It’s not about spying it’s about corporate theft. US can’t stomach the next big growth platform being owned by a Chinese company. A TikTok ban is a gift to meta/google as it would basically force a fire sale of that division and nobody else would have the capital to buy it.
If they pass the ban the Chinese gov should buy it from douyin and shut it down. The salt would pour freely
Nah I think the best thing for the Chinese government to do would be to direct Tik Tok to leave the US market. Put it on Huawei app store or something and watch all the zoomers learn how to sideload apps.
If Tik Tok leaves the US market it’ll still be a huge social media player in Europe and the rest of the world. That would be an American soft power nightmare - a global platform that Americans are blocked from influencing on by their own laws.
Nor would its proposed forced sale be “level headed” or a good “long term strategy.” The rightful focus from leftists on the social health impact of short form apps has apparently also consequently given tunnel vision from seeing what’s really at stake in the eyes of the American state apparatus.
Yes, Bytedance’s CEO is a complete wannabe comprador who constantly stated how much he worships the West before his company got into the crosshairs, but we’ve been seeing the “Tiktok Forced Sale” skit happening for 4 years now. Trump first tried to do it before in the summer of 2020 as a last feather in his cap before the election. His attempt failed as well.
At that time, in reaction to the attack on Tiktok actually, China released a technology export law restricting the sale or transfer of sensitive algorithms. That’s what this is really about on the business side, the US wanting to steal a free lunch from China and setting a long lasting precedent through Tiktok’s forced sale so that future Chinese tech can be expropriated. This happened to France when Alstom was forcibly sold to GE back in 2015. That export law is what’s going to ultimately block this forced sale attempt. It would be better in China’s interests for Tiktok to be banned than allowed to be stolen by the US.
Additionally, what should be said is that Tiktok really is a “threat” to the US state apparatus. All the whitewashing, misdirection and partisanship over the Twitter Files evidently has successfully misdirected people from the real bombshell confirmations they showed. Companies like Twitter and Facebook have active communication channels with US state officials, where they algorithmically boost accounts and content created by the US and suppress the visibility of contrary content via email contact directives.
Tiktok USA/Global, while basically controlled by US personnel, including ex-NSA officials, at this point, is still ultimately connected to its parent company. This makes Tiktok a “perpetual outsider” and the establishment of similar censorship channels much more vulnerable to exposure, at least psychologically. The existence of Tiktok is, with no exaggeration, a massive challenge to the US state’s complete hegemonic monopoly on social media platforms in the English speaking world.
This is why the attempts to ban Tiktok are currently the predominant “China” concern and have been for the past 4 years.
That might happen, yeah. I don’t want to come off like a “trust the plan” type, but I do like the saying “Americans player checkers, Russians play chess, Chinese play Go”.
That’s more or less how it’s going. There’s still Temu and other apps that the US tries to demonize as they’re widely used by the rest of the world. I don’t doubt that China has other apps that will rival American apps. The blue jeans are no longer in the US and I don’t think China will end up like Japan in the 90’s either.
It also got banned in India where Youtube Shorts and Indian apps like JOSH filled the gap.
I also have a small pet theory about Temu and others like it and why they are entering the Western market so strongly right now: this is Chinese firms taking the lead in being the one selling treats to Westoids like me with less middle men. As they are the ones making all the things. Bezos doesn’t get a cut and it’s the same stuff they sell on Amazon or in my local supermarket.
People will follow their material interest and buy from there because it’s cheaper and easier. I hear a lot of Temu discourse in my country atm and everyone is ordering and not listening to the attemps to discredit it. Prices here are high enough, if you can get those gardening tools for 1/5th of the price you will not buy the expensive ones.
Eventually Chinese firms just sell the stuff they make straight to the consumers globally and none of the Western billionaires get a cut.
“One of the main effects of the legislation would be to decrease the sale price,” said Matt Perault, director of the University of North Carolina’s Center on Technology Policy, which gets funding from TikTok and other tech companies. “As you approach that 180-day clock, the pressure on the company to sell or risk being banned entirely would be high, which would mean probably the acquirers could get it at a lower price.”
It’s not about spying it’s about corporate theft. US can’t stomach the next big growth platform being owned by a Chinese company. A TikTok ban is a gift to meta/google as it would basically force a fire sale of that division and nobody else would have the capital to buy it.
