If the US government wanted to actually take the high road on this instead of hoping to be able to keep public discourse under the thumb of their own oligarchs, they would push in this direction instead imo
Any government actually.
By funding foss projects and living the example.
It's not like it's not happening, but it's alloys at such a smol scale.
And not really on social media part (a few govs use Mastodon iirc, but that is about it that I can think of).
100%, they could even keep their surveillance program in house, just spin up public fediverse servers and share the news to citizens about the “official US” open social media platforms. But they can’t stop licking the oligarchy’s boots
It's weird that so many people here aren't aware of Loops. I've never had any interest in tiktok or anything like it, so I have never sought it out, and I see it mentioned both here on Lemmy and other places several times a week. Do people really just use only lemmy for anything fed and only view communities they subscribe to? That's the only thing I can think of that would make them so shut off from everything.
I’ve used TikTok since 2021 and really enjoyed the content that it showed me. I learned a lot about fixing things up around the house, things that were going on in other parts of the world, FROM those that live there, and even some of the funniest skits I’ve ever seen off of YouTube. It was a great place.
On every video I’ve seen, for the last two weeks, I have been plugging the Fediverse, Loops especially, for any who care. Some of the content creators did see and like my comments, but I have yet to see a video about anyone talking about it, which is sad.
I unfortunately think a lot of them were just not wanting the money train to disappear, and I can understand that, but to provide only corpo owned media to their fans really disappointed me. Sometimes, money is really not worth selling out. Or, I suppose I must be crazy and insane, because that’s how I feel about it anyway.
I'm not equating this to you personally but here is my experience (I have never used TokTik myself):
my coworker in her just about 50s said the same thing you did - "just how much life hacks" she has learned and immediately proceeded to explain if I knew that if I buy some seeds and put them in some water or moist soil it just "starts to grow" and you can then proceed to plant those "things" in pots and it will eventually grow you "fruits" and you only need to water it "like a (house) plant".
I still have not recovered from this and it's has been a year. It really shook me to my core.
I'm still speechless about it, I don't even know how to comment it, where to ever start thinking about it.
Just so much wow.
Oh, but I agree with you abut money-train issue, foss communities are still learning how to donate to devs/creators. But it's a process, a cultural movement & development which I am sure will lead us to a better society.
Honestly, The government isn't protecting our data anyways so it really doesn't matter. Amazon has had yet another massive breach but no worries the government is sitting idly by. Not a single action will be taken even though this happens all the time. No penalty means no reason to change.
that platform is being banned because there are very limited privacy laws and the platform doesn't even comply with those. all theyhad to do is start a US front company with a data center, host all collected user data there and deny all data center access to the foreign parent company.
I hadn't heard of it, and I usually follow this stuff pretty closely. FWIW, in this case, it appears that the data was employee data from a third party vendor's systems:
The exposed Amazon dataset includes employee work contact information, email addresses, desk phone numbers, and building locations. While Amazon spokesperson Adam Montgomery confirmed the breach, he emphasized in a statement to TechCrunch that core Amazon and Amazon Web Services, or AWS, systems remained secure.
People misconfigure AWS resources all the time, so it is definitely true that data stored by Amazon leaks out from time to time, although they don't have much culpability in these cases.
You'd epxect official media to be happy about it. But they had cordoned off the rest of the world for a reason on TikTok. They have that Great Firewall for a reason.
The US government doesn't give any amount of fucks about your personal information. It was always about the Chinese government's ability to use tiktok to propagandize to us.
And before you say it, yes they think it's okay if the US companies do it. The Chinese government is of the same mind in that regard.
What's this supposed to mean? You're tripping on several fronts.
Not only am I a person of color and I also heavily criticize Meta/Amazon/Google and their egregious apps, but news just came out a couple of days ago that the Chinese government sponsored literal malware and attacked civil rights activists with it from inside the US. Yes, it's obviously different than social media, but what do you think they're doing with unlimited access to a popular app that everybody and their grandma has on their phones collecting all that data about people's viewing habits and manipulating feeds?
And yes, I'm aware it's technically spyware but my comment was hyperbole saying Americans would knowingly install malware if they could. They're one step away from it pretending it's activism.
Except this was never about "malware" or anything else.
Republicans first wanted to ban it because younger people were getting politically organized on it, and they weren't voting republican.
Then it was the main platform where news of Gaza was getting out, because American owned media, social media included, have always towed the line with Israel and anything that shows them in a negative light is just automatically considered "antisemitic".
Because of Gaza, Democrats jumped on trying to ban it with Republicans because neither side liked that information was being spread and they had no power to suppress.
If they actually cared about security or the privacy of citizens they would make regulation that applied to all social media, US included. There is nothing Ticktok does that Facebook, Twitter, and all the rest don't have a long history of doing. And there was the whole Cambridge Analytica thing where it was found Facebook sold user data and gave access to a foreign group that actively was using Facebook to influence the 2016 election. If China wanted data on US citizens there is nothing stopping them from just buying it from American companies like they already do.
