TikTok Ban

[Rax Moscow]

It's much bigger than media dominance though. It's the single fundamental right all Americans have, above any other, being taken away, without discussion, and really without even much protest. It's the invalidation of our Constitution (and the US Constitution is much more important politically to Americans than it would be in Europe.)

It's far more dangerous than if the government just did away with elections, confiscated all guns, raided our bank accounts, or outlawed religion.

The importance of this cannot be minimized.

 

[paternos]

It's much bigger than media dominance though. It's the single fundamental right all Americans have, above any other, being taken away, without discussion, and really without even much protest. It's the invalidation of our Constitution (and the US Constitution is much more important politically to Americans than it would be in Europe.)

It's far more dangerous than if the government just did away with elections, confiscated all guns, raided our bank accounts, or outlawed religion.

The importance of this cannot be minimized.

The US has always had a different approach to censorship than let's say the Germans and the Communists.

The Germans and Communists forbade certain publications.

The US has always minimized and mocked or secretly bought / cancelled unwanted publications. Shaming certain thought. Soft power over hard power.

It's the same censorship though in the latter case, the people believe they are free.

In reality they are not. I would say it's even more dangerous, as their perceived freedom makes they are more gullible than the people in Russia.

Most of the people in the USSR knew they saw propaganda, and strongly distrusted the state, that's very different in the West.

I would welcome real censorship as it makes real clear what the state doesn't want us to think and say. I though doubt anything will happen. The current censorship approach contributed greatly to the strength of the empire.

The people believe they are free, but they are not.

 

[MusicForThePiano]

The Great Noticing continues!

"The Real Reason for the Tik Tok Ban push"

 

[italianstallion9]

 

[TruckDriver9]

 

[Pointy Elbows]

This one is particularly enjoyable to me, as a middle aged normiecon woman I know is hooked on tiktok. She's an Israel kneejerk supporter, so this is driving some real cognitive dissonance. She was complaining about "they're trying to ban tiktok" before the latest flare up.

I wonder if they'll have to disclose who the primary investors in the eventual TikTok deal are.

 

[Bird]

ByteDance Says They’re Not Going to Sell TikTok​

Washington has gotten themselves into a stupid situation by forcing through this bill to ban TikTok unless it is sold to a non-Chinese company.
This is going to make people very angry, and it is going to make the US look retarded when it goes around accusing other countries of not having enough freedom. TikTok is the most popular app.
BBC:

TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance says it has no intention of selling the business after the US passed a law to force it to sell the hugely popular video app or be banned in America.
“ByteDance doesn’t have any plans to sell TikTok,” the company posted on its official account on Toutiao, a social media platform it owns.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC.
Earlier this week, TikTok said it would challenge in court the “unconstitutional” law.
The statement from ByteDance came in response to an article by the technology industry website The Information that said it was exploring the potential sale of TikTok’s operation in the US without the algorithm that powers it.
“Foreign media reports of ByteDance selling TikTok are not true,” the company said in the post, which included a screen shot of the article with the Chinese characters meaning “false rumour” stamped on it.
The sell-or-ban measure was signed into law by US President Joe Biden on Wednesday.

I knew that the Chinese would at least play chicken with Washington on this. Politically, it would be better to just let them ban it, as this is going to cause outrage and distrust of the US government. Of course, TikTok is not run by the Chinese government, and ByteDance is a private company which would presumably make more money by selling than allowing it to be banned.
If I had to guess, I would think the US will back down on this. It’s just too nutty, to claim to be this freedom country that has a right to invade other countries and force freedom on them, while you’re banning the most popular social media app.
But the US is becoming increasingly brutal in its lawlessness. The shutdowns of these pro-Palestine protests by paramilitary cops are a totally extreme disregard of basic American law. Washington appears to be crossing a threshold and losing all interest in pretending that this is a free country.

 

[Thomas More]

ByteDance Says They’re Not Going to Sell TikTok​

Washington has gotten themselves into a stupid situation by forcing through this bill to ban TikTok unless it is sold to a non-Chinese company.
This is going to make people very angry, and it is going to make the US look retarded when it goes around accusing other countries of not having enough freedom. TikTok is the most popular app.
BBC:

I knew that the Chinese would at least play chicken with Washington on this. Politically, it would be better to just let them ban it, as this is going to cause outrage and distrust of the US government. Of course, TikTok is not run by the Chinese government, and ByteDance is a private company which would presumably make more money by selling than allowing it to be banned.
If I had to guess, I would think the US will back down on this. It’s just too nutty, to claim to be this freedom country that has a right to invade other countries and force freedom on them, while you’re banning the most popular social media app.
But the US is becoming increasingly brutal in its lawlessness. The shutdowns of these pro-Palestine protests by paramilitary cops are a totally extreme disregard of basic American law. Washington appears to be crossing a threshold and losing all interest in pretending that this is a free country.

After the way Twitter has defied Brazil and Australia, Tiktok has to stand up to the US in a similar way or lose face.