TikTok goes dark

[disneysteve]

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.

I trimmed your comments a bit but I agree that there is a problem here with a law that passed Congress with strong bipartisan support and has been upheld by the Supreme Court now being controlled by the president. As I said, I'm okay with a brief delay in implementation to facilitate the sale but I don't have high hopes that that will be the outcome here. I fully expect the law to be ignored.

Who is actually responsible for enforcing the law in this case? If the president says, "Forget the ban. Keep doing what you've been doing", what department or agency would need to step in?

[disneysteve]

For anyone who cares, it's back.

[jenn_jenn]

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)?

Do you actually know anyone like this?

I don’t know anyone from a purely social media perspective that thinks other platforms are fine but TikTok is not. (Chinese risk aside)

Many content creators cross post their content across platforms so a lot of it is the same stuff anyway. ♀️

[jenn_jenn]

For anyone who cares, it's back.

That was quick!

[disneysteve]

Do you actually know anyone like this?

I don’t know anyone from a purely social media perspective that thinks other platforms are fine but TikTok is not. (Chinese risk aside)

Many content creators cross post their content across platforms so a lot of it is the same stuff anyway. ♀️

There was a discussion about TikTok on another forum and several people expressed feeling that they didn’t care what happened to it. They don’t use it and they think it has no redeeming qualities. One person said, “it spreads bad ideas among young people”. Another said, “I see no socially redeeming value in TikTok.” Another said, “I know people that use it and it seems to be utter garbage but I have not used it.”

These people are sharing these views on an Internet forum which is one of many social media platforms just like this site. Many of them use Facebook or Twitter or YouTube or other platforms but are quick to hate on TikTok.

[jenn_jenn]

There was a discussion about TikTok on another forum and several people expressed feeling that they didn’t care what happened to it. They don’t use it and they think it has no redeeming qualities. One person said, “it spreads bad ideas among young people”. Another said, “I see no socially redeeming value in TikTok.” Another said, “I know people that use it and it seems to be utter garbage but I have not used it.”

These people are sharing these views on an Internet forum which is one of many social media platforms just like this site. Many of them use Facebook or Twitter or YouTube or other platforms but are quick to hate on TikTok.

Two of those statements are very different. Just like most things in life there are positive and negative aspects. There’s a lot of negative sides of social media, and it’s okay to decide the cons outweigh the pros.

Not seeing any redeeming qualities though is quite a stance. I don’t really frequent other forums (except the occasional Reddit and that tends to have a younger / more liberal viewpoint). I guess like on a lot of topics, people are hypocritical.

[ua_guy]

What happened is corruption in plain sight. Where’s everyone’s cajones now? Tough on China, or just let them walk through our door?

[bjl584]

I've never been on Tik Tok. I really don't know anything about it, other than it went dark then came back in less than 24 hours.

[Tabs]

I don't use any of the major social medias platforms, including TikTok. I have also warned others about the Chinese government's influence on TikTok for years, though mostly falling on deaf ears.

[EasyMoney00]

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

Nope, they're called Shorts. Had to correct myself.

[kork13]

What happened is corruption in plain sight. Where’s everyone’s cajones now? Tough on China, or just let them walk through our door?

Politicians, and populist politicians in particular, are driven by the winds of the loudest voices in popular opinion. If they think it'll curry favor in the moment, that's what matters .... strategic considerations or not.

What that tells me (and most certainly our adversaries) is that if they can make the consequences of their actions pinch the people or get them up in arms, they can act with impunity. So once any tariffs or embargoes or otherwise start to hurt the American pocketbook, they'll go away. Great politicking ....

[ua_guy]

Politicians, and populist politicians in particular, are driven by the winds of the loudest voices in popular opinion. If they think it'll curry favor in the moment, that's what matters .... strategic considerations or not.

What that tells me (and most certainly our adversaries) is that if they can make the consequences of their actions pinch the people or get them up in arms, they can act with impunity. So once any tariffs or embargoes or otherwise start to hurt the American pocketbook, they'll go away. Great politicking ....

Yes, but this is also a false equivalency. This isn't and shouldn't be normal in politics, but it just happened. I understand you have to speak carefully about your new commander in chief, and I respect that.

[myrdale]

I've taken the steps to delete Facebook history all the way back to 2005 for my profile.

You can set it to private instead of deleting.

[myrdale]

I tried TikTok for about a month, and my overall opinion was the content was garbage. I know some people who brag on getting good information from it, but I never did.

I could care less about China owning TikTok. Honestly if the claim is that it is a foreign security risk to our government officials, then the government should block it on their phones and computers. If you're a government official and just have to have TikTok, then download it on your personal phone.

If it were American owned, there is nothing to say China wouldn't hack it anyway.

[ua_guy]

You can set it to private instead of deleting.

Deleting supposedly removes the actual content from their servers, and prevents them from continuing to sell or share that data. Deleting is very different than hiding. I've had my FB profile hidden, locked down, and content selectively shared since as long as they've had increased profile security.