About 59% of Americans say TikTok a threat to the national security of the United States, according to a new survey of U.S. adults.

  • Muddybulldog@mylemmy.win
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    1 year ago

    Which is why I find the whole banning TikTok concept absurd.

    It’s picking one easy scapegoat company to rally around, completely ignores the thousands upon thousands of other applications that collect data on us.

    It’s not security, it’s security theater. It’s lazy and designed to distract us. It’s to keep us from not asking questions about any company’s practices that might hurt someone politically or financially.

    We don’t need to ban TikTok. We need to ban Tik Tok and thousands of others like it. We need to have real conversations and put forth real solutions with regards to privacy, globally. It won’t happen though. Because it’s going to cost somebody money.

    • NightOwl@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      I’ve come to the conclusion that it is algorithms that have become evil. There was a thread where someone was asking for help stoppinh YouTube from radicalizing their mother due to the videos it would suggest to her.

      I use stuff like newpipe and freetube to try and get away from these personalized attempts at content, since there is still good content on YouTube. It’s just that so many sites try and keep you there as long as possible and then start feeding you content that can warp people. But, algorithms don’t understand the impact of it, since it’s either a 0 or 1 of user stays or user leaves.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        If you can be radicalized by videos from YouTube, it isn’t the algorithm, it’s you

            • NightOwl@lemmy.one
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              1 year ago

              World doesn’t exist in an individual vacuum. The people negatively influenced by disinformation go onto to take a role in society and interact with others to either negatively or positively affect the people they encounter. Congratulations on your individual resilience, but the world is not a population consisting of only you with you alone determining the impact other people have on the world.

              • SCB@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Yeah and, once again, those people are the problem.

                Unless you want to ban any food that isn’t fruits and vegetables, cars, not sleeping enough, not getting enough exercise etc, at some point you have to accept that people do in fact make their own choices.

                I’m not for banning things because some people are idiots.

                • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  you have to accept that people do in fact make their own choices.

                  I feel bad that you’ve been radicalized into thinking this way.

                • hglman@lemmy.ml
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                  1 year ago

                  It’s not just all you or all youtube. Both matter. It’s harmfully reductionist to act like it, not both.

                  • SCB@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    Both really don’t matter, since adults have a right to chose to consume any content they’d like.

                    If your grandma finds Q fascinating, that’s on your grandma

      • Stefen Auris@pawb.social
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        1 year ago

        algorithms can’t “become evil” any more than your toaster can. It’s being directed and programmed by people who know exactly what they’re intending to achieve.

        • NightOwl@lemmy.one
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          1 year ago

          But, algorithms don’t understand the impact of it, since it’s either a 0 or 1 of user stays or user leaves.

          It’s to say algorithms despite no intent to be evil have led to negative impact due to no care for the context of the recommendation. So someone can go in searching up health information then go down a rabbit hole of being recommended pseudo health advice then flat earth and so on. Not because the algorithm wants to turn people a certain way, but because it’s just recommending videos that users that liked similar videos might find of interest. It’s just broad categories.

          Wasn’t implying algorithms are sentient. At least not yet until AI integration happens.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It’s not a distraction. It’s a justification. The bill behind it in Congress is so broadly worded that the government can effectively shut down any Internet business with little to no warning.

    • galloog1@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You keep trying and failing to ban all social media while China continues to gain a foothold under the current unchanged rules. We’ll all be doing on the front lines of the next world war but at least in the end you can hold your head up high and say that it was worth it to take a stand.

      It’s like saying that you shouldn’t ban murder because all weapons should be banned. How they use it matters.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        In that analogy Facebook has been murdering people for a decade but we refuse to do anything about it.

        • galloog1@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          In that analogy, Facebook is armed but not even brandishing. People aren’t doing anything because Facebook isn’t waving their weapon around and threatening their families but instead was using their knives to cut up more food to sell you. Sorry, I’ll use a more clear analogy next time.

          We are talking about the preparation of the battlefield for the next conflict. It is pretty well documented in cyber warfare circles. conflicts are won and lost before they are fought. conflicts are mitigated when the chances of success are lower.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Facebook has been giving data to the CCP for over a decade. If that’s the big bad, then that’s it. It doesn’t matter who owns the company. If you want to talk about battlefield shaping I can speak to that. I was in the military. When comes down to it I don’t care how the minefield got breached. It’s breached and there’s a hole that can be exploited. I don’t care if company A did it or company B.

            • galloog1@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              There’s giving data through API, and then there’s complete access to everything your device sees. It’s the difference between taking a trench and allowing your enemy to build a complete logistical hub behind your lines. It’s an order of magnitude worse.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Have you looked at the permissions Meta requires to run an app on your phone these days?

                There is no difference. They’re taking everything.

                  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    Neither is TikTok. Both of them are companies giving data to China. Why are you so invested in defending Meta?

    • galloog1@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It’s not a company, it is the CCP. There’s is a massive difference, both in terms of what the organizations can access and the warrant requirements at the governmental level. I’m getting really tired of having to explain the difference in privacy rights concerning governments and private institutions. It’s just like freedom of speech or religion. It has everything to do with private vs public institutions.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s not about the CCP. It’s because kids watch TikTok and then don’t like conservatives

        • galloog1@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I am not inherently conservative but I am involved in the defense space and I could not disagree with this take more strongly. It 100% is about the CCP. Don’t try to make this a partisan issue. It is not.

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            It is absolutely a partisan issue because that’s why Republicans brought it up in the first place. The CCP gathering metadata on users has no bearing on our ability to beat them at sea, which is the only sphere of influence that matters with Chinese aggression.

            Should US military bases ban TikTok? Sure. Should the government block the app on all government phones, also sure. Banning social media wholesale is a disgusting precedent to set, and is fundamentally anti-American.

            • galloog1@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              There is precedent in banning spyware. So, what is your reason for why the current administration wants to ban it? You cannot provide any proof for your claim outside of conjecture. There are no records and it doesn’t even make sense in the current political climate.

        • Phillaholic@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          They will comply with any court order. They won’t hand over unfettered access like TikTok has to in China.

          • agitatedpotato@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Considering the CCP can’t arrest Americans but the US government can, it makes no sense to be more afraid of china on a personal level.

            • galloog1@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              And that is exactly what the Ukrainians thought about Russia. These are all actions intended to gain an edge to enable a potential future conflict. They are acting like it. We should too. War in the South China Sea is something everyone should be afraid of.

                • galloog1@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Very American of you. Americans felt the same way about the Japanese until 1941. Then it was about control of the newly important resource of oil.

                  • SCB@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    Lmao no japanese soldier set foot on the continent of north America dude

          • Sir_Kevin@discuss.online
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            1 year ago

            Yes, yes I do. Also the CCP can’t ruin my life, unlike Uncle Sam. Deciding which one is more evil is irrelevant.

            • galloog1@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Well, the majority of Americans disagree with you per this article. A world war with China absolutely would ruin a lot of lives. I cannot even comprehend how you could come to the conclusion otherwise.

              • Sir_Kevin@discuss.online
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                1 year ago

                The majority of americans are fuckin stupid and believe whatever their TV programming tells them to believe.

                Who said anything about war?? I’m staying “in this regard”, which is about privacy and data being taken and used by a government. Outside of that context yes I think the CCP is absolutely worse than the US in just about every category. There’s no question there.

                • galloog1@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Read the title of this thread again. This thread is about if TikTok is a threat to national security. This thread is about war.

                  • Sir_Kevin@discuss.online
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                    1 year ago

                    That’s not what I was responding to but in any case, no, I don’t think tiktok is a threat to national security or going to cause a war. This is FUD.