TikTok is officially banned in United States, WeChat is getting banned soon (UPDATED)

[Jeppes]

I dont think it is unreasonable to put Chinese companies under same scrutiny that we get in China. Make them partner up with locals and have a team of intelligence officers who have access to everything looking things over.

 

And it seems there is a reason why Chinese are fighting against it.

[pm128]

Tom Scott - VPNs.

Pretty good video. Related to users post about people needing to buy VPNs to use TikTok and WeChat

[Guest]

5 hours ago, pm128 said:

 

Every app steals data, including TikTok. TikTok and Wechat have been banned mostly because of political opinions.

So because other apps steal data, that makes is right? No don’t be silly. I’m also concerned about the demographic. Children should not have their data accessed online in this mass data gathering .

[pm128]

1 minute ago, RorzNZ said:

So because other apps steal data, that makes is right? No don’t be silly. I’m also concerned about the demographic. Children should not have their data accessed online in this mass data gathering .

But children should use Instagram and Facebook that steal trillion times more data

[pythonmegapixel]

22 minutes ago, pm128 said:

Banning a social media that more than half of USA used just because it's Chinese (aka politics).

What is your source for more than half of the US using TikTok?

 

By the way, just a quick etiquette tip - if you want to make multiple points or respond to multiple people, you should do it all in the same post to reduce needless clutter  - don't create multiple posts in a row! (If you want to add something after there's an edit button for you to use.) Oh, and by the way  - welcome to the forum!

[pm128]

1 minute ago, pythonmegapixel said:

What is your source for more than half of the US using TikTok?

 

By the way, just a quick etiquette tip - if you want to make multiple points or respond to multiple people, you should do it all in the same post to reduce needless clutter  - don't create multiple posts in a row! (If you want to add something after there's an edit button for you to use.) Oh, and by the way  - welcome to the forum!

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/24/tiktok-reveals-us-global-user-growth-numbers-for-first-time.html

TikTok themselves

[pythonmegapixel]

Just now, pm128 said:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/24/tiktok-reveals-us-global-user-growth-numbers-for-first-time.html

TikTok themselves

91 million monthly active users in the US. US population is around 325 million. Definitely not over half.

[pm128]

22 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

91 million monthly active users in the US. US population is around 325 million. Definitely not over half

I have never checked how many citizens USA has... Oops.

[Nowak]

So TikTok is a national security threat because it collects data from you but not Google, Facebook, Microsoft, et all, which collect far more data about you individually.

 

Guess it's okay if they're based in the good ol' US of A!

[Bramimond]

Some people misunderstand the security of whom is threatened. It's not the security of the luser. It's the security of the country. So when local tech giants spy on lusers for the local government, that's not a security threat, that's a security feature. But when foreign tech giants spy on lusers for a foreign government, that's when the local government has a security threat.

 

You know how it's called paying taxes, when people have to give the local government a cut, but it's called extortion when the mafia wants a cut? Same thing. The local government isn't your friend and it doesn't have your best interest in mind.

 

Also, this world is full of different words for the same concept depending on whether you like it or not. If you don't like people using violence to fight their government, they are terrorists. If you like people using violence to fight their government they are freedom fighters. Everything in this world is about benefits.

 

Let's end this with an insightful quote about justice:
 

Spoiler

Quote

“Let me ask you, is it justice that a sheep eats grass?”

“This… how can that be a form of justice?” Chen clan’s leader was dazed.

“From the sheep’s perspective, without grass, there would be no food, it would starve to death, it had to eat grass. But from the perspective of the grass, it had worked so hard to stay alive, getting out of the soil and growing larger to get more rain and sunlight. It worked so hard but the sheep decided to eat it, even uprooting and devouring everything the grass had, without any hope for survival. Isn’t the grass an innocent victim? Isn’t it pitiful?

Chen clan’s leader shook his head: “Isn’t sheep eating grass just a natural thing? I have never pitied the grass because this is how the world is meant to be.”

“Precisely.” Fang Yuan nodded: “The truth of this world is the law of the jungle, big fish eats small fish, and small fish eats shrimp, this is what nature entails. What crime can there be? There is no such thing as justice here. Sheep eats grass, humans eat sheep, that has nothing to do with justice, it is just for survival.”

“There is no such thing as justice in heaven and earth, there is only justice made by humanity.”

“Since time immemorial, humans had to unite to gain strength for the sake of survival, in order to live in this cruel world!”

“Then, how can humans become united?”

“Through organizations, through law, and through morals.”

“We organize clans or sects, distributing work according to an individual’s ability. We use laws to restrain people, to tell people what they cannot do. We use morals to provide direction, to encourage people to do certain things. Mothers are doting and children are filial, neighbors live in harmony, they all follow the rule of justice and morals. Be it intentionally or unintentionally, from the start of time, any organization would always promote this, because organizations follow their own survival instincts.”

“Or rather, the organizations with comprehensive laws, realistic morals, and proper class systems find it easier to survive. After a long time passes, this becomes the norm of society for the future generations.”

