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Exclusive: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say
(www.reuters.com)
Call. Their. Bluff.
this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2024
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If you haven't black holed the entire tiktok domain at a router level by now, I'm not sure why.
Apparently the way TikTok manipulates and influences users is so powerful ByteDance doesn't want to disclose any of that information.
Even if that means they shut down their business completely in the US. Them considering giving up this big of a market is a very scary indication on how sofisticated and powerful their algorithm.
And ByteDance is basically controlled by the CCP.
It's an admission that running the business isn't the point of tiktok. It's an intelligence asset, if the intelligence asset is no longer viable there is no point operating the business.
TikTok hasn't shown themselves to be particularly politically savvy so far.
As popular and as well loved as their platform is, they are getting kicked in the ass by the powers that be.
I think their survival now is predicated on them finding more powerful allies.
I'm very surprised by this. I'd figured ByteDance had a final trick up their sleeve, some unscrupulous billionaire like Bobby Kotick who they could technically "divest" to while maintaining functional independence. Either they're incredibly confident in their legal team, or they're betting on popular protest to overturn the government's decision in the next year. Unfortunately for them, there's a global crisis currently ongoing that is a liiiittle bit more important to protest, and they might have to wait awhile.
Well, this is several anonymous sources talking about a preference, not an official statement making a hard commit.
That's fair. The reasoning is sound, I can certainly understand ByteDance's intention to keep the details of their algorithm a secret no matter what, but it's always a good idea to take any leak with a grain of salt.
What does everyone think about the TikTok ban?
Personally I think it's absurd. What happened to freedom of speech? Freedom of association? Free market capitalism?
If an American citizen wants to use a Chinese platform, why don't they have the right to?
I think the data collection stuff is a red herring. Real reason is that war is coming and they're preparing the online information space so they can more easily manipulate it. Sort of how they did a test run with covid. Banning misinformation and such.
They don't have such a friendly relationship with TikTok as they do with Google and Facebook, for example. Behind the scenes, the feds work with them to amplify or suppress certain types of speech.
If the sale doesn't go through, I don't see how this will eliminate whatever little bit of credibility the federal government has among the younger generations. 18~25 or so
nice but poor try, wumao.
If an American citizen wants to use a Chinese platform, why don’t they have the right to?
If a Chinese citizen wants to use an American platform, why don’t they have the right to?
I think it's amusing how you call me wumao, feeling proud of how clever you are, while advocating for the US to emulate China.
The ADL and Zionists wanted TikTok gone so they can indoctrinate Gen Z in the art of suepporting apartheid without distractions from the reality based community.
Regarding freedom of speech, banning TikTok is not the government oppressing your rights to say things.
The courts have repeatedly ruled that freedom of speech comes with freedom of association.
Montana tried banning TikTok and a judge blocked it for that reason - it infringes upon free speech. I think Bytedance will likely sue federal government under similar grounds. The government cannot arbritarily control what you want to say, who you want to say it to, or where you want to say it.
The Supreme Court has long held that the First Amendment's protection of free speech, assembly, and petition logically extends to include a “freedom of association."
It is beyond debate that freedom to engage in association for the advancement of beliefs and ideas is an inseparable aspect of the 'liberty' assured by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which embraces freedom of speech. Of course, it is immaterial whether the beliefs sought to be advanced by association pertain to political, economic, religious or cultural matters, and state action which may have the effect of curtailing the freedom to associate is subject to the closest scrutiny.
It appears from the Court's opinions that the right of association is derivative from the First Amendment guarantees of speech, assembly, and petition,2 although it has at times been referred to as an independent freedom protected by the First Amendment.
It's not about the data, it's about the algorithm. Unlike other social media which has followers, subscribers etc. that dictate what you see tik tok is a pure black box recommendation algorithm. Tons of people's world views are shaped by tik tok and a slight tweak to this algorithm can have huge political consequences. I'm far from a china hawk but even I can recognize the dangers of allowing that sort of machine to be in the hands of a foreign rival. Ideally we'd take it out of the hands of the corporate interests running the ones here in the u.s. as well and force them to be open sour e, but that doesn't seem possible right now and at least those companies are more beholden to the American people then byte dance, there are American employees in those companies that can raise a red flag if management is telling them to push the algorithm in a direction.
