• dephyre@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    230
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    2 years ago

    Can the US Lawmakers do anything about the US companies harvesting my data and selling it off… please?

  • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    195
    arrow-down
    10
    ·
    2 years ago

    So when do they plan to do something about those domestic businesses trying to manipulate citizens of America?

    • Neato@ttrpg.network
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      114
      arrow-down
      12
      ·
      2 years ago

      Capitalism abusing citizens? Just fine.

      “Communism” abusing citizens? Avengers, assemble!

      • 👍Maximum Derek👍@discuss.tchncs.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        42
        arrow-down
        6
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        They’re prospective communists. Supposedly they’re going to get there by 2050, but they just built a new massive luxury tower for their ultra wealthy so…

        • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          43
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          2 years ago

          It’s just like Marx said: “If you do an oppressive oligarchy for 100 years, it magically transforms into communism”

          • beardown@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            9
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            2 years ago

            If that were true then the United States would have been communist by now

      • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        20
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 years ago

        I think they’re more worried that it’s a foreign corporation going after their citizens and not a domestic corporation.

    • boatswain@infosec.pub
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      59
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      2 years ago

      I mean, the domestic businesses are the ones who own Congress and are using it to get rid of a competitor.

      • kalkulat@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        25
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 years ago

        After the thousands of years of human history I’ve read about, getting rid of competitors seems to have been the primary concern of most of the ruling classes all over the world. Way back to Ur.

    • Ghyste@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 years ago

      As soon as the foreign businesses get better at harvesting data than the domestic ones, of course.

    • krashmo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      9
      ·
      2 years ago

      While you’re not wrong about double standards, anything that discourages the use of vapid social media platforms is a win in my book. Use whatever backwards logic you like to make it happen so long as it’s effective.

        • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          5
          ·
          2 years ago

          Lemmy is a message board, not social media. Like fark or something awful. You have no idea who the duck i am. How is that social?

          • webadict@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            8
            arrow-down
            5
            ·
            2 years ago

            Users create and/or share content, check. Users discuss content, check.

            Unless you think something is missing from that definition, Lemmy is social media. It is pseudonymous, but it is still social because of the users.

            • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              2 years ago

              Since when did that define social media? That’s the same thing as IRC. is IRC social media?

              ICQ had message boards where people would chat about the news. Was that social media?

              Again, fark is a place where people share content and discuss the news. Is that social media?

          • SmilingSolaris@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            2 years ago

            It is social media, just because your talking anonymously doesn’t mean you aren’t interacting socially. Jesus Christ your talking to people. Right now. Your being social media’d. Stop acting like your above it.

          • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 years ago

            Bruh.

            forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)

              • Vespair@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                2 years ago

                Undoubtedly, especially since I haven’t taken particular steps to obfuscate my identity here.

                But as I said in a comment below, I’m more worried about some unhinged nutbag online randomly targeting me than being a person of interest by any nefarious groups or organizations.

            • spacecowboy@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              2 years ago

              No it isn’t.

              When you download the app you let them have the following information/data about you:

              Purchases, location, contacts, search history, identifiers (!!), diagnostics, financial info, contact info, user content, browsing history, and usage data.

              Please tell us how any of that is “anonymous”.

              • Vespair@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                4
                ·
                2 years ago

                Cool dude, you’ve identified that big corporations data farm.

                Random bloke user with a vendetta still doesn’t know who I am, and that’s who I’m more worried about on the personal scale.

  • Hildegarde@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    105
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    2 years ago

    Whatever Tiktok is doing, the correct response is to write enforcable laws to prevent ANY company from doing what Tiktok is doing.

    This is bad governance.

    • Devccoon@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      arrow-down
      18
      ·
      2 years ago

      That’s what they did. The “correct response” is described in the article as the law 50/50 signed here.

      • Hildegarde@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        42
        arrow-down
        6
        ·
        2 years ago

        Did you read the article? The bill bans tiktok for being foreign. There is nothing in this article that describes a bill that outlaws any practices, conventions, or actions that tiktok has done.

        Being afraid of foreigners for being foreign is not effective regulation.

