yeah this bill is not about tiktok at all. they're just using tiktok as an excuse to setup internet censorship for the future

So when are we shutting down Facebook for their 2016 targeted ad campaign specifically meant to fuck with an election?

Don't use TikTok, don't really care too much either way, but watching this whole thing unfold is starting to open my eyes to the ways these companies can shape public opinion.

They're apparently sending notifications to people to contact their reps and it seems very likely that they're promoting content that advocates against the ban.

I'm not a fan of censorship or blocking internet services but TikTok really seems to trying to make a good case for it.

As an Australian who gets bombarded by the US point of view and agenda from their tech companies - I think America could do with an outside influence undermining the government's point of view.

As the post points out - the US government is doing an incredibly shitty job looking out for its citizens, and if they were afraid of a propaganda machine holding them accountable and creating civil unrest it might be for the best.

It's just a shame the power that owns the means to do that happens to be china. I wonder if things will return to normal once the citizens pack away the guillotine

Deep down, every one of us knows tik tok is a power nobody can or should be trusted with.

I disagreed with you up until this point. You're exactly right about this.

The problem is that nobody should have this kind of power. But our government thinks this kind of power is just fine as long as it's a US company they can control.

If nobody should have this power than nobody should have this power. Not China. Not Musk. Not Zuckerberg. NOBODY.

But we have a feckless, ineffective government written by racists 250 years ago and this is literally all they can do.

American social media companies are also controlled by foreign powers. I have no interests in common with the ultra wealthy and massive corporations that control this country. They are just as foreign to me as anyone in another country. I trust them less than I trust TikToc.

Because the bill lets them ban anything that they want, not just TikTok. All the have to do is assert “foreign influence” and they can block, censor, or force sale to “American interests”.

Basically these motherfuckers are doing their best to make it so you only see, hear, and read what they want. And if that’s not actually their intent, they’re leaving the door wide open for the next guy to do it.

willing to build a chinese firewall for themself, it will be impossible to keep people from using TikTok via VPN.

A majority of people probably won't bother and just move on. A decent chunk, 30/40% maybe but that still leaves a 70/60% reduction and it's influence permanently neutered so the gov will still see it as a win

I did hear a solid counter point recently.

All American social media is banned in China. Effectively, if we don't do something like this, the Chinese social media becomes the biggest (because they restrict ours but we wouldn't restrict theirs).

Mafia shit or international power politics shit.

The danger here is they could do this to Facebook or Instagram in other countries (eg India)and use this as a precedent. I'm not sure India wants to pick that fight with the US, but this is all a weird game that's being played.

But yes, on the surface, and the immediate impact, this seems like such a fucking dumb tone deaf thing that our legislature pushed through without most Americans wanting this.

Tell that to Ukraine funding

Don't leave out healthcare inflation. It's as bad or worse than housing inflation, but it's easy to forget until you need it.

Someone is going to see this and downvote you because they saw you use the word "liberal" negatively and immediately think you're a right-winger or something.

But yeah, if the media outlets would understand that "the economy" (rich peoples yacht money) is based on garbage metrics, maybe they wouldn't act so offended when people call them out on it

There's like 8 recent 'genocide emergencies' declared by Genocide Watch not including Palestine and Ukraine

Should have said while approving/enabling of a genocide.

The current administration has vetoed multiple UN drafts for a conflict resolution over Gaza as well as other UN resolutions proposed. We're still sending the Israelis weapons. Neither congress nor the current administration care.

To answer your question just about as angry as any other major social media is about it these days? Right now the sentiment on TikTok is very strongly anti Isreal and outrage over the current genocide. I don't know why you just assume they're all over there praising China or whatever. China doesn't come up there any more than here or other social media. China has their own version of the app where I assume their own censorship is applied.

Unless you want to pretend that lemmy or other social media is actively discussing the Uyghurs right now I don't think this is a very valid point. You're just using their suffering to feel superior when you probably haven't even thought about them in who knows how long before now. You can search for them in TikTok and there are plenty of videos criticizing China about it.

It's not hard to be informed and it's incredibly hypocritical of you when you couldn't even be bothered to fact check your own assumptions.