• Filthmontane@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    Oh yeah, I forgot the other social media apps don’t collect data and spew propaganda. Oh wait… They do.

  • Lila_Uraraka@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    36 minutes ago

    Factually untrue, the only person who has control of what the algorithm shows you on any social media is the end user. So say8ng that it is used to spread propaganda (which that’s super vague), is blatantly false. Pretending otherwise is just being willingly ignorant to how the technology works. Hell, a 6 year old understands how the algorithm works and how to shape it. Plus, US based users have their data stored on US servers hosted by Oracle, China has no access to it. Do two seconds of research and you will see that I’m correct

  • beefbot@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    4 hours ago

    FTFY

    edit : ooooh the wee St Petersburg trollies are tryin’ ta tryin’ ta ain’tcha!

    News flash, responder-guys: if you’re even humans & not the AI bots who took most of your colleagues’ jobs, you’re still always be undervalued by your bosses. They’ll never, ever save you: they’ll save their Teslas and stock portfolios instead. Your life kinda sucks and there’s nothing you can do about it AND YOU CHOSE THIS LIFE, DIDNT YOU. Free yourself. Quit this shit job and go back to school before it’s too late.

  • just_an_average_joe@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    9 hours ago

    Tiktok got banned not for peddling “chinese propaganda” but instead not peddling the US one.

    All the major tech companies in the US take measures to ensure content deemed unworthy by the government never become mainstream or viral.

    This is done under the pretense of stopping “hate speech” or “terroristic propaganda” but often include things like pro-palestinian content or class struggle content (like luigi mangione stuff).

    Tiktok was bold enough to not do that by default, cuz they wanted someone to ask them to do this and then it would become a huge scandal about how the US suppresses free speech. And US gov don’t want to do that for this exact reason as well. So they decided to ban it.

    Remember talks for this “law” were initiated when all of a sudden tiktok became a host for pro-palestinian voices. We should ask ourselves, how is it that 60% of americans want the government to stop arms sales to israel but this 60% never shows up on the big social media platforms. But on other platforms like here in lemmy and tiktok, pro-palestinians is the majority.

    For further reading, listen to employees fired from big US tech companies for voicing their concerns over the palestine issue, or read Meta’s new terms and conditions specially the section on “dangerous organizations and individuals”.

    • inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 hours ago

      It’s outright shadowbanned at best and straight up banned at the isp level at worst.

      That’s why tik tok is getting banned, because US spooks can’t control it.

    • Katana314@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      Ah yes, TikTok, the land free of censorship. Where you can’t say “gay” and must insert a stupid little asterisk.

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        55 minutes ago

        I didn’t say tiktok is the bastion of free speech. They only do this in the Palestinian case because it does not serve them anything to be against palestine. We can criticise one party without making the other one some kind of “moral hero” of a story.

    • ToucheGoodSir@lemy.lol
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      4 hours ago

      Funny how the Chinese are using Palestinians to try to further their own geopolitical position. It’s almost like the October 7th attack as engineered by Israel AND Iran. You know who Irans allies are… Right?

    • ConnecticutKen@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      They track the location of people in the US and gather large amounts of data. They didn’t get banned for refusing to spread US propaganda.

      • just_an_average_joe@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        10 minutes ago

        These are very loose terms. Pretty much every major website saves IP addresses when you create an account (to prevent abuse/spam detection). And you can get location info from the IP address. Hence the first condition would be true for all of those websites.

        Next, any website/app that builds a recommendation system will save user interactions to build the “algorithm”. So every social media with an algorithm will fall into this category.

        With enough bending of terminology, we might be able to prove that the lemmy also collects user data (although it will be really hard cuz the algo here is based on upvotes and time posted iirc). And “large amount” part is just legal filler words.

      • inv3r5ion@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 hours ago

        As does all the American owned networks. That’s not the reason. Not pushing American propaganda is the reason.

      • underwire212@lemm.ee
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        5 hours ago

        False dichotomy. They could’ve been banned on legitimate pretenses AND other reasons threatening power.

        If they were legitimately only banned for “tracking the location in the US and gathering large amounts of data”, then just about every single social media service would be under investigation for the same reason. But do we currently see that happening?

        • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          If they were legitimately only banned for “tracking the location in the US and gathering large amounts of data”, then just about every single social media service would be under investigation for the same reason.

          We aren’t talking about TikTok simply gathering the information though, are we?

          But yes, absolutely. Let’s do it. And we know that: just because the other companies aren’t being investigated/regulated in the same way, does not mean that it shouldn’t happen at all. That’s not how it works.