        • Trantarius@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          2 years ago

          The bill itself says, more or less, “any foreign adversary controlled app is banned. Also, TikTok is a foreign adversary controlled app”. So it doesn’t apply exclusively to TikTok, but it does explicitly include them.

          • Liz@midwest.social
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            2 years ago

            I think most of us here are concerned with foreign adversary interference as much as we are concerned with corporate interference and espionage. The law seems to only address the surface level issue (ownership) and none of the actual problems (action).

          • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            2 years ago

            The point is that companies like Google and Facebook do the same data harvesting and manipulation but aren’t being held to the same standard. The law is clearly written to benefit the US government not the citizens, while the justification is stated to be ‘for the benefit of the citizens.’ It’s like buying your wife a lawn tractor for her birthday even though you know she has no interest in using one. You’re claiming it’s for her but it’s really for you.

          • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            2 years ago

            Interesting wording there, “foreign adversary controlled”, goes a long way to protect all the companies that are based in tax havens, or controlled by foreign allies, like Saudi Arabia or Israel

            • dumpsterlid@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              2 years ago

              In a democracy one of the very most important choices that must be made by citizens is what other nations are considered allies or an enemies.

              The funny thing is that US citizens have absolutely zero control over who the government decides is our enemy or ally. That aspect of government is entirely partitioned off as separate from the “democracy”, as if the foreign policy element of our government was itself a foreign nation we have no control over.

              While we are on the topic, fuck the government of Saudi Arabia and Israel, both governments are horrendously violent.

      • BreakDecks@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        2 years ago

        I’ve read this comment over 10 times now and I have no idea what the words “the law 50/50 signed here” means, so I can’t be sure I understand the argument you are trying to make. My best guess is that you are using circular logic to suggest that every democratically decided upon decision is always the right decision, which is nonsense because democracy is demonstrably fallible.

        • Devccoon@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          2 years ago

          My point might be a little Covid brain fogged but I’m just pointing out that they did exactly what the guy asked for, if they bothered to click past the title which makes it sound like a targeted “ban Tiktok” law.

          • Hildegarde@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            2 years ago

            I am not a guy. I read the entire article before commenting. The law did not do what I asked for. You would know if you read my comment all the way through.

            • Devccoon@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              2 years ago

              I think you’re making assumptions that I can read into what exactly you find wrong with Tiktok. That context is not there in the original comment.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    86
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    2 years ago

    This was a committee vote. The bill now must advance to the floor, pass a vote there, then go through the same process in the Senate.

    Many bills are passed out of committee but are never given an actual vote.

      • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 years ago

        Technically, while that might have been true at the end of 2023, the US House of Representatives of the 118th congress have voted 796 times with 126 items passed, according to Govtrack.us with at least ten vetoes by the POTUS.

        So not really the worst by any measure.

          • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 years ago

            Yeah for sure I’d love to see more progress. I’m glad at least the House Republicans have taken a very brief break from impeaching their own speaker on repeat.

  • Nakedmole@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    83
    arrow-down
    31
    ·
    2 years ago

    Tik Tok pushes so much toxic content towards children and teenagers it should be shut down in my opinion.

  • affiliate@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    68
    arrow-down
    17
    ·
    2 years ago

    Many users called lawmakers’ offices to complain, congressional staffers told Politico. “It’s so so bad. Our phones have not stopped ringing. They’re teenagers and old people saying they spend their whole day on the app and we can’t take it away,” one House GOP staffer was quoted as saying.

    and they still voted 50-0. really tells you something about how much these politicians are willing to listen to their constituents.

    • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      62
      arrow-down
      15
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      It was a 50-0 to pass the commission and then go to the House floor for a vote and then the Senate for a vote and finally signed into law by the president unless he vetoes it, which is possible imo.

      Honestly, teenagers and old people are the sorts of folks that need to be protected from themselves, I might just call in to my local representative to voice my support of forced sale, operating restrictions, or even outright ban.

      EDIT: I sent him an email.

        • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          13
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 years ago

          Love to, I think the 5 Bn USD FTC fine was a little light considering no jailtime was given. I hope their recent lawsuits lead to breaking the company up again.

