TikTok is a Chinese company bringing in mountains of data on US citizens, including the ability to influence what people in the US see on a daily basis. The Chinese government would never sell that kind of leverage to anyone, let alone to Facebook, which is banned in China.
TikTok is concerning. With it's data and algorithms it could be used as a very effective tailored propaganda machine in theory. Given that China is a communist dictatorship with a thing for propaganda, and where government is always involved with companies, I believe that this is mostly justified.
As a Chinese, I'm pretty sure it is the case. TikTok has a lot of content. Chinese government can be selective which to "monetize" - and generally they good for both government and TikTok. When you can control what people see, what people post, you control the people. Politicians' wet dream comes true.
You have a good point. But TikTok is much more risky, and as as such requires much more scrutiny given existing body of knowledge between how chinese social media / chat companies such as WeChat enforce government censorship and aid in propagating misinformation.
This might be a shock to most people in the western world, but if you go on almost ANY news website in china, the headline news is dedicated to government propaganda.
The reality is that Chinese firms and government operates together intimately. Nearly all sizable firms have a party secretary that is involved in board level decisions, and steps in when things get political. You can ponder who has the final say.
I think you are a bit naive and underestimate china’s will to influence US any chance they get. TikTok is not a toy . I repeat . TikTok is not a toy. It is a super app that gets the most attention and time from 150 million Americans. And unlike rich people in US who are powerful, in China, bitedance ( TikTok) CEO is like a dog to the CCP leaders. They asked you eat shit , you will eat it twice to please them. This is a real danger .
Note: I am Chinese
TikTok could be used as a weapon by China though. When there is a right moment for them, they could start pushing propaganda to start riots and create chaos in the West. They can also manipulate what's get seen to increase the divide in society. They can control what young people can think and if you add democracy to the mix, they can do things like ensuring young people will vote for a political option good for China.
The parent Bytedance does, and their Chinese equivalent is Taiotao. Even the TikTok data servers exist in South Korea.
This is an important distinction because there has been zero proof that TikTok is spying or is a tool for China, despite clickbait articles, memes, and accusations existing. This is the first time TikTok is being used observed to be used for government political censorship... And in Russia of all places.
TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, and China is a totalitarian state, so it's basically owned by the Chinese government. Is it too paranoid to worry about all the videos and their metadata being controlled by the Chinese government?
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