          Also, you are making a fallacious argument yourself… If we were talking about banning US social media sites in China, then the comparison holds (and even then, it’s not 1:1 given the political structure of the CCP vs. that of the US). Otherwise, TikTok is clearly unique among them in that the Chinese Government ostensibly has access to any and all information that is being collected.

          There is a reason China made their own version Facebook. Because they don’t want us to have all that information on their citizens.

        • Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.org
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          4 hours ago

          Of all the social media popular in the US, only one of them is doing that tracking and is under the thumb of a foreign adversary. That is specifically the line drawn in the law. I’m actually curious if WeChat shouldn’t fall under it too?

      • Anas@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        Not to defend tiktok (to this day I have not ever used it), but if the issue is the tracking and data collection, you could ban/regulate that specifically instead of singling out the app.

        • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          2 hours ago

          It is obvious that they want the other (US-based) companies to be able to continue collecting that data so they can gain access to it if they want/need it. It’s bullshit, but it’s clearly what they want.

          But that being bullshit does not mean that they are wrong in not wanting the one that is under the control of a foreign adversary having access to that data. Two separate things.

      • ubergeek@lemmy.today
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        7 hours ago

        So does facebook, twitter, google, microsoft, and pretty much every mobile app development shop.

          • Fedegenerate@lemmynsfw.com
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            7 hours ago

            Facebook does the same tracking and data harvesting. Is Facebook up to be banned? It isn’t the tracking and data harvesting.

            Person 1: I think it’s because the tracking and data harvesting

            Person 2: that’s an obvious lie (see above)

            You: I think aliens did it

    • Saryn@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      Thank god for bold platforms like TikTok that refuse to push US propaganda. Really smart of them to not censor valuable information as a way of fooling the US government into exposing its evil censorship ways. TikTok’s fate in the US was never a topic before the current wave of pro-Palestinian activism started. It certainly wasn’t one of Trump’s main talking points ten years ago. Good thing he changed his mind after getting his hands on some Chinese money lucrative investmenet from Chinese citizens that are not at all connected to Tencent.

      None of this discourse on combatting foreign information manipulation started over a decade ago, its all about censoring pro-Palestine voices here and now. TikTok and China in general are known for their calm, collected attitudes toward Muslims. They certainly would never weaponize a contentious topic every which way imaginable in pursuit of financial and geopolitical goals. We need more of these open and bold platforms.

  • khaleer@sopuli.xyz
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    7 hours ago

    Yeah, so prepare for battle between people who want to tell you that their empire is better.

    • ToucheGoodSir@lemy.lol
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      4 hours ago

      Obviously the US. China imports and exports everything through the oceans. Have fun with Russian potatoes dumb dumb CCP members xD

  • Dr. Moose@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Except they’ve banned 1 source for appeasement rather than enact a strong law or policy for long-term safety.

  • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    12 hours ago

    I’m not a fan of government banning stuff, but like… if they are gonna do it, ban Wechat too. My parent’s be so deep in the Wechat propaganda, I wonder what they do without Wechat.

    • cm0002@lemmy.worldOP
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      11 hours ago

      What? Wechat is a thing here? I have literally never heard about Wechat like anywhere, pretty sure more people know about Lemmy in the US than Wechat lmao

      • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        11 hours ago

        WeChat is very common amongst the Chinese diaspora worldwide. Everyone in China uses WeChat. Its like China’s Facebook. Its either that, or just sms, which lack many features like, group chats, or some weird Lunar New Year gifs, stuff like that. So if you want to communicates with relatives that are still in China, or with other first-generation immigrants, WeChat is just the default method. But that’s only for first-generation immigrants tho. People born ouside of China, Taiwan, or any Chinese-speaking areas would probably not use WeChat. I arrived in the US at before I was 10, I hate the idea of having any corporate apps on my phone, regardless of nationality. Many Chinese Americans born in the US just use the typical Instagram, Snapchat and stuff like that (and yes, some use TikTok as well, but that just a “kids these days” thing, nothing to do with ancestry)

    • gnomesaiyan@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      And one naturally says the reason why we are in such a mess is not simply that we have wrong systems for doing things—whether they be technological, political, or religious—but we have the wrong people. The systems may be alright, but they are in the wrong hands, because we are all in various ways self-seeking, lacking in wisdom, lacking in courage, afraid of death, afraid of pain, unwilling really to cooperate with others, unwilling to be open to others.