      • Krauerking@lemy.lol
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        18
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        2 years ago

        Yeah honestly if a bunch of addicted teens and old people were calling me screaming that I can’t take away their drug of choice when that’s not even what’s happening, and it’s not being taken away just moved to where there can be more control on quality… Then I would be really considering the damage this is doing to them.

        I don’t know if supporting the junkies being taken advantage of is the altruistic take that these “absolute freedom” supporters think it is.

        • Misconduct@startrek.website
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 years ago

          The fact that you guys just ate up that rhetoric without any hesitation… Like, you just happily believe it’s a bunch of “addicted old people and teenagers”? Is this reddit? Did I make a wrong turn at common sense and critical thinking?

          • Krauerking@lemy.lol
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 years ago

            Uh dude… I know people addicted that got the email to message their representative. They will stop talking in a conversation and pull out their phone and just scroll through a few videos.

            I struggle to believe so many would be messaging just out of laziness but don’t question that being the age groups that would respond most to that kind of targeted messaging into action.

      • affiliate@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        23
        arrow-down
        15
        ·
        2 years ago

        what are you even trying to say here? that it’s okay for politicians to ignore entire demographics? or that it’s only okay for them to ignore entire demographics if, ultimately, it’s left up to a different group of politicians to pass the law?

        i don’t use tiktok or have any interest in the app itself, but it’s still very alarming to see a vote go through 50-0 despite a “nonstop” flood of calls opposing it.

          • affiliate@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            23
            arrow-down
            11
            ·
            2 years ago

            “protect them from themselves” is what you said. which carries the connotation that they don’t know what’s best for themselves and aren’t qualified to make judgments about those things. this is different from simply “protecting them”.

            • prole@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              17
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              2 years ago

              To be fair, a big part of a functioning society is a government with proper regulations in place so that people are not expected to be experts in literally every field before making a purchase or performing some kind of action. Obviously, calling it “protect[ing] them from themselves,” is dismissive and patronizing, but it’s pretty much why we need government in the first place.

              For example, the EPA recently issued a recall for ground cinnamon from certain specific (dollar store) brands due to unacceptably high levels of lead. Without the career scientists (and yes, bureaucrats) working for that regulatory agency, millions of people would have continued consuming the product and feeding it to their kids (low-income folks too in this case, given the brands) literally indefinitely.

              Without the EPA, every person who buys cinnamon is what, expected to use mass spectrometry to determine the exact molecular make-up of every spice (or in the case of the EPA, literally any food or prescription drugs you may ever consume) before using?

              If they didn’t do their cinnamon research, then they deserved it, and the government should have no involvement? What happens in cases where companies hide dangerous issues in their products to avoid losing profits?

              What if there’s literally no way for anyone but a scientist, with extensive lab access and at least 4+ years of university to know that there is an issue with a product (or a construction site, or a drug, or water treatment, etc)? They’re the only ones who should be able to properly avoid using a product that may kill them and their children? And even then, only when it’s a product they’re an expert in?

              Not saying you’re a libertarian, just like pointing out the obvious things that make it so so stupid.

              • affiliate@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                4
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                2 years ago

                i agree with everything you’ve said here. and i liked the EPA example. sorry if what i said came across as libertarian, that was not my intention.

                i was just trying to push back against the “young people don’t know what’s best for themselves” mentality in the other post.

                although, to be clear, i think the current state of social media does have quite a few problems that need addressing, and more regulation on that would certainly be welcome.

              • treadful@lemmy.zip
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                3
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                2 years ago

                Would love to see the science or other expert opinions that is being used to justify this ban then.

                I haven’t heard anything except politicians making vague references to spying or other things we allow from domestic services.

                It’s just politics.

              • Misconduct@startrek.website
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                2 years ago

                Ok, sure. Show me what research you or they have done to justify “protecting them from themselves”. Already they’re telling lies by insinuating that only teenagers and old people are calling. And you all just believe it? Wild how biased people can be when presented with information they want to believe.

            • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              2 years ago

              What other reason could I possibly have? You think there is some massive anti-tiktok cabal out there trying to profit by… uh… fucking how?