The youth also probably won't care in a years time. Even if tik tok actually shuts down in the u.s. instead of selling, which I still doubt they will as that would effectively be burning 10s of billions of dollars to prove a point, the youth can just move onto another app like Instagram reels or YouTube shorts which offer the same experience but aren't as good because of the mass network effect tik tok has. If everyone is forced out of tik tok and onto one of the other apps they'll gain that same network effect and have the same experience after a bit of transition/ AI training time. The kids aren't attached to byte dance or tik tok, they're attached to the content and content creators who make it, and those can move to another app very easily.
I appreciate your comment but let me ask you. Are you OK with the federal government getting to decide what is appropriate for you to read or watch?
I read the 3 body problem novel series and it was by a Chinese author. I loved the series and it dealt with a lot of interesting science fiction concepts.
Do you think that it should be banned? What if it's subtly influencing Americans through propaganda?
There are plenty of other platforms where you can express whatever speech you want however you want. These Chinese authors are not prevented from presenting their opinion.
The Chinese government is however prevented from controlling what information gets broadcasts in the US. That's why this ban comes with an "or sell" option. They don't object to the platform, its users, or its content, they object to CCP control over how the platform prioritizes content within the United States. There is no way to protect from political influence of a foreign government while that government has its hands all over the platform without outright policing speech.
This is not new, it's an update to existing restrictions on foreign countries broadcasting to US citizens. Laws of this nature have been on the books for decades, they just haven't applied to the Internet (similar to how common sense utility law has struggled to be applied to the Internet).
I am very much for a ban or sale. I think most people (myself included) are far less objective/are more subject to propaganda than we'd like to believe. The fact that China cares so much about a platform that's losing money speaks volumes. Well, that and this https://networkcontagion.us/wp-content/uploads/A-Tik-Tok-ing-Timebomb_12.21.23.pdf
They've already banned US controlled promotional algorithms within their own country. They know exactly what they're doing and all this "the US government is undermining its citizens choice!" talk is China trying to use western values against the west in a sort of "malicious compliance" only they stand to benefit from.
First off, it doesn't matter what China is doing. Just because they are doing it, doesn't mean it's a justifiable infringement on American citizens. The dynamic between the American citizen and their government is what we consider when determining legality of a law.
Second, removing a platform that people want to communicate on does infringe on speech. You have a right to associate with whoever you want - by the government banning that platform they are telling you who you can and can't communicate with. Please read previous comment on freedom of association. This is a well established concept with courts ruling this again and again.
The government is arguing that they are justified in this infringement on speech because of national security interests. It is unequivocally an infringement on freedom of speech. It's just the government is claiming that the pros outweigh the cons.
Sort of like when we infringe on free speech so people can't yell fire in a movie theater.
Judge Molloy also analyzed the second prong: narrow tailoring. He declared that the state failed to demonstrate that it was not burdening more speech than was necessary to achieve its ends.
... the court found that SB 419 was not narrowly tailored, because Montana had failed to show that the ban would alleviate the harms it sought to address. Molloy determined that, even if SB 419 passed, China would be able to access data on Montanans
There's an entire legal distinction here between "content-neutral" speech suppression and "content-based". The federal government's official stated reason is a "content-neutral" one: China is able to collect data on Americans and this harms national security.
They are not claiming China can influence Americans. Why do you think? Because that would be a "content-based" infringement and therefore subject to a higher level of scrutiny - one that the government likely cannot pass.
Therefore, just like the Montana bill to ban TikTok, the government will have to show that banning TikTok will fix the harm that it's claiming to address. The law was struck down in Montana because of that reason - banning TikTok does not actually prevent China from collecting data. Anybody can buy data on Americans from many different sources. It's not a hard thing to do and China could likely do it for a cheaper price than running TikTok.