      —Alan Watts, Mind Over Mind

    • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      We were trailblazers for a time. Other than that, we were always kind of fucked as a democratic system.

      • vga@sopuli.xyz
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        10 hours ago

        Probably no nation ever should last for more than 100 years. That seems to be about the time it takes for things to go bad, even if they were good to start with.

        And of course there are countries like modern Russia that should have lasted for about 5 years.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          Late 18th century. The chaos of the French Revolution arguably diluted its viability as an example to other countries, despite the structure of democratic government being objectively better, so you can argue that we were still on the cutting-edge through the 19th century, even, when most countries were still autocracies or constitutional monarchies with extremely questionable de jure voting systems.

          I would argue as late as the 1950s, our democratic structure was closer to average than below-average, but by the 1970s, what gave the US more in-common with other developed democracies was that we had extensive practice with our democratic system; by then our structure was not just hopelessly outdated, but a structure that no one in their right mind would take seriously as a foundation for a new government. Come the fall of most of the single-party Soviet-backed regimes of the 1990s, and the only countries we actually beat out for being a ‘good democracy’ are ones that… well, are only questionably democracies to begin with. And even then, most of them have structures that are superior to our’s; only a tradition of civic participation has led us to hobble on as long as we have without becoming an outright authoritarian state.

          Though this might be the last month I can say that, which says a lot about the failures of our shitshow of an attempt at implementing democracy.

          • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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            16 hours ago

            Late 18th century

            The majority of the population could not vote, either due to their skin color, sex, or degree of property ownership (colony by colony/state by state as I recall).

            • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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              16 hours ago

              The majority of the population could not vote, either due to their skin color, sex, or degree of property ownership (colony by colony/state by state as I recall).

              Yeah, you should look into other governments of the period.

              • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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                16 hours ago

                Just to be specific, your argument is that the United States of the late 18th century can be considered a “trail blazer” in terms of democratic achievement. You are agreeing to my assertion that the franchise can be used as a measure of democracy, and you are asserting that the United States was uniquely forward in this area. This follow up statement is limiting this to a comparison of similar governments of the 18th century?

                • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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                  16 hours ago

                  Late 18th century, yes. And if I hear pop history myths about the Iroquois, I will be irritated.

        • Bacano@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          Before any of us were alive. Some would say before centralized banking in the early 20th

      • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        12 hours ago

        A republic you say?

        Republic just means a country without monarchy.

        China is a Republic

        North Korea is a Republic

        The US is a Democratic Republic

        Where do you think the name of the political party “Democratic-Republicans” come from?

        • ubergeek@lemmy.today
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          7 hours ago

          The senate, and SCOTUS are verrrry democratic.

          Not having primaries for either of the two available parties is very democratic.

          The electoral college is the most democratic way to make sure the minority voice maintains a dictatorship.

          • dx1@lemmy.world
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            2 hours ago

            If he meant “this system isn’t democratic enough”, hard agree. It sounded like the “the founders wanted a republic and we should stop trying to be a democracy” you hear from MAGAs.

            • samus12345@lemm.ee
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              2 hours ago

              When a person says the US is a republic, not a democracy, I take it as them defining “democracy” as a “pure democracy” only, despite the fact that there are other kinds, such as republics. Kinda like saying “that’s not a dog, it’s a Labrador.”

            • ubergeek@lemmy.today
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              2 hours ago

              Well, the founders wanted an oligarchy, and we have an oligarchy…

              The first step to fixing the problem, is admitting we have a problem: The US was never intended to be a democracy for anyone except oligarchs, and it’s still not a democracy for anyone but oligarchs.

          • samus12345@lemm.ee
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            13 hours ago

            Because democracy is an abstract name for a system and republic is the more concrete result of that system

            In other words, a republic is a kind of democracy.

  • Count Regal Inkwell@pawb.social
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    5 hours ago

    Blah blah blah “we built our own great firewall and painted it red white and blue, and even banned the use of vpns to get to foreign sites which even China doesn’t do. We’re totally the good guys BTW.”

    Americans are so fucking stupid, oh my god.

    @EDIT: So it turns out the RESTRICT Act, that I was thinking of, and which banned VPNs, was shot down. And the current and approved Tiktok ban law doesn’t do that. So. My b. This one is on me. I stand by “Americans are so fucking stupid oh my god”, though, because you’re still cheering for loss of net liberty.

    • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      Americans are so fucking stupid oh my god

      Coming from someone who confidently believed a law that didn’t exist was in effect, these words are a bit flat.