Also, Twitter was specifically doing things to help prop up Trump this last time at the behest of Musk who was not born in the US and pretty much fits the bill of "foreign agent trying to undermine American values", except that he's trying to undermine the people and the push for equality and human rights, which most politicians don't care about.
I personally appreciate it when people correct me on things like this, so it isn't a dig or anything, but the phrase is "toe the line." As in walk up and put your toe on the line.
The US banned Huawei, is close to banning TP-Link, so there is definitely a fear over Chinese spyware. It's a very real risk, just like Russian anti virus software (Kaspersky) had been banned recently.
But even if you don't believe it's about spyware TikTok should still be banned for economic reasons. China basically blocks all non Chinese socialmedia apps, so why would we accept Chinese social media? The playing field should be equal, banning TikTok makes it more equal.
I don't really believe Gaza has much to do with it, you can find the same content on YouTube or X or other platforms.
It's hyperbole. I'm saying they would literally install malware in whatever form to stick it to the man instead of doing the more effective thing. I'm not necessarily calling those platforms malware even if they're kind of iffy.
What, saying that Americans don't vote? They don't, just look at the polls. Among those were family members I tried to convince to get out and vote because they'd actively refuse. One even threatened me over it, like wtf. lol
I do vote and got two of my first choices elected each time. If I didn't, their chances would decrease. What do you even mean voting means shit? My country does not have a college of representatives so my vote counts exactly as one vote.
I think a handful of influencers found it and just started promoting it. It's a bandwagon thing, I'm not expecting 95% of the TikTok base to be going to another Chinese app just to stick it to the man. They are going their because the people they follow are going there.
A few days ago, this app had a few dedicated shitposters who really felt like they had a community, then a tidalfuck of Americans came and ruined everything.
And it's understandable. 170 million US citizens are on TikTok. More than 1% has a significant business enterprise that has flourished in that app (not so on the other apps).
The US government, beyond just violating* the free speech of half the population, would be shooting itself in the face by banning the app, considering how much lost tax revenue is likely to occur.
People are making account but they are just reposting content to rebuild a following and thats always just annoying, definitely wont have the same algorithim, but tiktoks was pretty much just favoring ppl who already were past a couple thousand followers
Not the guy you replied to, but there were a lot of new threads users when it kicked off. Most of them might have been curious, but in terms of active discussion is was not reflective of the number of claimed “active users”, and many seem to have abandoned it, even if their account is still technically there.
I downloaded it just cuz everyone was talking about it. I didn't even tik a single tok before. Every other post(?) (tiktok?) is either teaching Americans Mandarin or demanding yanks pay the cat tax. I wanna pay but the quality of pictures on that platform makes my cat pix feel pedestrian
My gf is Chinese and her feed is littered with Americans trying to look cool, and speaking zero Mandarin. The other one constantly occurring are Americans saying "so what Chinese are getting my data? You know what's called sharing? It's called Kindness❤️🙏" i almost spit my coffee, but I was in bed and I had dry mouth
It's so wierd to see those people to go out of their way, to another soulless corporation, for no benefit.
They literally don't care about the data. The entire law is to prevent foreign nations from controlling media narratives. If China wants Americas data all they have to do is buy it.
You can't stop teens, they determine what is cool and will try everything to be cool. Ask the Soviet Union how trying to keep teens from buying Levi's Jeans worked out for them.
the democrats did nothing my bills have tripled over the last few years and my pay is not even close to keeping up, republicans will drive civil discourse and there will be riots, that's the only way anything will change
Not trying to defend the democrats, but what did the republicans, the trump presidency, do for you? Did your burden from bills lessen? Did your pay rise? How was the discourse? What changed because of the riots?
I know nothing of you and your struggles, but chances are you gained nothing during that time. Am I wrong?
Democrats tried to stop price gouging. Republicans blocked it. Democrats tried to raise minimum wage. Republicans blocked it. Democrats tried to forgive school loans much like the PPP loans to rich corporations [and grifters] were forgiven, but Republicans blocked it.
Congrats on blaming the wrong people for things not getting done.
Accelerationist Theory just means a bunch of people are going to suffer and die. Society might change, but is far more likely to get worse for everyone.
They really have cut off their nose to spite their face imo. Only way this makes sense to me is that the users want a noble justification for their ignoble habit.
“The data would’ve ended up in China anyway since American apps would’ve sold it.”
-Rationalizations of a feed addict fiending
It allows any pos to spread their garbage misinformed opinions as facts. its full of adult weirdos making softcore porn knowing the platform is full of minors and many intentionally targeting their content towards them. Its full of grifters peddling pseudoscientific supplements, cosmetics, medical advice etc. Its full of rwnj and pseudo progressives from all over the world spreading populist propaganda. It also makes it easy for any anti social pos to get famous.
