Bill to ban TikTok introduced in the House

[BioHawk]

Evidently it has bipartisan support and the White House is supporting it. I'm ambivalent and I think social media in general is a big part of the reason Democracies around the world are in trouble although I would be lying if I didn't get in a doom scrolling cycle when they pop up on Facebook or YouTube (although those are shorts and not actually TikToks....unless they were ripped from TikTok) However, it sure would be nice if someone explained some specifics about the dangers they are worried about other than "the Chinese government can get access to your information". If it is so dangerous it requires a ban they ought to be able to present some real examples of what they are talking about.

New House bill would require TikTok divest from parent company ByteDance or risk U.S. ban

There are growing fears the personal information TikTok devours from its users could fall into the hands of the Chinese government.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[jawatkins]

Meh. People should be able to choose how stupid they are.

 

[BioHawk]

Meh. People should be able to choose how stupid they are.

In general, I agree. However if there are real national security threats I can support doing something to protect ourselves from that. But they need to provide some examples to support the claim or otherwise they will be subject to a million conspiracy theories about what is "actually going on". Can they locate someone in Los Alamos and have their phone turn on and take pictures of whatever they are doing without their knowledge? Can they use it to help smart bombs with their targeting systems? Provide examples like that and I bet not many people will complain about it. Except for the people who use it to make money.

 

[ButtersHawk]

Isn't this like the 37th time this has been proposed?

 

[jawatkins]

In general, I agree. However if there are real national security threats I can support doing something to protect ourselves from that. But they need to provide some examples to support the claim or otherwise they will be subject to a million conspiracy theories about what is "actually going on".

Man, if you have a Chinese made device on your WiFi network they can change it to a destruction/attending device fast. Not all of them, apple and google mostly have a lock, but those random cheap devices can turn around fast.

 

[BioHawk]

Man, if you have a Chinese made device on your WiFi network they can change it to a destruction/attending device fast. Not all of them, apple and google mostly have a lock, but those random cheap devices can turn around fast.

I'm not up to date on the lingo. What do you mean by a "destruction/attending device"? I can imagine a few different things for what those might be.

 

[BioHawk]

Isn't this like the 37th time this has been proposed?

I think this time the Bill has actually made it to the floor though.

 

[SI_NYC]

Meh. People should be able to choose how stupid they are.

The decision to potentially prohibit TikTok and other social media platforms arises from concerns about their potential to shape public opinion and influence large audiences. The ownership of TikTok by China further complicates the matter, as it raises significant national security and geopolitical implications. China has previously restricted access to American social media within its borders, recognizing the influence these platforms can wield over public perception. In my view, this potential prohibition represents a strategic and prudent measure, safeguarding against undue external influence and potential security risks.

 

[alaskanseminole]

Meh. People should be able to choose how stupid they are.

This isn't about how its used, it's always been about its vulnerabilities. There isn't a cyber analyst worth a crap that has that thing installed on their phone. "There are growing fears the personal information TikTok devours from its users could fall into the hands of the Chinese government."

Americans reaction to NSA:

Americans reaction to Chinese owned TikTok:

 

[jawatkins]

I'm not up to date on the lingo. What do you mean by a "destruction/attending device"? I can imagine a few different things for what those might be.

Your network can be captured and used without you knowing or just shutdown. It can also be used to assist a ddos attack if you connect a compromised device.

 

[alaskanseminole]

I'm not up to date on the lingo. What do you mean by a "destruction/attending device"? I can imagine a few different things for what those might be.

Your device gets to become part of a botnet (swarm) as part of a DDoS attack. Good times for sure.

 

[BioHawk]

Your device gets to become part of a botnet (swarm) as part of a DDoS attack. Good times for sure.

Ah, ok.

 

[TennNole17]

This isn't about how its used, it's always been about its vulnerabilities. There isn't a cyber analyst worth a crap that has that thing installed on their phone. "There are growing fears the personal information TikTok devours from its users could fall into the hands of the Chinese government."

Americans reaction to NSA:

Americans reaction to Chinese owned TikTok:

Curious what China wants to know about me, or my phone habits?