If they pass the ban the Chinese gov should buy it from douyin and shut it down. The salt would pour freely
Nah I think the best thing for the Chinese government to do would be to direct Tik Tok to leave the US market. Put it on Huawei app store or something and watch all the zoomers learn how to sideload apps.
If Tik Tok leaves the US market it’ll still be a huge social media player in Europe and the rest of the world. That would be an American soft power nightmare - a global platform that Americans are blocked from influencing on by their own laws.
I hope that’s the case but I can see China allowing it to be bought by an American company and doing nothing about it.
It sucks this is what’s probably going to happen because it’s the worse of all options.
Damn you China for actually being level headed and thinking with long term strategies instead of doing something funny in the short term.
It’s not going to happen.
Nor would its proposed forced sale be “level headed” or a good “long term strategy.” The rightful focus from leftists on the social health impact of short form apps has apparently also consequently given tunnel vision from seeing what’s really at stake in the eyes of the American state apparatus.
Yes, Bytedance’s CEO is a complete wannabe comprador who constantly stated how much he worships the West before his company got into the crosshairs, but we’ve been seeing the “Tiktok Forced Sale” skit happening for 4 years now. Trump first tried to do it before in the summer of 2020 as a last feather in his cap before the election. His attempt failed as well.
At that time, in reaction to the attack on Tiktok actually, China released a technology export law restricting the sale or transfer of sensitive algorithms. That’s what this is really about on the business side, the US wanting to steal a free lunch from China and setting a long lasting precedent through Tiktok’s forced sale so that future Chinese tech can be expropriated. This happened to France when Alstom was forcibly sold to GE back in 2015. That export law is what’s going to ultimately block this forced sale attempt. It would be better in China’s interests for Tiktok to be banned than allowed to be stolen by the US.
Additionally, what should be said is that Tiktok really is a “threat” to the US state apparatus. All the whitewashing, misdirection and partisanship over the Twitter Files evidently has successfully misdirected people from the real bombshell confirmations they showed. Companies like Twitter and Facebook have active communication channels with US state officials, where they algorithmically boost accounts and content created by the US and suppress the visibility of contrary content via email contact directives.
Tiktok USA/Global, while basically controlled by US personnel, including ex-NSA officials, at this point, is still ultimately connected to its parent company. This makes Tiktok a “perpetual outsider” and the establishment of similar censorship channels much more vulnerable to exposure, at least psychologically. The existence of Tiktok is, with no exaggeration, a massive challenge to the US state’s complete hegemonic monopoly on social media platforms in the English speaking world.
This is why the attempts to ban Tiktok are currently the predominant “China” concern and have been for the past 4 years.
GOOD post
That might happen, yeah. I don’t want to come off like a “trust the plan” type, but I do like the saying “Americans player checkers, Russians play chess, Chinese play Go”.
Let the Yanks smile as they yell “King me!”
not even checkers, tic-tac-toe
That’s more or less how it’s going. There’s still Temu and other apps that the US tries to demonize as they’re widely used by the rest of the world. I don’t doubt that China has other apps that will rival American apps. The blue jeans are no longer in the US and I don’t think China will end up like Japan in the 90’s either.
It also got banned in India where Youtube Shorts and Indian apps like JOSH filled the gap.
I also have a small pet theory about Temu and others like it and why they are entering the Western market so strongly right now: this is Chinese firms taking the lead in being the one selling treats to Westoids like me with less middle men. As they are the ones making all the things. Bezos doesn’t get a cut and it’s the same stuff they sell on Amazon or in my local supermarket.
People will follow their material interest and buy from there because it’s cheaper and easier. I hear a lot of Temu discourse in my country atm and everyone is ordering and not listening to the attemps to discredit it. Prices here are high enough, if you can get those gardening tools for 1/5th of the price you will not buy the expensive ones.
Eventually Chinese firms just sell the stuff they make straight to the consumers globally and none of the Western billionaires get a cut.
Yep and because it’s the most cravenly option it’s probably what’s going to happen. China never fails to disappoint me outside of their borders.
TikTok without Americans is a dream come true. I hope it gets banned for the sake of the rest of us lol
Chinese government should buy it and just exclude the American market.
All the kids will get vpns in 48 hours and how much America sucks ass will be the main kind of content on tik tok.
I really want to see how that plays out lol
https://fortune.com/2024/03/13/will-tiktok-be-banned-or-acquired-walmart-oracle/
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