      • Misconduct@startrek.website
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        2 years ago

        It’s not just teenagers and old people. That’s just some bullshit rhetoric that you ate right up without question. Because of course you did. Millennials/middle age folk are abundant on TikTok as well as young adults.

        The audacity of some of you to jump into action just to spite “teenagers and old people” is shameful. So easily manipulated.

        • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 years ago

          Right, sorry, it’s fine to let teenagers and old people be harmed as long as the company can continue to profit off consenting adults as well. /sarcasm

        • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          17
          arrow-down
          9
          ·
          2 years ago

          “Mr. Legislator I am 84 and I need my Heroin but the federal government keeps cracking down on my supplier, please stop taking away all my Heroin Mr. Legislator. Also, force my bank to let me transfer 85,000 USD to India, it’s really important that I do that before the 27th.”

          • Clent@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            8
            ·
            2 years ago

            Yes. This is called Nanny State.

            Rather than educate the populace, take away the tools. Of course, another tool will just rise to the surface but it will make a lot of people feel really good that they did something.

            I do appreciate all of the reactionary statements. I don’t use TikTok but I do believe in freedom. Reducing freedoms, no matter how well intentioned does not solve societies problems.

            • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              2 years ago

              You can’t educate dementia away. You can educate youth away, but that takes years, which would effectively be a ban for them. TikTok is not a tool for its users, it is a tool for a for profit corporation and by extension their associated foreign dictatorship.

              Absolute freedom should not extend to harming each other.

              • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                2 years ago

                TikTok is not a tool for its users, it is a tool for a for profit corporation

                That pretty much describes every corporation in existence.

                • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  Some of them provide utility and some don’t, which is why we don’t allow children to drink, smoke, or gamble. If a company providing those goods and services targets those demographics it gets political action.

                  Welcome to the nuance of society and the modern world.

              • Clent@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                2 years ago

                TikTok is one of hundreds of vectors to swindle the senile and I doubt it’s even in the top 10.

                Grandpa needs to have someone else handling his finances. It’s not the governments job and let’s not pretend this bill is about keeping grandpas money safe.

    • realharo@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 years ago

      Are they “taking it away” though? Do normal people care about who owns it? Are they just worried about an unlikely ban?

      • affiliate@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 years ago

        you’re taking it as a given that bytedance will sell the app if this law passes. there is a chance that they won’t want to sell and then the app will be banned. (but i think this unlikely.)

        also, if i’m understanding things correctly, there’s the possibility that they do sell and the app still gets banned. the article says

        An app would be allowed to stay in the US market after a divestiture if the president determines that the sale “would result in the relevant covered company no longer being controlled by a foreign adversary.”

        depending on who the next president is, there’s no guarantee that they’ll say any sale will result in the company not being controlled by a foreign adversary. (although this past is just speculation.)

        anyways. this bill will certainly raise the chances that the app will be banned in the US. (and it opens the door for other apps to get banned if the US doesn’t like the country they were developed in.)

        • realharo@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          2 years ago

          I also just noticed in the article:

          TikTok urged its users to protest the bill, sending a notification that said, “Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok… Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO.”

          Also from a BBC article about the same thing:

          Earlier, users of the app had received a notification urging them to act to “stop a TikTok shutdown.”

          So they were literally sending out misleading notifications (because a forced sale is not a total ban), and then the users wrote to Congress based on that…

          The probability that they will sell seems really high to me, as the same thing almost happened back in 2020.

            • shastaxc@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              2 years ago

              Yeah but if they sell then it’s someone else stuck holding the bags so why wouldn’t they?

              • Delta_V@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                2 years ago

                because its not in the corporation’s interest to incur the expense and organizational disruption if they’re still going to get banned anyway - profit is maximized by continuing with business as usual instead of spending resources attempting to reach compliance

          • Misconduct@startrek.website
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 years ago

            They also claimed that it was only “old people and teenagers” who were calling in and objecting which wasn’t true. One rep stood up and straight up lied claiming that TikTok users were “forced” to call. How would that even work? TikTok possibly being banned isn’t a lie but all that other shit sure was. It was just a popup offering to help locate local reps to call and make their voices heard. The fact that any of you are pretending that people taking this democratic action is a bad thing is appalling and your bias is blatantly obvious. The absolute ego on all of you to act like you just know better than all of those other people because… Reasons? Ridiculous.

