@BohemianBabe It is a legit security concern, and has always been. The question is being raised now because the U.S. has figured out only recently that China isn't really about mutual cooperation, similarly to how Europe/Germany found out the same about Russia only in 2022..
@Elessar All of these social media companies are a security concern. The only reason TikTok is being singled out is because the American companies are capitalizing on xenophobia.
@BohemianBabe disclaimer: I'm European so American social media are foreign for me, just like Chinese ones.
American ones are bound to respond to western rules, so when an issue arises consequences are felt: Cambridge Analytica, for instance, was struck down. Any and every violation or mispractice of TikTok instead goes simply unpunished: they don't care, they only have the Chinese govt to actually respond to and the Chinese govt directly owns the platform. The American govt doesn't own either Meta nor Twitter/X.
We can argue that not enough is done and that FB, "X" et al are still right-wing cesspools and I would agree with you, but it's a whole different story than allowing a foreign adversary get away with a state-controlled content distribution channel in our soil, also at the center of privacy scandals, and while when we're nearly at war with them (give them another few years and we'll get there).
Imagine if at the height of the cold war the USSR came over there, installed TV antennas / cables and operated a TV network. It's pretty much the same thing. It's absolute bonkers and it should've been killed long before it became this widespread.
The USA should make decisions based on its own interests like all the other countries. the only reason i asked because i was genuinely curious to know the motive not that I object to USA banning it . Regardless , if TikTok does get banned in USA it will for certain be banned in spite of Americans desire cuz most Americans do not want TikTok gone. As a Saudi Arabian , I don’t view USA any differently than I do China when it comes to their foreign affairs (their domestic affairs aren’t any of my concern) They’r two faces of the same coin Hence I do not bear special sentiment towards China that I don’t have for USA. USA is known for their foreign terrorism. Take how USA vetoed UN resolution to recognize Palestine as a state at the UN a few days ago despite major international approval.
Ur telling me you’re fine with importing almost everything from China including technology But draw the line when it comes on who has influence on social media? The thing is USA says TikTok pushes pro China sentiment but TikTok works with Algorithm. If you like cat videos u will see more cat videos If u like pro Israeli videos u will see more pro Israeli videos and so on It seems to me that it’s x , facebook and instagram that have more censorship And even human rights watch talked about it:
And while the CEO of TikTok refused to say his opinion on political conflicts Elon musk (owner of X) didn’t spare time to announce that he is a hardcore Zionist.
Anyways, The Chinese government doesn’t own TikTok . I mean TikTok itself is literally banned in China. And USA failed to produce evidence of bytedance providing data to the Chinese or communist party so far. It seems to be l claims supported with no evidence .
What I hate about the USA is that their disagreement with foreign governments or their interest in a certain region Makes them utilize methods that demonize the citizens of that country /region . For example , American people now are some of the biggest Chinese phobes. They literally are becoming more racist to the Chinese “people”. Same thing with the Middle East . Usa utilized their media and movie industry to demonize the middle eastern “people “ and we (the average people ) fell victim to invented Suffocating racism that is beyond repair. A lot of the times they even say things that aren’t even true and I have watched Fox News etc and gave them a fair shot.
China doesn’t give a shit about other countries or their human rights just like USA we get it . The only reason They’r doing what They’r doing in Africa is for exploiting their resources. The reason China has been trying to mediate peace between Iran and Saudi is because China wants to pull Saudi from American influence to Chinese influence . We know that . But at least China doesn’t act superior to everyone else “on the outside.” I have never heard of China meddling in Saudi affairs or badmouthing us. But Biden?
During his 2019-2020 elections Biden said he will make Saudi Arabia a pariah Then he flew to Saudi in 2022 asking for Saudi to increase oil production 😅 [media=https://tiktok.com/7121430350697450794]
Saudis even made memes about it like this one :
[media=https://tiktok.com/7354062353249340714]
Honestly Biden in general is an entire joke. Here is a video made by some Saudis making fun of Biden : [media=https://tiktok.com/7168245800085048582]
At least if USA wants to meddle anywhere for “human rights” concerns I’d appreciate it if they could be consistent and not hypocritical about it for their own political interests *cough cough * Israel.
@Moon3624 It's got nothing to do with human rights, let alone Palestine, it's merely about internal security.
Indeed think of like the USSR starting a TV network and airing anti-American stuff in America at the heights of the cold war, and tell me it wouldn't have been turned down.
@Moon3624 Nothing of that has anything to do with this thing, really, people just love to speak and make wild associations.
TikTok can be used by the Chinese government to target western with ad-hoc mediatic campaigns with the purpose of swaying large swaths of the population to vote a certain way that is convenient to their regime. It's a no brainer that something like that will get either heavily regulated or outright banned. It's also the reason why China itself preemptively banned FB, Insta, Whatsapp, Telegram and pretty much everything else you use on their soil.
The US gave China the option to sell the platform and not get banned, but they're refusing. If it'll get banned, blame China. Last but not least, if you start a corporation in Saudi Arabia, in Europe or in the US and target American audiences, you'll have to be compliant with American law or get shut down. I don't see why Chinese software should be an exception.