I believe that the real reason that they are banning TikTok is a "content-based" justification. They don't want China to influence Americans. They want to have influence and control over the content on TikTok.
This is unconstitutional and deceptive. I hope the USC truly does have political independence and strikes this down. Otherwise this is just another notch on the spiral to authoritarianism. We are becoming China.
It does when it's a foreign power affecting or influencing policy or national security. Which is the problem. They aren't banning tik tok. They are saying it has to sell itself. There are stipulations on that sale. But in the grand scheme of things the government isn't going to reach into citizens phones and take tik tok away. The people who have it will still be able to use the app unless the owners of the company themselves decide otherwise and act accordingly. In that case it would be tik tok affecting "free speech", not the government affecting free speech.
Even in the event that it is no longer available for download on app stores the government can't stop you from using a VPN set to the Philippines to download the app. And since that is the case the government is not actively depriving anyone of the platform. They are curtailing the platforms ability to continue to do business in the US which is in their purview especially when in pertains to national security.
You asked a question to another commenter about how they feel about the government effectively controlling modes of communication and platforms for freedom of speech. You neglect to point out or take into consideration that the government does so all the time when it pertains to public safety and national security.
I am not a fan of this legislation. I firmly understand that Tik Tok is basically Google with the rails blown off and both platforms and companies are predicated on collection and use of user data in ways that infringe on user privacy. As a result the only reason Google (or Facebook et all) aren't being forced to sell is because they are American companies so their data is accessible to the government as another way to surveil the general public.
However I have a question for you. At what point does something become dangerous enough to the end user that the government should step in? Your phone provider? Regulated by the government. You posting terroristic threats on any platform? Regulated by the government. You can't post that you plan to shoot up a school or send a senator a bomb. Regulations for the purposes of protecting the national security of the country and the general public are already in place for private individuals and businesses.
At what point should the government not be able to regulate a business?
You should read this https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/tiktok-bill-foreign-influence/677806/
Again, this is not a new concept. The Montana ban was stopped but even in that case, AFAIK the appeal isn't settled. This was also not something heard by the Montana supreme court or the US supreme court.
The national ban has also presumably been crafted by much more experienced lawyers and lawmakers than the Montana ban. Presumably folks that understand the law better than either of us.
IMO comparing a TikTok ban to some major infringement even remotely close to an authoritarian country ... it's just wrong. Freedom of association has its limits and always has. Associating with a hostile foreign power, for instance the confederate states, was not ever to my knowledge protected. The only entity that folks are being prevented from associating with here is the Chinese government.
Calling a TikTok ban an assault on the right of association is like calling Twitter moderation an assault on the right of free speech. There are other options available. Your argument would be much stronger if TikTok was a truly unique technology or platform, but it isn't. It's not even an original idea, it's a ripoff of vine that (originally) added music to the videos, made them a bit longer, and generally suffers from a lot of the same issues in terms of monetization.
The national ban has also presumably been crafted by much more experienced lawyers and lawmakers than the Montana ban. Presumably folks that understand the law better than either of us.
Unconstitutional laws are deliberately passed all the time. They happen for political reasons. For example, GOP-led state congress from various states repeatedly tried to pass abortion bans even while Roe V Wade was still active. Why? They are not stupid, they knew it would get stricken down by the courts.
The reason is a) it shows to their base they are trying to do something about abortion. It's essentially political theater.
b) by continously challenging the law, you can hope for a court case that potentially sets useful precedence for the future. For example Crawford v. Marion County Election Board in 2008. After passing many voter id laws that got repeatedly struck down, eventually it led to a court case that set a better precedence for voter id laws.
If you keep trying, eventually you get a nice ruling and all of a sudden the unconstitutional law you passed is a little less unconstitutional. So next time, you can go a little further and keep pushing the boundaries
So even though we had very strong amendments in the constitution to protect right to vote (15th amendment, 19th amendment, 24th amendment, 26th amendment) by repeatedly challenging those amendments by passing unconstitutional laws, the GOP has effectively managed to bypass the constitution in many states by passing voter id laws that have the simple purpose of getting blacks to vote less
They infringe upon rights the constitution explicitly gives to the citizens by sheer persistence.