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 years ago

      It also tells you something about all the supposed gridlock in Washington that can magically evaporate when there’s money and power to be gained from it.

  • jaschen@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    57
    arrow-down
    13
    ·
    2 years ago

    Good. Fuck them and all social media controlled by any big mega corp. But fuck the CCP especially.

      • filister@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        30
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        I think here the point is that the US government seems to be not bothered by Meta’s data collection which by the way has already been used by Cambridge Analytica to swing elections in favour of one of the opponents and most likely used on countless more occasions but it is now super worried about Tiktok.

        And what did they do against Meta? To the best of my knowledge nothing effective.

        If they do this they should apply the same measures against Meta and other companies but they don’t. Which is disturbing.

        Same with Gaza and Israel. Hamas kills around less than 1 K civilians (mind you a lot of the killed on that first day were military), it is utter tragedy. Israel kills 30+K people, starves the local population, destroys almost completely the infrastructure and their homes and it is business as usual. And every now and then they are scorned to please their voting base while weapon sales to Israel are continuing. Replace Israel with Russia/NK/China or any other country the US considers hostile and they will have them sanctioned to hell, but since it is Israel, nothing of this is happening.

        At least have the fucking decency not to have double standards, because the rest of the world isn’t blind or stupid.

        • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          13
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 years ago

          As I recall they got Zuckerberg on stand and did their best “rabble rablle rabble” at him, with a few decent questions mixed in, then nothing.

            • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              2 years ago

              Good to hear! Love it when a megacorp gets the screws now and again, wish it happened more frequently (specifically to ISPs who took government funds for fiber infrastructure)

        • NateNate60@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 years ago

          Yes, you have pointed out the subtext that was there all along and pretended like it’s some new argument.

          It is about the data sharing. The US doesn’t like companies sharing data with countries that it views as its geopolitical rivals. Big surprise, am I right?

          • MinorLaceration@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            2 years ago

            Seriously. Don’t cover your eyes and pretend you can’t see why the government treats US companies different than companies that are directly in the hands of adversaries. They might not care if Meta uses it to profit off of us, but they certainly do care if China will use it to achieve an advantage over us, militarily or otherwise.

        • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 years ago

          Facebook / Meta was forced to pay 5 Billion USD in an FTC fine over how they used data.

        • fuzzyspudkiss@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          36
          ·
          2 years ago

          I can’t order Jimmy John’s on my work computer anymore. Why? Because tiktok is blocked on our work network. What does tiktok have to do with Jimmy John’s? Well I would have thought nothing expect it won’t let you set your delivery option unless it’s allowed to send data to analytics.tiktok.com.

          Why is a God damn sandwich shop sending my location to tiktok? No idea, but it’s definitely not just the video app that’s the problem.

        • rebelsimile@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          29
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          2 years ago

          I dunno what hill you’re trying to die on here. A stupid dancing app that provides a data collection platform by a foreign surveillance state is a plot on the Orville. Nobody is concerned with it competing with Google, Apple orYouTube. It’s so off-base. Google sucks anyway. If people are searching on TikTok it’s because it’s giving better results for them than Google. It’s about who is collecting the data.

            • rebelsimile@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              13
              arrow-down
              4
              ·
              2 years ago

              No, I think it sets a bad precedent. I don’t think TikTok should be allowed in the US (if the US decides it doesn’t want it as they’re seeming to). Taking the property is going to cause a bunch of what you mentioned.

            • pycorax@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              11
              ·
              2 years ago

              Isn’t this in some way the same as how China bans a number of foreign companies from operating? I don’t think doing the exact same thing is entirely fair but when others aren’t playing by the same rules, it’s a lot less black and white.

    • Goronmon@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 years ago

      I’m surprised that people are surprised that a country would favor it’s own businesses versus foreign ones.

      I’m also unsure of which countries act differently from this.

      • trolololol@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        2 years ago

        I’m not surprised but I’m still outraged at the amount of hypocrisy they are pulling off out of this one.

