frame American censorship this way; it's not that America is "censoring" anything, it's that $COUNTRY is "boosting" $CONTENT. [1] https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/12/21/metas-broken-promises/systemic-censorship-palestine-content-instagram-and https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/12/21/metas-broken-promises/...

kelipso 3y ago
I think TikTok is the only big social media platform that's not banning (or soft banning) pro-Palestine content. The content is all likelihood is organic and the bans basically result in TikTok being the platform that contains most of the pro-Palestine content.

arandomusername 3y ago

> China is promoting those stories to hurt the US than to help Gaza. Can you tell me why you think China promoting stories of Gazan citizens suffering, hurts the US?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
hayst4ck 3y ago
The question isn't why the action would hurt the US, the question is what is the motivating ideology behind the action. I am open to believing it's to provoke engagement and therefore profit which makes TikTok no better than American social media and an agent that profits from the suffering of Gazans. I am open to believing it's to try to further drive dissatisfaction with our government that is wrongly supporting Israel (likely for realpolitik reasons that can't be openly discussed, which still don't justify our support of genocide). I am not at all open to believing it's because China has any empathy for Gazan citizens or belief that genocide is wrong. The "One Israel" policy robs Gazans of statehood. Lack of statehood is a key ingredient to genocide. China has the One China policy explicitly to rob Taiwanese of statehood and therefore make them vulnerable to genocide and/or justify their colonization efforts (as seen in tibet, xinjiang, and hong kong). It very well might be that the US government wants to be able to force their support for genocide and see TikTok as an agent of resistance. That is the small truth. The big truth is that TikTok is a credible threat to American security, a threat China sees as so big that they enacted a ban on foreign social media within their borders with a major and society effecting piece of engineering. The point is that TikTok is like a gun, it is a gun in our enemies hands. It is a gun in the hands of an enemy that is building an army to be used against us. It is a gun in the hands of an entity that has repeatedly and openly said they are willing to do the same thing Israel is doing to Gaza, to Taiwan. I strongly do not believe that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.