IMO comparing a TikTok ban to some major infringement even remotely close to an authoritarian country ... it's just wrong
The reason it's authoritarian is because the government is playing that game I mentioned above. It's clear this law has nothing to do with data collection.
They are using that justification because they don't have any legal leg to stand on if they named the real reason - they want to ban specific content. Instead, they claim they are content neutral and are doing it for national security.
So they are deliberately bending the boundaries of the law in order to reduce personal freedoms and give the government more control over the media that shows up on your screen.
If this isn't a step towards authoritarianism, I don't know what is. The DNC is now holding hands with the GOP as they continue to degrade the remainder of legitimacy that American democratic institutions have left while marching towards WW3
And you and many others in this thread are cheering it on, letting your xenophobia be used as a tool to consolidate power by the federal government
If you can't separate the CCP from the Chinese people, there's something very wrong with your moral compass.
It's right up there with calling someone antisemitic for criticizing Israel.
I'm done with this conversation. I can't take you seriously after that xenophobia comment.
If the choice is between the u.s. government and the Chinese government choosing what's appropriate for me to watch then I'd choose the u.s government as it is still has some democratic levers which the American people can use to stop it from propagandizing too much. There is no such influence they can wield in the Chinese government. I'm not ok with it though and it's more a matter of the lesser of two evils. Ideally there would be no centralized control over these services and the algorithms would be open source and the servers federated, to allow people to transparently evaluate the biases each service has and make their own decision free from the centralizing network effect present in current social media. If I am unable to inspect it then I want the person who is able to do so to have interests that are better aligned with mine, either an elected representative or at least a worker with similar national interests to me.
As for the book question it's not a matter of a single book. Unless they're advocating for atrocities I'm for any creator being allowed on the platform, the problem is how the platform is showing that content, it's a matter of the book store instead of a single book. If the library has a copy of the three body problem, or even Maos little red book alongside a bunch of other books countering it then that's fine. But if there's no library and only one book store in town then the owner of that book store has a lot of political power and should be under a lot of scrutiny. If the owner of that store isn't a part of the community and doesn't have interests that align with it, or even run counter to it, then the people of that community are right to become skeptical and demand a more open system. This is why libraries are so important, they provide an information repository owned by the public instead of private interests.
You are creating a false equivalence here. China is not choosing what is valid or not. They are not preventing you from visiting any other platform. The US government, however, is stepping in and preventing you from visiting a specific platform.
Ideally I agree with you everything would be transparent and open source and we would all be singing hakunah matata.
But if the issue is an opaque system of AI Blackbox algorithms then why target TikTok? All social medias use the same exact principles.
unable to inspect it then I want the person who is able to do so to have interests that are better aligned with mine, either an elected representative or at least a worker with similar national interests to me.
So instead of deciding for yourself, you would rather hand it off to the paternalistic state?
Because newsflash- the executives of TikTok and the CCP officials behind them have less incentive to screw you than the American big tech executives and the federal officials behind them.
a matter of the book store instead of a single book
If we were to use your analogy, it's not a book store but a farmer's market. Anyone can set up shop and sell whatever they want.
Your stated issue is that the management of the farmer's market has the capacity to suppress or amplify certain items depending on their interests.
The problem I see is that what if the American citizen, being fully aware of the bias of this farmer's market, wants to go on there anyway?
Why should his right be infringed?
Note that the government used very specific language in the ban. There's a difference between a ban on speech based on the content and one that is content neutral.
For example if I ban a farmer's market because of a safety issue, that's a content neutral ban. If I ban because they are selling things I don't want, that's a content based ban.
The government is very explicit that this is a content-neutral ban. They claim in the legislation it's for the explicit purpose of preventing China from collecting data.
Of course, that is nonsense and the real reason is the same one you mention - a content-based justification. Why didn't they say it?
Because the legal scrutiny for infringing on speech for content-based justification is much higher, and the government would not meet that scrutiny.
