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Comment by iugtmkbdfil834

14 hours ago

From pure PR perspective, it is a win for China; sometimes it is not about the money. US used to be much smarter those kinds of optics.

>sometimes it is not about the money.

Yes, that's precisely the argument of the pro-ban faction. China doesn't allow TikTok in China. It's not about the money, it's about control over a medium that can be exploited for influence, or at the very least the effects of that platform on its audience.

It's silly to pretend like ByteDance are acting on principle. Go post an LGBT meme or refer to Lai Ching-te as the "President of Taiwan" on Red Note and see how long that lasts.

  • Sure, but parent's argument was focused on ad revenue and wondering why TikTok chose to forego that revenue ( which presumed that most US entities would bend to such demand, but failed to consider non financial considerations ).

    edit:

    << Go post an LGBT meme or refer to Lai Ching-te as the "President of Taiwan" on Red Note and see how long that lasts.

    China does not pretend to give lipservice to freedom of speech. US does. That is why its population needs to hold its government accountable.

US used to be much smarter in general. Now that Trump is starting a 2nd term on Monday, the world over now realizes the US is comprised of a bunch of imbeciles. We've lost our prestige, and we'd been trading on it for a long, long time.

  • The world realizes the USA is no longer messing around, that's all. If anything, we've only gained prestige in the last couple months, we're finally getting stuff done...

    • Hmm? That is a rather bold statement bordering on bluster. Could you elaborate? The move shows something, but I am not certain it can be interpreted this way.

  • I lean heavily Democratic when it comes to social issues. But let’s be honest, everyone knew that Biden was losing his mental faculties.

    The last time we had two smart candidates was 2012.