**Keep in mind- I don’t care my phone spies on me if it means I get more relevant ads

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

The decision to potentially prohibit TikTok and other social media platforms arises from concerns about their potential to shape public opinion and influence large audiences. The ownership of TikTok by China further complicates the matter, as it raises significant national security and geopolitical implications. China has previously restricted access to American social media within its borders, recognizing the influence these platforms can wield over public perception. In my view, this potential prohibition represents a strategic and prudent measure, safeguarding against undue external influence and potential security risks.

If that’s the criteria, Musk is a bigger threat than the Chinese.

 

[hydro2.0]

I am all for banning all social media

 

[GOHOX69]

Ban all social media. Works for me.

 

[TennNole17]

Ban all social media. Works for me.

Go back to handing out AOL cd’s with 100 minutes of internet time (for kids)

Adults still need our pron

 

[GOHOX69]

Go back to handing out AOL cd’s with 100 minutes of internet time (for kids)

Adults still need our pron

But pron ain't social media. Keep the websites.

 

[alaskanseminole]

Curious what China wants to know about me, or my phone habits?

**Keep in mind- I don’t care my phone spies on me if it means I get more relevant ads

I've got several opinions on all this privacy stuff but in no particular order of importance:

• With regards to China, I'd be more concerned that they brick my phone/PC/IoT device or use it as a bot. China and Russia would simply use my personal data to clone me for use in their malign influence campaign as opposed to good old fashioned identity theft.
• I'm not concerned with identity theft. Most financial institutions detect suspicious or fraudulent activity before I do and handle it.
• Most Americans aren't concerned with the above either. What they are concerned about is privacy. Imagine every conversation Alexa recorded in your home released. Or every email you sent...the one you forgot about from 10 years ago. We're all just hopeful that the of the petabytes of data out there, ours will just get purged.

 

[IAFB2021Champs]

Meh. People should be able to choose how stupid they are.

In general I would like to agree. But I have no doubt in my mind that social media is a big reason for school shootings, bullying and other stupid shit.

If you don’t believe me, then why are a large chunk of school shooters broadcasting live or sending something out on social media before they shoot up the place.

 

[jawatkins]

Go back to handing out AOL cd’s with 100 minutes of internet time (for kids)

Adults still need our pron

They don’t need to give one an iota about you. Sometimes it’s just about power. You’ve seen the robot Downey films? In one he has many suits. You’re one suit, china wants millions.

 

[SoDakHawk]

We don't really need TikTok when we have Instagram Reels. Just ban the Chinese infiltration device and be done with it.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

I don't use Tiktok but isn't banning websites and media from other countries something that authoritarian governments do???

The decision to potentially prohibit TikTok and other social media platforms arises from concerns about their potential to shape public opinion and influence large audiences. The ownership of TikTok by China further complicates the matter, as it raises significant national security and geopolitical implications. China has previously restricted access to American social media within its borders, recognizing the influence these platforms can wield over public perception. In my view, this potential prohibition represents a strategic and prudent measure, safeguarding against undue external influence and potential security risks.

So China an authoritarian government controls the content it's citizens can access so we should do the same thing and that's somehow something a democratic nation with free speech rights does????

I don't think we should be copying China.

 

[ItsinourDNA]

I don't use Tiktok but isn't banning websites and media from other countries something that authoritarian governments do???



So China an authoritarian government controls the content it's citizens can access so we should do the same thing and that's somehow something a democratic nation with free speech rights does????

I don't think we should be copying China.

I hear you. On the flip side, however, you see how dumb the American electorate are as evidenced by 70 million plus voting for Trump last election and him gaining steam now...after everything. Feeding the masses disinformation, convolutiing our issues and making people determined to "fix" our country could very well lead to its downfall. How many tens of millions of people convinced they need to "save" our democracy by destroying it do we actually need for it to happen?

 

[DeangeloVickers]

I hear you. On the flip side, however, you see how dumb the American electorate are as evidenced by 70 million plus voting for Trump last election and him gaining steam now...after everything. Feeding the masses disinformation, convolutiing our issues and making people determined to "fix" our country could very well lead to its downfall. How many tens of millions of people convinced they need to "save" our democracy by destroying it do we actually need for it to happen?

Well at least you're honest enough to admit why you support this. It's facist and anti 1st ammendment but you're honest.
Banning tik tok and using China as the boogy man as the reasoning is typical political bs.
This is about government control of information. Period.
The government has their tentacles in fb/Instagram already, they don't tik tok so away it must go.

 

[SSG T]

Given who nows owns it, I'm more concerned X is sharing personal info with Russia.