Ehhh I was hopeful that it would lead to more EU style laws over users data and privacy in the US, then I stopped and thought for a minute and realized it wouldn't happen
It's not about data. It's about broadcast content curation (i.e. the TikTok algorithm and how it might be used to change US policy by presenting a very pro-China narrative).
Citizens of the United States have a right to free speech and curation of speech within the United States. Foreign governments do not have this right and having foreign governments directly control the dissemination of information poses a real and active risk (https://networkcontagion.us/wp-content/uploads/A-Tik-Tok-ing-Timebomb_12.21.23.pdf).
This is a principle that's been applied to traditional broadcast media for decades. It just hasn't applied to the Internet.
Data privacy laws would be great and we should be worried about how data is being used but, writing good data privacy laws wouldn't resolve the major issue here.
Im just assuming google and Facebook didn't like the competition and bought the vote.
TicToc didn't gaslight and lobby the government enough to be above the law.
They didn't pay the bribes.
Only the US is allowed to steal our data and manipulate us with it. Not another country. Duh
What happened to freedom of speech? Freedom of association? Free market capitalism?
America has none of those things. We have clear limits on what is and isn't acceptable speech. We routinely see protest groups beaten, jailed, and killed for protesting things the police like. Finally, you have to live in a bunker if you think we have a free market
If an American citizen wants to use a Chinese platform, why don't they have the right to?
Because part of the government's job is protecting its people. If China gave away a blowjob and cocaine robot and all you had to do was walk it around and give it detailed tours of civilian infrastructure that'd be banned too despite being hugely popular. If the government desides it's in the best interest of the people to not do something then they have the authority to prevent people to doing it
I think the data collection stuff is a red herring. Real reason is that war is coming and they're preparing the online information space so they can more easily manipulate it. Sort of how they did a test run with covid. Banning misinformation and such.
This is just pure conspiracy talk. Occam's razor says the simplest solution is usually correct. What's the simple answer here? Data is becoming one of the most valuable "natural" resources. You don't hand valuable resources for free to rival governments. You charge them, or you prevent them from taking it. It's all about money
If the sale doesn't go through, I don't see how this will eliminate whatever little bit of credibility the federal government has among the younger generations. 18~25 or so
Call me naive but I like to think young people care about more than just the apps on their phone and are capable of holding a more nuanced view of our government than you clearly are
There's always a back and forth between a government respecting personal freedoms and their responsibility to protect it's people.
There are justified limitations on personal freedoms and unjustified ones. For the classic example, yelling fire in a movie theater. That is a crime because it can cause people to get harmed. It is only a minor infringement on speech, therefore the benefits outweigh the infringement.
Every single time we infringe on personal freedoms, we need to do this calculation.
So there are 3 main justifications for this TikTok ban.
A) stop Chinese data collection. I think this is just misdirection. You say it's conspiracy, but just like the PATRIOT Act had nothing to do with patriotism or protecting children and the Iraqi war had nothing to do with WMD... the government often misleads or outright lies.
Much of our data is for sale to anyone who wants to buy it. In fact, our law enforcement loves buying data instead of going through the process for a warrant.
There are so many apps out there with less than scrupulous devs who are more than willing to scrape for as much data as possible and sell that off. China can easily acquire massive amounts of data regardless.
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stop Chinese influence on Americans. I think this one makes more sense than the first one. China is able to quietly suppress or encourage certain points of views - subtly pushing the 170 million Americans into directions that are beneficial for China's interests. For example, perhaps media discouraging support for Taiwan.
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connected to 2, by banning TikTok the US leaves only the main tech companies which have a proven track record of cooperating with the federal government. Not only in criminal cases but suppressing and amplifying specific types of media.
So what are benefits? US has better control of the digital media landscape. Cost? Americans are being restricting from accessing media they would otherwise access.
I don't see this as a worthwhile exchange. I think federal government should stay out of the media space. I believe this because we are a free society.
You are right that we don't always live up to that term, and never really have. But we get a hell of a lot closer than China or Russia. We shouldn't be moving towards them in ideological terms, but away from them.
