Comment by Shank
4 years ago
Honestly, this type of discussion is seriously irritating, because it implies that TikTok is doing something unique that other apps aren't doing. Just as the article demonstrates, many western countries do the exact same thing that TikTok does, except TikTok seemingly takes it one step further (probably because of shoddy programming). Applying geographic-based arguments to technology is just a bandaid. The problem needs to be solved in all situations, not just in situations where people aren't politically happy.
Any company injecting keyloggers or monitoring systems into web content should be subject to the same equally damning judgement. Just because it's China doesn't make keylogging bad. Keylogging is bad because keylogging is bad. Companies like Fullstory [0] and Hotjar [1] are used all over the western internet and effectively act as full session recorders. Sure, used well they can be used for analytics, but you could just as easily inject Fullstory or Hotjar into an in-app browser and suddenly record all data a user does. Should this be possible? No. Does it help to just ban China? I mean sure, but why should you be okay with a western company doing it?
TikTok is a short video app used mostly by younger generations. It produces highly accurate recommendations for videos to watch. We're not talking about something like a banking app, a healthcare app, or even a messaging app. It's a video-based social network. There are bigger fish to fry than TikTok in almost every single possible category of app. Yet, TikTok is always brought up because it's from China.
TikTok is brought up because it has an insane amount of influence on the culture and identity of a huge swath of people. Do you seriously believe that China, or any country, would not want to leverage such influence to persuade or alter the culture or a potential advisory?
We all shit our pants because Russia used Meta, and American company, to influence the 2020 election. Imagine the same amount of data, a more accurate algorithm, and entirely within the control of foreign actors.
It doesn't matter if it is China or Colombia or Japan, a foreign company have that much influence over the opinions citizens of a country is dangerous.
Who are you, Xi Jinping? You basically word for word translated their foreign social media policy. Luckily we live in a capitalist free market, free competition ideology and not a heavy protectionist centrally influenced market economy here in the US.
Just because it is a policy of China, and as I am _not_ Mr. Jinping, I will take your word for it, doesn't mean it is incorrect. Some things work well in free markets, some don't. Maybe the ability to influence millions of people is a thing that isn't so great in an unregulated market.
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> TikTok is a short video app used mostly by younger generations. It produces highly accurate recommendations for videos to watch. We're not talking about something like a banking app, a healthcare app, or even a messaging app. It's a video-based social network. There are bigger fish to fry than TikTok in almost every single possible category of app. Yet, TikTok is always brought up because it's from China.
If the leaders in the West weren't concerned about the "average Joe" and their (mis)understandings of politics and situations with complex nuances, then the West would likely be a true Democracy (like ancient Athens, where the People vote on issues such as War and Taxes) instead of a Republic or Democratic Republic (where the People elect a small group to vote on their behalf).
Regardless, I think our Western leaders SHOULD be concerned with the "average Joe" mentality. That includes, by a wide margin, propaganda efforts by other nations.
https://rankingdigitalrights.org/2021/07/14/testing-tiktok-d...
There are _far less_ antisocial practices featured on Chinese TikTok than on Western (specifically American) TikTok. However, the comparison to Instagram and Facebook doesn't differ all that much, so maybe they're simply giving us the content we want.