 

[SSG T]

Ban all social media. Works for me.

Kill HROT?

 

[GOHOX69]

Kill HROT?

I meant the apps my friend.

 

[HawkinK.C.1]

Didn't Biden start a TikTok account recently?

 

[ItsinourDNA]

Well at least you're honest enough to admit why you support this. It's facist and anti 1st ammendment but you're honest.
Banning tik tok and using China as the boogy man as the reasoning is typical political bs.
This is about government control of information. Period.
The government has their tentacles in fb/Instagram already, they don't tik tok so away it must go.

I never said I support the banning of tic tok, I don't know enough about why they want it banned. I'm just saying you and ilk have bought into mass disinformation campaigns fueled by the enemies of this country. What happens to this country when enough lies about elections convince enough people?

 

[SoDakHawk]

I hear you. On the flip side, however, you see how dumb the American electorate are as evidenced by 70 million plus voting for Trump last election and him gaining steam now...after everything. Feeding the masses disinformation, convolutiing our issues and making people determined to "fix" our country could very well lead to its downfall. How many tens of millions of people convinced they need to "save" our democracy by destroying it do we actually need for it to happen?

I don't see this as having anything to do with disinformation or government controlled media and everything to do with China using TicTok as a tool to infiltrate, compromise, and cyber attack every system in the country. Who knows how deep they have code imbedded in that app and deep they are into all of our systems.

I don't see this as a "free speech" issue as there are so many other avenues for free speech for us to use.

 

[Moral]

I feel like a lot of this is because of lobbyists from US social medias trying to have the government kill their biggest foreign competitor.

 

[jneffer]

Didn't Biden start a TikTok account recently?

this is the evidence house republicans have been looking for

SOMEONE GET COMER AND JORDAN ON THE PHONE!

 

[SI_NYC]

I don't use Tiktok but isn't banning websites and media from other countries something that authoritarian governments do???



So China an authoritarian government controls the content it's citizens can access so we should do the same thing and that's somehow something a democratic nation with free speech rights does????

I don't think we should be copying China.

I meant we should be weary of a Chinese owned social media platform. I'd be fine to do away with all social media. It really isn't good for anyone.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

I meant we should be weary of a Chinese owned social media platform. I'd be fine to do away with all social media. It really isn't good for anyone.

Weary yes, but unless you can show an actual security threat, don't ban it.

I agree that social media isn't really good overall for the country. But neither is junk food, 40 oz sodas, cigarettes, alcohol and a whole bunch of other crap. Good luck banning all that stuff.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

I hear you. On the flip side, however, you see how dumb the American electorate are as evidenced by 70 million plus voting for Trump last election and him gaining steam now...after everything. Feeding the masses disinformation, convolutiing our issues and making people determined to "fix" our country could very well lead to its downfall. How many tens of millions of people convinced they need to "save" our democracy by destroying it do we actually need for it to happen?

I still don't believe in banning websites. If we're scared of free speech we might as well dump the first amendment and go full authoritarian.

I share your concern and disappointment about our fellow Americans and Trump. But I don't think any of that changes that we stick to our principles. Dumping principles when they are inconvenient or hard is what Trump cultists do. In fact the very thing that is most scary about this group is that they are completely lacking in principles other than Donald Trump is God.

 

[SI_NYC]

Weary yes, but unless you can show an actual security threat, don't ban it.

I agree that social media isn't really good overall for the country. But neither is junk food, 40 oz sodas, cigarettes, alcohol and a whole bunch of other crap. Good luck banning all that stuff.

I hear you. It's a slippery slope. China is America's biggest threat and it's concerning that they can control an app on millions of American's phones.

 

[SI_NYC]

I still don't believe in banning websites. If we're scared of free speech we might as well dump the first amendment and go full authoritarian.

I share your concern and disappointment about our fellow Americans and Trump. But I don't think any of that changes that we stick to our principles. Dumping principles when they are inconvenient or hard is what Trump cultists do. In fact the very thing that is most scary about this group is that they are completely lacking in principles other than Donald Trump is God.

Does free speech apply to foreign influence? I don't think so.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

Does free speech apply to foreign influence? I don't think so.

It shouldn't apply to bots making unsupported claims on social media but if that foreign government wants to make some claims or say something and you want to read about it than you can.

 

[BelemNole]

Sweet, do X next!