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Why would we allow a hostile foreign power with whom we may be at war in a few years to have total control over a major part of the information diet of millions
by MajimasEyepatch 2y ago
Why would we allow a hostile foreign power with whom we may be at war in a few years to have total control over a major part of the information diet of millions of Americans? The Soviets wouldn't have been allowed to own NBC in the Cold War, and China shouldn't be allowed to own the modern-day equivalent.
The US won't own the company. Some non-Chinese private corporation will. The government won't be able to control the narrative on the app. If you disagree with that, just think about what would happen if Fox bought it: would a Democratic administration be able to have any influence whatsoever on the algorithm? No, of course not. It would be run by American citizens who are protected by the First Amendment.
(Also, I don't think it even has to be owned by an American company, just not a Chinese one.)
- Dalewyn 2y ago>a hostile foreign power with whom we may be at war in a few years I'm flagging this because while I agree China is a hostile power, it's detrimental to stoke the flames of war like this.
- MajimasEyepatch 2y agoHey, they're the ones who keep talking about invading Taiwan. Authoritarian regimes tend to be surprisingly honest about their intentions. Believe them when they tell you what they're going to do.
- no_wizard 2y agoThey’re the ones who have been stoking it for decades. Stealing trade secrets, forcing Chinese ownership of operations on companies to continue operating in China or they’d be forced to sell/shutdown and a host of other documented economic policies that are far more damaging than this to foreign companies in China. Honestly it’s shocking the US looked the other way for so long
- trashtester 2y agoThe possibility of war between the US and China within our lifetime is a known and all-to-realistic possibility, which has been public knowledge for a number of years. I don't agree that acknowledging that in any way stokes the flames of war. Having to tip-toe around the fact would be severely detrimental to the quality of discussion on HN, though.
- falcolas 2y agoChina doesn’t have total control, they have 20%. And they’ve indicated they are completely unwilling to sell that 20%. And given how small the US install base is compared to the rest of the world, it’s not an unreasonable stance to take.
- MajimasEyepatch 2y agoAs long as the leadership of Bytedance is in China, the CCP will always have the power to do whatever they want. And come on, their objections have nothing to do with the economics of a sale.
- falcolas 2y agoThe head office - leadership - is in Singapore, not China. Bytedance does have an office in China, but they also have one in the US (and most other countries they operate in).
- MajimasEyepatch 2y agoThat's not correct. Bytedance is headquartered in Beijing.[1] TikTok Ltd. has two HQs in Singapore and Los Angeles, but Bytedance is still the parent company. [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ByteDance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ByteDance [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok
- TMWNN 2y ago>And given how small the US install base is compared to the rest of the world, it’s not an unreasonable stance to take. US = 10% of users, but 50% of revenue.
- falcolas 2y agoTrue, but I don’t think it will matter. China is likely to take an ideological stance, just like the US is. It’s going to hurt the US more than China, especially with how close to the elections the ban will occur.