Chen clan leader was tongue-tied, he was completely stunned by Fang Yuan’s words.

He had never considered this.

He knew that justice was good, but he did not know why.

He knew that morals were good, but he did not know why.

And now, Fang Yuan told him the answer, justice and morals were man-made creations. This could be either a conscious or a subconscious creation, people follow these guidelines and allow themselves to survive better in a hostile environment, they can stay united as a group for a long time.

Fang Yuan concluded: “When you understand the core meaning of justice, you will know — this so-called justice is like iron armor, it is a human tool. When you wear it, you need to use it like a tool. But look at you now, this iron armor has become your chain, it is binding you down.”

Chen clan leader looked at Fang Yuan in a daze, he did not speak.

Fang Yuan smiled lightly: “The truth and justice, are they really related? What is the truth behind Nie clan, what is the truth behind my corruption? What does this have to do with justice? Son, you must understand, your justice is just a tool, you must make use of it, do not get restrained by it.”

 

 

[jiyeon]

WeChat shut down but not WhatsApp seems like kind of a half-ass move to me. Both are just as bad as each other, especially with Facebook at the helm of WhatsApp.

[Mark Kaine]

10 hours ago, pm128 said:

i guess you dont use tiktok

I never used tiktok , I don't even really know what it is? but I used wechat which was honestly a pretty cool app and I didn't feel controlled and judged constantly like when I'd use fb (which I don't) or twitter etc... I can definitely see why it's popular... it's modern , easy to use, kinda flashy...

 

 

[thechinchinsong]

Personally, don't care about tik-tok ban, but I do care about the we-chat ban since its the only way I communicate with family in China other than phone calls. On principle, I don't really like the way this is going down for both apps.

[Beskamir]

At last! I hope this marks the end for this pathetic excuse for a clock app.

[StDragon]

Bring back the dancing bananas. 

[Bombastinator]

16 minutes ago, StDragon said:

Bring back the dancing bananas. 

I cannot but comply

 

[xAcid9]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-09-18-us-government-eyes-epic-riot-after-tiktok-wechat-ban

 

Tim Sweeney: *drop popcorn*

[Delicieuxz]

TikTok is again suing the US government over the ban.

 

TikTok sues Trump to overturn ban that could ‘destroy online community’ – report

Quote

TikTok sued the Trump administration for the first time in August, shortly after Trump signed an executive order threatening to ban its US operations over alleged national security concerns. The company’s move was supported by Beijing, which in turn accused Washington of “organized and systematic economic bullying” of foreign companies.

 

The video-sharing app still has the chance to remain functional in the US if it secures a deal to sell its American operations to a US company by November 12. Oracle is the main candidate is to take the assets, but the agreement will require approval from both the Chinese and US governments. Trump earlier said he is not happy about some details of the deal, such as the fact that parent company ByteDance keeps a majority stake.

 

“It has to be 100 percent as far as national security is concerned,” he said earlier this week. “I’m not prepared to sign off on anything. I have to see the deal.”

 

Even when ByteDance has ensured that China would have no access to the user data, Trump still isn't satisfied. Trump really just wants to steal the company, business, and the chance to harvest people's data for the US government, I think.

[Delicieuxz]

Too much of your data in one place is a bad thing.

 

Why fascism is so tempting -- and how your data could power it

 

[pm128]

24 minutes ago, Delicieuxz said:

TikTok is again suing the US government over the ban.

 

TikTok sues Trump to overturn ban that could ‘destroy online community’ – report

 

Even when ByteDance has ensured that China would have no access to the user data, Trump still isn't satisfied. Trump really just wants to steal the company, business, and the chance to harvest people's data for the US, I think.

Exactly

[pm128]

few more hours and tiktok is gonna get oofed

[Heliian]

Cnn reports this:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/19/tech/donald-trump-tiktok-deal-approval/index.html

 

To someone who doesn't use tiktok, this is ridiculous.  

 

I'd rather openly give my data to the Chinese than use anything from Walmart or oracle.  

 

Everyone is being played when the numbers are in the billions for this trash. 

 

 

[SolarNova]

I'd like to see something similar happen to Game devs and publishers dealings with Chinese brands. That way we dont have to suffer ridiculous censorship and purposeful MTX optimized game mechanics designed for the Chinese market making their way into western released versions.

 

Im all for a free market, in fact freedom is my no.1 priority in anything in life, but when the free market encourages/allows companies to pander to a communist authoritarian government which in turn affects the products and consumers of said products back home, thats when steps need to be taken to ensure things like censorship dont become mainstream.

[Nowak]

On 9/19/2020 at 1:27 PM, Delicieuxz said:

Even when ByteDance has ensured that China would have no access to the user data, Trump still isn't satisfied. Trump really just wants to steal the company, business, and the chance to harvest people's data for the US government, I think.

Remember that it's okay for Google to know more about you than the federal government!

[pm128]

but yea, tiktok is no more