As for the young people, there are 170 million people on the app and it skews younger. A large portion of these people use Tiktok as their primary social media. A lot of these will be pushed towards anti-establishment and radical ideologies. Tiktok already leans leftist (and not neoliberal left).
Every single time we infringe on personal freedoms, we need to do this calculation.
What freedom do you have that you think this is infringing on?
Stop Chinese data collection. I think this is just misdirection. You say it's conspiracy, but just like the PATRIOT Act had nothing to do with patriotism or protecting children and the Iraqi war had nothing to do with WMD... the government often misleads or outright lies.
Correct, it had nothing to do with patriotism or protecting children. It had to do with war profiteering. That's the simple answer to basically every question that starts with "why did the American government do..." It made wealthy Americans richer. That's the default US policy
Much of our data is for sale to anyone who wants to buy it. In fact, our law enforcement loves buying data instead of going through the process for a warrant.
There are so many apps out there with less than scrupulous devs who are more than willing to scrape for as much data as possible and sell that off. China can easily acquire massive amounts of data regardless.
Yup, and that's fine in the way that it's fine for us to ship oil, soybeans, and semiconductors to China. As long as America gets the first bite of the pie, what happens after that is mostly fine
Chinese influence on Americans. I think this one makes more sense than the first one. China is able to quietly suppress or encourage certain points of views - subtly pushing the 170 million Americans into directions that are beneficial for China's interests. For example, perhaps media discouraging support for Taiwan.
I think this is ancillary benefit that is mostly being pushed by our military. I know it's the "reason" they're giving but I agree this is not the primary purpose
I believe this because we are a free society.
We are not. By basically every measurable metric of "freedom" the US doesn't even crack the top 10 in the world and on a lot of lists we don't make the top 20. I don't know what Americans think "freedom" means but whenever I hear people talk about it I often wonder if we live in the same country
You are right that we don't always live up to that term, and never really have. But we get a hell of a lot closer than China or Russia. We shouldn't be moving towards them in ideological terms, but away from them.
It's pretty hyperbolic to say that banning the Chinese pipeline of disinformation and spyware makes America ideologically similar to Russia
As for the young people, there are 170 million people on the app and it skews younger. A large portion of these people use Tiktok as their primary social media. A lot of these will be pushed towards anti-establishment and radical ideologies. Tiktok already leans leftist (and not neoliberal left).
That's just conjecture. Do you know how many social media sites we've seen come and go? You assert people will become anti-establishment, I assert they'll just move on to other social media. Both of our assertions are equally valid without evidence
What freedom do you have that you think this is infringing on?
You really don't see the answer to this or are you just being intentionally ignorant. Would you feel the same way if the government banned lemmy?
No actually, in America we don't actually have all that many rights. I was specifically asking him what right we have as citizens that he feels we are being denied by this decision. Because I would be hard pressed to identify a right we have that is harmed by this decision
Did you just not question my post or are you just intentionally not answering it?
We've seen what happens when services are shut down -- it's consolidation. The whole fucking internet has been a consolidation of thousands of independent websites.
The web wasn't just better back then, it was diverse.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
what is and isn't acceptable speech
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Cool beans. You are free to circumvent the ban, but I saw ban away and don't stop with just tiktok
Try releasing software in China and NOT adhering their their demands. See how long your software lasts... It's a two way street here and I'm glad the the US is finally seeing it this way.
I don't use Tiktok and never have. I view it more a matter of principle.
China is an authoritarian state. We should not imitate them. Unfortunately I think Zizek was right when he said China's model is the most effective form of capitalism and predicted that all liberal democracies would eventually converge into a version of that system.
This is what you embrace with open arms. Do you not care about being able to access whatever media you want?
In a general sense I agree, but from a place whos literal interest is to cause chaos, misinformation and deceit at every possible chance...no. we don't need to be nice to them or listen to their demands.
a place whos literal interest is to cause chaos, misinformation and deceit at every possible chance
Just a thought... What are the odds of you being victim of propaganda or misinformation?