TikTok goes dark

[EasyMoney00]

Anyone here use TikTok? I never have but it seems a lot of people make a living posting videos. What are your thoughts? Do you think it's ok to shut down a company like this?

TikTok is very different in China. They show educational content vs what we have here. Why does China promote educational content and we here promote, well, anything and everything.

[kork13]

Good. Short-form video media is a plague on humanity. And TikTok? Sheesh, why would you give all of your information, your friends' information, and all of your photos over to China's massive intelligence machine? Don't be confused ... Although Bytedance may not be directly owned by the Chinese government, there's zero doubt that the company's data is wide open to the Chinese government. BTW, did you know that China operates the largest AI-driven facial & voice recognition system in the world? They use it as part of their social control program. If you're active on TikTok, or a friend of yours is ... Your likeness has probably been pulled into that identification system. Congratulations.

From what I've heard/read, the ban is a little shaky on a free-speech front, but from a national security perspective, it's most assuredly a personnel security threat. TikTok sucks up data from their users' phones, and also pulls information about anyone you're connected to on your contacts list, connected to through their service, or other platforms (Facebook, etc.) that you agree to connect with your TikTok account. In the military, we've been trying for years to convince our young folks to drop TikTok because of the security issues involved. Frankly, Chinese hackers are good. Any system they've tunneled into (which are many, especially internationally), they can siphon off data such as ... I dunno ... travel records, in order to track the location & movements of people. And since their systems are all AI-driven, the machine simply latches onto a facial ID profile, and automatically builds a file from whatever data sources it's got access to.

Sound paranoid? Yes. But even I, as a hardline conspiracy theory skeptic, can't ignore the danger of how connected data is once it gets sucked into China's intelligence structure. It's truly terrifying.

[disneysteve]

TikTok is perfectly fine. The issue isn’t with the app. It’s with the ownership and national security concerns. They were told 9 months ago it needed to be sold but didn’t do so hoping the court battles would find in their favor but they didn’t.

Despite the rare broad bipartisan support for the ban and Trump’s earlier support of the ban, now that he won, he has flip flopped and decided to support China. He’s even invited the CEO to the inauguration. I suspect the end result will be the company being allowed to remain Chinese-owned, continue as it was, and somehow defy the Supreme Court ruling with no consequences.

Why does China show different content? That’s easy. Censorship. The Chinese government very tightly regulates what information can be disseminated on the internet. Chinese citizens don’t have the freedoms that we enjoy.

As for TikTok, I have never posted anything but I do use it. Lots of companies and businesses and celebrities and charitable causes use it to promote themselves. The ban, even if it’s short-lived, is going to cost Americans billions in lost revenue. And the folks who earn their living primarily on TikTok are really going to suffer. I hope it gets corrected quickly. Most likely Trump will order a delay on the ban tomorrow and it’ll be back in service. And you can use a VPN to access it anytime.

[EasyMoney00]

Good. Short-form video media is a plague on humanity. And TikTok? Sheesh, why would you give all of your information, your friends' information, and all of your photos over to China's massive intelligence machine? Don't be confused ... Although Bytedance may not be directly owned by the Chinese government, there's zero doubt that the company's data is wide open to the Chinese government. BTW, did you know that China operates the largest AI-driven facial & voice recognition system in the world? They use it as part of their social control program. If you're active on TikTok, or a friend of yours is ... Your likeness has probably been pulled into that identification system. Congratulations.

From what I've heard/read, the ban is a little shaky on a free-speech front, but from a national security perspective, it's most assuredly a personnel security threat. TikTok sucks up data from their users' phones, and also pulls information about anyone you're connected to on your contacts list, connected to through their service, or other platforms (Facebook, etc.) that you agree to connect with your TikTok account. In the military, we've been trying for years to convince our young folks to drop TikTok because of the security issues involved. Frankly, Chinese hackers are good. Any system they've tunneled into (which are many, especially internationally), they can siphon off data such as ... I dunno ... travel records, in order to track the location & movements of people. And since their systems are all AI-driven, the machine simply latches onto a facial ID profile, and automatically builds a file from whatever data sources it's got access to.

Sound paranoid? Yes. But even I, as a hardline conspiracy theory skeptic, can't ignore the danger of how connected data is once it gets sucked into China's intelligence structure. It's truly terrifying.

What are your thoughts on China buying farmland next to a bunch of military bases around the US? That seems like another huge national security risk but at the end of the day, money talks. I haven't researched it but I'm guessing China would not allow a US citizen to purchase land near any military installation on their home soil.

[Like2Plan]

I have been wondering about “Reels” on Facebook. Is that content actually TikTok?

[EasyMoney00]

TikTok is perfectly fine. The issue isn’t with the app. It’s with the ownership and national security concerns. They were told 9 months ago it needed to be sold but didn’t do so hoping the court battles would find in their favor but they didn’t.

Despite the rare broad bipartisan support for the ban and Trump’s earlier support of the ban, now that he won, he has flip flopped and decided to support China. He’s even invited the CEO to the inauguration. I suspect the end result will be the company being allowed to remain Chinese-owned, continue as it was, and somehow defy the Supreme Court ruling with no consequences.

Why does China show different content? That’s easy. Censorship. The Chinese government very tightly regulates what information can be disseminated on the internet. Chinese citizens don’t have the freedoms that we enjoy.

