China has strongly criticized a bill moving through the U.S. Congress, which could potentially lead to the ban of TikTok in the country,

China has strongly criticized a bill moving through the U.S. Congress, which could potentially lead to the ban of TikTok in the country,

          • NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml
            61·
            7 months ago

            China bad for blocking insta. USA good for blocking Tiktok. Its consistent when you are a dog for the state department

            • HumanPenguin@feddit.ukEnglish
              1·
              7 months ago

              Also consistent when you remember tit for tat bans are bloody common in the world.

              And sorta the point of modern caparilistic politics.

              You stop our nations companies selling to your citizens and we will do the same here. Lets face it. If any gov refuses to do so. Its rather disrespectful to their companies.

              The fact that each nation uses the spying excuse. When China is as likely doing it for control of its citizens and profit restriction. Just like the US.

              Lets face it. No 9ne sane thinks these types of apps are not spying. Just weather the respective governments have access to the data. And let’s face it. If you think either dose not. Beach front property in land locked areas for sale etc.

              It really just points them all as hypocrits.

              PS not American. But my nation is no better. And I am in no way saying any nation is atm. Or at least any nation with any power on the world stage.

          • MelllvarEnglish
            1·
            7 months ago

            I’m ambivalent. On the one hand, forced divestiture on national security grounds is not unprecedented, and the bill is not actually imposing prior restraint on the users’ speech. The law also has some interesting features like giving users the right to demand a complete copy of all their data.

            I’d say this bill bears a closer resemblance to European privacy laws than to the Great Firewall of China.

            Moreover, the law could only be applied to apps/websites owned by Chinese, North Korean, Iranian, and Russian companies, which are already subject to restrictions in what American industries they can be involved in. The only really novel part of this bill is that it targets social media platforms instead of a physical industry.

            On the other hand, there are clear 1st amendment implications. If and when this bill is challenged the court will apply strict scrutiny, and so will probably strike it down. But there is a case to be made that banning invasive software from specific adversary countries (and let’s face it, all social media apps are invasive) serves a compelling government interest. This bill could actually be upheld despite 1st amendment concerns: “The Constitution is not a suicide pact.”

            So, do I support the bill? Sort of. I mean I get what it’s trying to accomplish. And I think it’s pretty clear that social media has become a major tool for disinformation and manipulation of public opinion, and that it has been weaponized against the US by state actors and non-state actors alike. And the bill is actually pretty narrowly tailored–almost too narrowly. It might just squeeze through, and I might be OK with it.