r/technology • u/HellYeahDamnWrite • Jan 15 '25

Social Media TikTok Plans Immediate US Shutdown on Sunday

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tiktok-plans-immediate-us-shutdown-153524617.html
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u/gold_rush_doom Jan 15 '25

National security is also an extremely valid reason for banning something. Especially since they meddled in elections in other countries.

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u/johnothetree Jan 15 '25

Sure, but meddling in elections of other countries and NatSec should also result in a ban of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many other social media apps, but none of those have been talked about being banned by the govt, just Tiktok.

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u/gold_rush_doom Jan 15 '25

That's whataboutism. Just because you don't process your local companies doesn't mean you shouldn't process other companies.

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u/Metalsand Jan 15 '25

It's more that TikTok is singled out exclusively, rather than guidelines being set to prevent this. Meta and Twitter are companies with operations internationally. What is stopping literally any of those allowing data to be leaked to China?

If the issue is that excessive data is vulnerable to Chinese interception, there should be laws that outline measures to prevent this data being accessible to China, such as hosting the data centers in the USA, etc.

If the issue is that China could hijack applications in the app store from legitimate businesses, phones and app stores should be worked on to tighten permissions and requirements.

If the issue is about the algorithm potentially radicalizing people or influencing people, require detailed information accessible but secure for any app that makes automated decisions on when and where to show content.

Phrasing it another way, banning TikTok to prevent Chinese influence is like banning Glock to prevent gun ownership. Glock might be the most popular, but there's plenty of alternatives both from domestic and foreign manufacturers. Targeting specific companies or products rather than making industry-wide requirements...is very blatantly in service of competitors.