As for TikTok, I have never posted anything but I do use it. Lots of companies and businesses and celebrities and charitable causes use it to promote themselves. The ban, even if it’s short-lived, is going to cost Americans billions in lost revenue. And the folks who earn their living primarily on TikTok are really going to suffer. I hope it gets corrected quickly. Most likely Trump will order a delay on the ban tomorrow and it’ll be back in service. And you can use a VPN to access it anytime.

Would you support Trump in allowing TikTok to continue for another 90 days? Since so many people rely on it for income, it may be a good idea.

Though everyone hates Elon would it be better in his hands than in a China based company who we know spies on us for their best interest?

[disneysteve]

Would you support Trump in allowing TikTok to continue for another 90 days? Since so many people rely on it for income, it may be a good idea.

Though everyone hates Elon would it be better in his hands than in a China based company who we know spies on us for their best interest?

Yes, I would support a limited delay in implementing the ban but I also think it ultimately needs to change ownership. Despite what I may think about SCOTUS in its current iteration, it has issued a ruling and that ruling needs to be followed until such time that later rulings change that.

If Musk buys it, I would close my account, just as I did when he bought Twitter, and I'm sure millions of others would do the same. That's a solution to the problem but not a very palatable one.

[disneysteve]

I have been wondering about “Reels” on Facebook. Is that content actually TikTok?

No. Facebook, Reels, and Instagram are all part of Meta. TikTok is a totally separate company.

[jenn_jenn]

Good. Short-form video media is a plague on humanity. And TikTok? Sheesh, why would you give all of your information, your friends' information, and all of your photos over to China's massive intelligence machine? Don't be confused ... Although Bytedance may not be directly owned by the Chinese government, there's zero doubt that the company's data is wide open to the Chinese government. BTW, did you know that China operates the largest AI-driven facial & voice recognition system in the world? They use it as part of their social control program. If you're active on TikTok, or a friend of yours is ... Your likeness has probably been pulled into that identification system. Congratulations.

From what I've heard/read, the ban is a little shaky on a free-speech front, but from a national security perspective, it's most assuredly a personnel security threat. TikTok sucks up data from their users' phones, and also pulls information about anyone you're connected to on your contacts list, connected to through their service, or other platforms (Facebook, etc.) that you agree to connect with your TikTok account. In the military, we've been trying for years to convince our young folks to drop TikTok because of the security issues involved. Frankly, Chinese hackers are good. Any system they've tunneled into (which are many, especially internationally), they can siphon off data such as ... I dunno ... travel records, in order to track the location & movements of people. And since their systems are all AI-driven, the machine simply latches onto a facial ID profile, and automatically builds a file from whatever data sources it's got access to.

Sound paranoid? Yes. But even I, as a hardline conspiracy theory skeptic, can't ignore the danger of how connected data is once it gets sucked into China's intelligence structure. It's truly terrifying.

Yes, this exactly.

I’m actually a little disappointed with friends that are devastatingly upset about the ban. They don’t understand the security concern and it feels very naïve.

[disneysteve]

I'm annoyed by folks who think TikTok has no redeeming qualities (setting aside the Chinese risk) but seem to have no trouble using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, BlueSky, internet forums like this one, and various other social media platforms. Why do folks choose to get upset about TikTok specifically (again, I mean aside from the Chinese issue - just focusing on the app itself)?

[Like2Plan]

I don’t have a TikTok account (apparently) .
But, I would say if congress - a body that is slow moving and deliberate (for the most part) has determined it is a national security issue. and the Supreme Court agreed that it was constitutional, that’s good enough for me.

It’s not like this was not on the agenda for years and no one could see it coming.

Maybe there are more leaks they need to go after?

[ua_guy]

Yeah, it's not the content, it's the app and the fact it puts that information gained from it directly in the hands of the Chinese government. I think social media addictions are an issue, but that's not limited to TikTok.

Of course Trump is renegotiating and backpedaling what was strong bipartisan support for addressing what is actually a national security concern.

[EasyMoney00]

I watch those short clips on YouTube a lot. I think it may be called reels?

I think TikTok was geared towards "younger" folks. So, automatically people think it's corrupting our youth. Don't get me wrong, I think it's crazy how some of these "influencers" can make impossible sums of money by posting the strangest things. But, those strange things are popular amongst large groups of people. They figured it out. Don't hate the player...

Why aren't people screaming from the roofs that the Chinese are buying land next to military bases?

[Like2Plan]

I don’t know how long “Reels” has been around, but I recently discovered it on FB.

It is actually kind of scary how they tailor the content to things I am interested in (I kind of wonder if that is how TikTok works?).

Like babies- I would say- who doesn’t like cute baby video? You can see the hook that works for me, right? I keep getting fed more and more of these short videos. Another topic is comedy routines (which don’t use swear words) - you’d think that would be rare, but nope- they feed plenty of content like that….

Anyway, I have to just avoid clicking on it as it can be a time sink for sure. I’m sure FB is learning plenty about me, too.

[ua_guy]

I've taken the steps to delete Facebook history all the way back to 2005 for my profile. It's seriously thrown their ad content and suggested content for a wild loop. Facebook says the data is truly gone, although I doubt part of that. Felt good to take control and remove stuff from back when I was a little more open to sharing stuff online. This is a tedious (and buggy) process using the desktop version of Facebook's interface, but it can be done.