    • NateNate60@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      15
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      2 years ago

      Ah yes, the US, where no foreign company is allowed to be successful.

      Such unsuccessful or banned foreign companies include Samsung, LG, Sony, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Aldi, Shell, Siemens…

    • trolololol@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      2 years ago

      And if foreign politics won’t take care of it call the CIA and tell it they’re hiding oil under the presidents house.

    • PsychedSy@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      2 years ago

      Need to donate a couple hundred mil to Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and see if he’ll give up his strategy.

      • Serinus@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        2 years ago

        Oh man, is this a game? Are we supposed to name all the reasons this is dumb? The first two are obvious.

        • PsychedSy@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 years ago

          MSFT was famous for not taking lobbying seriously until they started getting anti-trust action against them. They quickly became good at it.

  • agitatedpotato@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    46
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    2 years ago

    Bold move. Who are they going to blame all the online privacy issues once they cant yell about the Chinese? Or are we going to start pretending everythings fine then?

    • ItsMeSpez@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      2 years ago

      Why do you think that they give a shit about online privacy? This isn’t a privacy bill, it’s a bill stopping another government from doing exactly the same shit that the US government does through domestic apps. They aren’t looking out for people, they’re afraid of the competition.

      • Krauerking@lemy.lol
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        2 years ago

        This is exactly the take I find the most interesting.
        This is what the US has been doing everywhere for a decade+ now and suddenly it’s not ok? It’s because the grip is loosening and the sense of control and power is absolutely slipping and while it’s late to be grasping to get it back, it’s not unwarranted.

        I actually don’t think it’s a bad idea cause seriously creating an addiction that can only be served by other countries is not good for a healthy and good local populace. Is it a bit karma sure but I’d rather not live it as the same non addict if we can help it.

  • Margot Robbie@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    33
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    2 years ago

    So TikTok is sending out app notifications that they are at risk of being shut down and urging their users to call their representatives right now. They are not going down without a fight.

    The 165 days time limit would land the deadline in August-ish, right before the most intense phase of election season in the States, and I do think TikTok would be a very influential part of the election strategy this year.

    • Buttons@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 years ago

      On this particular topic, I think “both sides” is true. Both sides want to proceed down this “ban websites by name” road.

  • pjwestin@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    35
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    2 years ago

    …TikTok would eventually be dropped from app stores in the US if its owner doesn’t sell. It also would lose access to US-based web hosting services.

    Oh no. Where would children act out jokes they stole from old tweets?

    • smolyeet@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      2 years ago

      So many out of touch people in every thread that mentions TikTok. The same shit we did on YouTube , FB , Twitter, vine, etc is the same concept on TikTok. Memes evolve or new ones are born, that is nothing new

    • Misconduct@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 years ago

      Oh no… Someone that was told the opinion they should have about tiktok years ago never bothered to think about it for more that five seconds before repeating it

      Did it hurt? Becoming a boomer.

  • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    2 years ago

    I don’t see why users would even have a problem with this. Same services, more competitive market, and with less ties to an evil dictatorship should be celebrated, right?

    • herpaderp@lemmynsfw.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      2 years ago

      It depends. I’ve heard second hand accounts that TikTok can push pro-Chinese propaganda, and whenever I pointed out that China isn’t some lefty paradise to some people in my life they were either shocked or fell into the “you’re falling in line with the Western Propaganda, I see 😏”

      • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        2 years ago

        I’m much less concerned with what they’re giving than what they’re taking with the app. It’s been shown to collect message history and photo library data, that alone is a threat to us all.

        • herpaderp@lemmynsfw.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 years ago

          I agree! Both are issues, but I was giving a different context where a TikTok user may not care about it being under the thumb of the CCP.

          • Misconduct@startrek.website
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 years ago

            Why would I care? Is it somehow better for google or facebook to profit off of my data? China doesn’t even solely own the app. They don’t even own enough of the app to censor it and so it’s banned in China lmao

      • Misconduct@startrek.website
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 years ago

        TikTok is banned in China because they don’t have enough ownership to censor it but ok. I’m sure it’s whatever you just made up too because China bad and reasons.