Tiktok Now, Everything Next
Tiktok Now, Everything Next
It never stops at just one thing
Submitted by TiktokEnjoyer
Social media platforms have become integral parts of everyday life, influencing how we communicate, consume information, and interact with the world. They are distractions but also the chief way we keep up with friends and family. TikTok, a wildly popular video-sharing app, falls more on the distraction side of the spectrum. It has captured the attention of millions (billions?) worldwide, especially among younger demographics. It is the Zoomer platform of choice. It is also the first successful foreign social media platform. As that factors into decision making, Congress now debates legislation aimed at regulating TikTok. There are significant concerns about the potential dangers of government overreach and the chilling effects it could have on free expression and innovation.
At the core, the public talking point is the question of data privacy and national security. Lawmakers argue that TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, poses a threat to user privacy due to its data collection practices and potential ties to the Chinese government. This has been known for years with its data scraping features. While these concerns are not unfounded, proposed legislation risks overstepping its bounds and setting dangerous precedents for internet regulation.
One of the most immediate dangers of congressional intervention in the TikTok debate is the potential for censorship. If lawmakers enact strict regulations targeting TikTok, it could embolden them to extend their reach to other social media platforms, stifling free speech and creativity online. We have seen misinfo nudge emails, and the Supreme Court is deciding if the feds overstepped their limits during covid. By giving the government broad powers to regulate content, we will absolutely see censorship based on political or ideological grounds, infringing upon individuals' rights to express themselves freely. This is a given considering the left’s predilections and the government’s problem with counternarratives.
Setting that issue aside, legislation could have far-reaching consequences for innovation and competition in the tech industry. By imposing burdensome regulations on TikTok, Congress may inadvertently stifle competition and innovation, giving established tech giants a competitive advantage. This could hinder the development of new platforms and technologies, ultimately limiting consumer choice and stifling economic growth. The EU regulates because it cannnot innovate, and America does not need to copy the EU.
A concerning aspect of the proposed legislation is its potential impact on international relations. This is a Chinese app. TikTok's popularity has made it a global cultural phenomenon, with users from diverse backgrounds sharing content and connecting with others around the world. This has created the Israel Factor. Anti-Israel takes have proliferated on Tiktok, and that is spurring action now. Congressional intervention could please Israel but strain diplomatic relations with China, leading to retaliatory measures and further exacerbating tensions. As the South China Sea remains tense, this is an added headache.
We know what’s coming. There are concerns about the unintended consequences of government overreach in the name of cybersecurity. While protecting user data is a legitimate concern, heavy-handed legislation cement a left wing misinfo regime. Predicting the potential censorship applications of such a law, one easily imagines the slippery slope of government intervention in online content moderation. While the initial target may be TikTok, the precedent set by such legislation paves the way for broader censorship of online speech especially in the name of national security. Governments could exploit vague language or broad powers granted by the law to suppress dissenting voices, target political opponents, or censor content that challenges the status quo. They already do via unofficial means but now would have a “law” backing them.
The frankenstein of political interference looms large in the debate over TikTok regulation. In an era of heightened political polarization, lawmakers cand and will abuse their authority to silence political opponents or manipulate public discourse. By weaponizing regulatory agencies to target platforms deemed unfriendly to certain political ideologies, Congress could destroy the last shreds of democracy and free expression upon which the internet was founded.
While there are legitimate concerns about data privacy and national security associated with TikTok, the dangers of congressional legislation targeting the platform cannot be overstated. The potential for government overreach, censorship, and chilling effects on free expression poses a significant threat to the future of the internet. Instead of resorting to heavy-handed regulation, lawmakers should seek surgical solutions that protect user privacy while preserving the principles of free speech, innovation, and global connectivity. Our elite won’t grant us that, but they can at least leave our distractions alone.
 |
|
>This has created the Israel Factor.
Indeed, anti-genocide videos get 69 times more views than pro-genocide videos. It turns out people do NOT like a mass murder filmed and bragged about, with food trucks stopped by Israelis dancing and singing wrapped in Israeli flags and mocking the Palestinians behind the fence, and with statements like "there are no innocent Palestinians" and "Gaza will never again be what it was" from the Israeli president and the defense minister, and with Israeli children singing about Israeli bomb planes over Gaza on television.
But how easy it is to make cuckservatives talk about "communist China" controlling TikTok. The founders only own 20 percent of TikTok - and they're a private business, not government-owned. The CEO is from Singapore. There are plenty of American owners, including BlackRock, and including the 7,000 employees in the U.S.
And of course, China isn't communist except in name. Their economy is far more right-wing than in the U.S. and the culture is far more conservative. No homosexual parades there.
...........
By the way, I saw a lame take by a Jew, saying that they are unfairly singled out for their mass murder. Why don't you talk about the people killed in Africa? He claimed it was because Whites are "racist" toward Blacks dying. The real reason is the opposite, that the media don't want to show when Blacks are killing. The hundreds of thousands raped and killed in Tigray in Ethiopia were killed by the Ethiopian government. If Whites had done the killing of even a thousand Ethiopians, we'd be hearing about it far more than we hear about Gaza.
>The EU regulates because it cannnot innovate, and America does not need to copy the EU.
Amusing that you misspell "cannot" in a sentence supposed to show U.S. superiority. If you have insight into the world of medicine, biology, chemistry, or technology, or for example architectural methods, you see that there is a constant stream of research, improvements and innovation from the top Germanic nations, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and from two highly populous southern nations with Germanic-built northern provinces, France and Italy, as well as contributions from other worthy countries like Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Finland. Just like we get the same kind of progress from Japan and Korea. These and the U.S. don't operate separate from each other, but are part of a whole where they build on each other's research.
The reason there are no social media from Europe is the same reason for why there are none Ohio or Virginia. Silicon Valley has a position that no one can compete with, except for a Chinese business with a brilliant idea (allowing kids to make videos to pre-recorced sound clips), but that was a fluke. In social media people go where other people are.