China controlling the narrative might be a bit worrying. Not sure how much that reflects in the daily life of a single person but for societies it does have some implications.
How's it worse for china to have it than American companies. If anything American ones have more access to you to fuck you over. All of them should be banned/heavily regulated for privacy. Not just tiktok.
Not quite. As far as I can tell the US can now play whack-a-mole with any app owned or controlled by a "foreign adversary", thanks to this precedent. The decision as to which nations are considered a "Foreign Adversary" is made by the U.S. Secretary Of Commerce.
I am not a lawyer or lawmaker, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Here's the full text of the legislation (emphases mine):
DIVISION H-- PROTECTING AMERICANS FROM FOREIGN ADVERSARY CONTROLLED APPLICATIONS ACT
Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act
(Sec. 2) This division prohibits distributing, maintaining, updating, or providing internet hosting services for a foreign adversary controlled application (e.g., TikTok). However, the prohibition does not apply to a covered application that executes a qualified divestiture as determined by the President.
Under the division, a foreign adversary controlled application is an application directly or indirectly operated by (1) ByteDance, Ltd., TikTok, their subsidiaries, successors, related entities they control, or entities controlled by a foreign adversary country; or (2) a social media company that is controlled by a foreign adversary country and determined by the President to present a significant threat to national security. (Here, a social media company excludes any website or application primarily used to post product reviews, business reviews, or travel information and reviews.)
For the purposes of this division, a foreign adversary country includes North Korea, China, Russia, and Iran.
A qualified divestiture is a transaction that the President has determined (through an interagency process)
would result in the relevant foreign adversary controlled application no longer being controlled by a foreign adversary, and
precludes the establishment or maintenance of any operational relationship between the U.S. operations of the relevant application and any formerly affiliated entities that are controlled by a foreign adversary (including any cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm or a data-sharing agreement).
The prohibition applies 270 days after the date of the division’s enactment. The division authorizes the President to grant a one-time extension of up to 90 days to a covered application when the President has certified to Congress that (1) a path to executing a qualified divestiture of the covered application has been identified, (2) evidence of significant progress toward executing such qualified divestiture of the covered application has been produced, and (3) relevant legal agreements to enable execution of such qualified divestiture during the period of such extension are in place.
Additionally, the division requires a covered foreign adversary controlled application to provide a user with all available account data (including posts, photos, and videos) at the user's request before the prohibition takes effect. The account data must be provided in a machine-readable format.
The division authorizes the Department of Justice to investigate violations and enforce its provisions. Entities that that violate the division are subject to civil penalties for violations. An entity that violates the prohibition on distributing, maintaining, updating, or providing internet hosting services for a covered application is subject to a maximum penalty of $5,000 multiplied by the number of U.S. users who have accessed, maintained, or updated the application as a result of the violation. An entity that violates the requirement to provide account data to a user upon request is subject to a maximum penalty of $500 multiplied by the number of U.S. users impacted by the violation.
(Sec. 3) The division gives the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia exclusive jurisdiction over any challenge to the division. A challenge to the division must be brought within 165 days after the division’s enactment date. A challenge to any action, finding, or determination under the division must be brought with 90 days of the action, finding, or determination.
DIVISION I--PROTECTING AMERICANS’ DATA FROM FOREIGN ADVERSARIES ACT OF 2024
Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act of 2024
This division makes it unlawful for a data broker to sell, license, rent, trade, transfer, release, disclose, or otherwise make available specified personally identifiable sensitive data of individuals who reside in the United States to North Korea, China, Russia, or Iran or an entity controlled by such a country (e.g., headquartered in or owned by a person in the country).
Sensitive data includes government-issued identifiers (e.g., Social Security numbers), financial account numbers, biometric information, genetic information, precise geolocation information, and private communications (e.g., texts or emails).
A data broker generally includes an entity that sells or otherwise provides data of individuals that the entity did not collect directly from the individuals. A data broker does not include an entity that transmits an individual's data or communications at the request or direction of the individual or an entity that makes news or information available to the general public.
The division provides for enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission.
I don't trust China at all, ban all their social media app in the same way they ban ours.
I would like the US to be more like the EU in terms of privacy, but China not only doesn't care, they actively try to use that data to screw over people.
I never said that zuckerberg isn't also doing the same thing. There should be a lot more security over our internet data, China we have many reasons to remove their platforms from the US. the Local companies need to be reined in by the government as well.
Conveniently the USA has the first amendment (which, admittedly has been being degraded over time) that, at least in spirit, should protect an individual right to publish information (such as ip packets) to another location (such as an ISP) and that other location's right to forward that information to a second location (such as a VPN) that is outside of the USA's jurisdiction.
It's like how banning advanced cryptography is practically impossible and idiotic because it is just a small amount of math. The internet protocol can be transmitted over so many different mediums that all the government could realistically do is create a bigger VPN market.