      Better words would be “people in general are so fucking stupid”, and you are not immune to that.

      • Count Regal Inkwell@pawb.social
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        5 hours ago

        I did, but then I realised I’m wrong about the VPN thing.

        I was thinking of the RESTRICT act from 2023, which did ban the usage of VPNs (and was the “Original” Tiktok ban law)

        Apparently in the year and change I spent not really caring (look, this is an American problem, y’all slam your metaphorical penises in the car door at least three times a day. And I have my own country’s dick-slammings to care about. I only hear about it when it’s particularly egregious or when I see a meme like this that is cheering for the dick-slamming) the RESTRICT act got shot down, and another one was quickly drafted.

        The one that was approved does not ban VPNs. So. That’s on me. My b.

        Anyway, given y’all are under Trump’s thumb now, I give it eeeeh six months before RESTRICT 2: Censorship Boogaloo starts making the rounds.

    • FeelThePower@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      12 hours ago

      as an American yeah, seeing this post is just depressing. like people are actively cheering a loss of internet freedom. the government doesn’t care about bytedance or else capcut would have to go too. they care about controlling information, tiktok has been essential in issues like Palestine, even if I don’t like the platform itself I can admit that.

      • spireghost@lemmy.zip
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        11 hours ago

        Also 100% clear that facebook, google, twitter… are all doing the same but for US intelligence

    • kungen@feddit.nu
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      13 hours ago

      banned the use of vpns to get to foreign sites which even China doesn’t do

      What are you talking about? The GFC tries its absolute best to block VPNs and other circumvention methods.

    • Rooty@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      “Freedom is when you let foreign governments spy on your citizens”

    • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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      16 hours ago

      What do you suggest? Allow a foreign nation to destroy you from within?

      • Count Regal Inkwell@pawb.social
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        6 hours ago

        Actual regulations on data privacy and algorithmic manipulation. It’s not that complicated. The EU figured it out. Fuck me, my own country, Brazil, a third world hellhole, figured it out. We have very strict rules on data protection.

        Ofc, this would never happen because 1. Big corpos own the US government and actual regulation on privacy would hurt THEM, and 2. The US Government actually WANTS algorithmic manipulation to happen, except they want THEIR algorithmic manipulation and not anyone else’s.

      • ubergeek@lemmy.today
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        7 hours ago

        The US is doing it just fine on our own.

        Hell, an election here just voted in fascism like its the 1920s again.

      • Koarnine@pawb.social
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        15 hours ago

        Actually fight against that rather than pretending too, Israel and Russia have destroyed the US from within far more than China… Maybe tackle the active objective threats rather than potential ones

        • Count Regal Inkwell@pawb.social
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          6 hours ago

          Russia is a menace to US’s peasantry, as they might drag the US to a(nother) proxy war.

          Whereas China is a menace to the US’s aristocracy, in the sense that China is currently richer than the US of A, and despite thousands of articles about how “CHINA’S ECONOMY WILL COLLAPSE TOMORROW!” for the past 15 years, it has yet to happen.

          Ergo, the US government won’t do shit about Russia, but will bend over backwards for anything related to China.

    • kworpy@lemm.ee
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      12 hours ago

      if Vine was still here (let alone brought back) it would become just as bad as TikTok. Social medias can have their golden age but they will inevitably turn into shit, vine was simply shut down before its golden age came to an end

  • De_Narm@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    The last panel applies to every other social media, just replace the spying country.

    • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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      21 hours ago

      That last part is becoming less and less relevant … someone is spying but it isn’t for the benefit or under the control of a country. More and more, the spying is meant more for the purposes of commerce and finance, for money and control. For business interests which is what major governments mainly represent.

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      17 hours ago

      Yes, and that’s why US companies aren’t banned by the US. The foreign power having so much propaganda power was the danger.

      • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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        6 hours ago

        Same reason why China bans a shitload of sites. It’s fine when you do it to your own citizens

      • AppleTea@lemmy.zip
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        12 hours ago

        If I wanna get my propaganda from more than one world power, that’s my right under the first amendment. Or it was.

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        16 hours ago

        So if an American company collects user data and sells it on the open market to a hostile foreign nation, and accepts money to run propaganda, that’s A-OK?

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          13 hours ago

          That capitalism baby! I suppose Congress can at least control who Facebook et al. are selling to through sanctions and such.

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        19 hours ago

        There are multiple instances pushing propaganda and most data can just be scraped by bots. It may be harder, but capitalism finds a way.