• Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    15 days ago

    TikTok has gone out of their way to show they’ve siloed American operations. There has been no evidence that the Chinese government could or would breach that.

    • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works
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      15 days ago

      So you’re arguing that TikTok US, despite being fully owned and controlled by China, has full independence and decision making capability? Even regular western companies don’t have that. What the home office says, goes. At most, their American operations are making sure they’re abiding by US law with regards to data and such (and even then I’d highly doubt that, given all the forensic breakdowns about TikTok sending encrypted data to China).

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        15 days ago

        If it sends encrypted data to China it would be the first I’ve heard of it. The worst the news could come up with last time is headcount data. And yes they went on an entire project to silo it. At the end of the day they want the money, and TikTok shop provides it. Other than that they sell the same info Meta does on the open market.

        • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works
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          15 days ago

          And yes they went on an entire project to silo it

          So? It doesn’t matter what internal bureaucratic sleight of hand they pull. The bosses are in the CCP, and when they say ‘jump’, the answer is going to be ‘how high?’. That’s how private companies work.

          At the end of the day they want the money

          TikTok wants money. The CCP wants other stuff. As long as the CCP isn’t making demands, TikTok will make their money. The moment the CCP says to do something, TikTok will do it.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          15 days ago

          I really don’t think China is nearly as interested in siphoning data as controlling the algorithm. Getting people to see more pro-Chinese videos, more anti-US videos, and some bias toward candidates they want to see win is completely doable without exfiltrating any data.

          Basically, all the stuff people are pissed about Musk doing to Twitter (changing algo to push right wing content) are just as feasible for TikTok to do, with the main difference being China is a state actor, whereas Musk is a private billionaire.

          We should be very worried about any social media app that’s very popular and controlled by an org with political motivations.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            15 days ago

            I mean sure, if you can find any evidence they’re actually doing that. We have the best intelligence agencies in the world, both domestic and foreign facing. So where’s the meat?

            • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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              15 days ago

              Well, there’s a law to block it, and our intelligence agencies are pretty secretive, so there’s a good chance the proof exists.

              I’m against banning it, not because I don’t think China is manipulating the algorithm (they probably are), but because I believe banning it is a violation of the 1st amendment. I refuse to use it, but I also refuse to ban others from using it.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                15 days ago

                That’s the problem though. Under that reasoning they can shut down any social media app. There’s specifically a catch all in the definition to do this so they don’t have to pass another law.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          14 days ago

          If it sends encrypted data to China it would be the first I’ve heard of it.

          No shit. Do you think they would tell everyone? Do you think it would be easy to prove?