Comment by roncesvalles
6 hours ago
Sweet summer child, do you think TikTok would've been banned if it didn't come into focus as a hotbed for pro-Palestinian content?
"The issue in the United States for support of Israel is not left and right. It is young and old. And the numbers of young people who think that Hamas' massacre was justified is shockingly and terrifyingly odd. And so we really have a TikTok problem."
"[TikTok] is like Al Jazeera on steroids."
- Jonathan Gleenblat, ADL.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IsraelCrimes/comments/1i3vwll/we_ha...
Something very appalling has just taken place in the USA. Old people have muzzled the free speech of young people. Americans spend more hours on TikTok than on television (but it mostly skews to young people), and now it's been taken away.
TikTok was specifically banned because of one main reason. When it was being discussed in congress, they told their users to complain to their congresspeople, and posted their congresspersons number. Then when a bunch of unhinged teens called threatening to kill themselves, congress members rightfully went "What the fuck" and the bill gained enormous support
You hit the nail in the head. US politicians openly admit as much. It is all about controlling the narrative. No sir, cannot have these young people think of Palestinians as human beings. [Blinken blames TikTok and social media for disrupting Israel’s narrative of war in Gaza]
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...
If TikTok were sold to an American company, as the new law demands, why would that change anything about the amount of pro-Palestinian content? Just because the ADL said they don't like TikTok does not mean that's the motivation for the bill. You're still allowed to criticize Israel as much as you were a decade ago (which is to say, less than you're allowed to criticize the US, for some reason ;) but still).
Because a sale is and has always been impossible since it would be an unacceptable embarrassment for China in the current climate. The divestiture is just a way to make the ban pass muster.
Thats a good reason why it's banned. China cannot sell. TikTok is under the strong control of their government, and so won't sell despite loosing an stupefying amount of revenue by doing so.
Which big US social media company operates without some form of involvement with the ADL?
This isn't a conspiracy, the ADL openly admits and is proud of their involvement in censorship.
Here they are bragging about their role in youtube censorship:
https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-applauds-goo...
Google search results censorship:
https://www.adl.org/resources/news/can-google-search-be-used...
X may be the one exception, though I note that the "advertiser boycott" was ended when Musk made trips to Israel, was photographed next Netanyahu's atrocity propaganda prop pieces, next to Ben Shapiro, etc.
> Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. That tramples curiosity.
Eh, I don't really agree with roncesvalles, but I think this is an inherently highly political topic. Should HN just be deleting the entire thread?
Tik tok was banned because it tried to use children to start a political movement. Unfortunately for them children can not vote so the movement did nothing other than scare adults.