Fukk gun control, reparations, Gaza, marijuana legalization, housing...but don't take my TikTok
Fukk TikTok, shut it down and make kids go outside and do stuff, get a job.
TikTok is urging users to call Congress about a looming ban
- Thread starter bnew
- Start date
All these posts are proof positive of why it's going to get banned
Mindfield333
Superstar
I’d be down for them banning all social media & message boards so we can have 3rd places again. People gotta go outside to socializeShyt is scary when a cancerous site like tik tok can get people to call your representative to lobby on its behalf. Americans are too dumb.
AStrangeName
Member of Snitch Syndication
This country doesn't want a third place as they don't want to invest, so the banning won't work either. Congress only cares about having power and control.
The TikTok Bill Could Get a Lot of Apps Banned
The United States could make TikTok the first app banned by law, but technology lawyers warn it won't be the last.
gizmodo.com
The TikTok Bill Could Get a Lot of Apps Banned
The United States could make TikTok the first app banned by law, but technology lawyers warn it won't be the last.
By
Maxwell Zeff
Published8 hours ago
Comments (47)
TikTok CEO Shou Chew.
Photo: Matt McClain/The Washington Post (Getty Images)
A bill banning TikTok, unless it is sold, passed through the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday and is on its way to the Senate. The bill being rushed through Congress names TikTok outright, but it also bans other apps the President determines to be a “national security threat.” Technology lawyers are concerned these vague terms could get other apps and websites banned as well.
“Nobody actually knows who’s covered by this bill,” said Eric Goldman, an internet law professor at Santa Clara University in a phone interview with Gizmodo. “We focus on the TikTok piece because that’s obviously who would be targeted first. But this law has uncertain effects because we really don’t even know who we’re talking about.”
Outside of banning TikTok, this bill is anything but clear. An app or website must meet two qualifications to be banned. First, the app must be a large platform that allows users to create profiles for sharing content. That would include Gizmodo’s website, where users log in to post comments, for example. Second, you must also be “controlled by a foreign adversary,” which could include an app that is merely “subject to the direction or control” of someone in Russia, China, North Korea, or Iran.
Goldman says this bill doesn’t consider how many apps and websites fall under it. He’s joined by 65 House Congressional members who voted against this bill, many of whom say the legislation doesn’t consider freedom of speech or claim it was rushed — the bill lasted just four days in the House. Goldman calls the bill a “performative stunt” that’s meant to send a signal to voters on China.
You could make the case that a lot of apps fall under the TikTok ban. Russian operatives used Facebook groups to influence voters in the 2016 election. Just months ago, on Elon Musk’s X, the Iran-backed terror group Hamas spread misinformation while paying for promotion services and blue checkmarks. Would Facebook and X be “subject to the direction or control” of Russia and Iran under the TikTok bill’s definition?
“There’s plenty of room here for creative interpretation for how someone could be in a foreign country calling the shots without being an owner,” said Evan Brown, a Chicago-based lawyer with a focus on technology. “The President really has the unchecked power to put another app on this list.”
The TikTok bill can ban apps with as few as one million monthly users, which is roughly the size of tiny apps like Mastodon. For reference, TikTok is roughly one thousand times bigger, with one billion monthly users. The wide range of apps covered by the TikTok bill, and the vague terms to categorize them as “controlled by a foreign adversary” gives the President a lot of power.
The entire discussion for this bill has been around TikTok, but legal experts point out how this will impact America’s app ecosystem. Currently, the President and Congress have almost no power over what apps can and cannot exist, but the TikTok bill changes that. The legislation may pass through Congress quickly, but reversing the decision is a much slower process.
To be clear, TikTok has been no darling to anyone other than its parent company Bytedance. The app confirmed Congressional fears this past week by launching a push notification campaign and asking users to call lawmakers to fight this bill. A Chinese foreign ministry official said a TikTok ban would “ come back to bite the United States,” on Wednesday. There are legitimate claims about banning TikTok, but this bill is bigger than that.
This is not the first TikTok bill we’ve seen, but it could be the last, and we’ll have to live with the consequences of that if it’s written into law. The key factor now is if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer brings it to the floor. Schumer indicated he won’t rush the bill, and it remains to be seen if senators will consider how the TikTok bill is not only about TikTok.
got posters in this thread saying it's about national security..
If it was really about national security, the gov't would be pushing to move the iphone manufacturing out of china
only the naive and pro Israel folks believe the national security reasons
ReasonableMatic
................................
Hmmmm…now I’m suspicious about the recent push to ban. Does TikTok have a lot of Gaza footage?
IDF soldiers literally post all their war crimes on tiktok, self exposing like a mofo
6 hours ago - Business
The TikTok sales pitch
- Kerry Flynn,
- Dan Primack
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
If China does the unexpected and allows TikTok to be sold, there are big questions as to who would want to buy it and for how much.
The big picture: TikTok's popularity hasn't translated into profits.
By the numbers: Wedbush analyst Dan Ives puts the value of TikTok's U.S. operations at $100 billion, although he says that plunges to $40 billion if a buyout doesn't include the company's addictive algorithm.
- TikTok's U.S. revenue reportedly was between $16 billion and $20 billion in 2023, but CEO Shou Zi Chew has said the company is in the red. Spending is heavy for moving data to servers and it's also paying out to grow its e-commerce business and a data security project with Oracle.
- The company touts 170 million U.S. monthly active users. That's nearly as many as Facebook, more than Instagram, and far more than either Snapchat or X, according to eMarketer.
- Moreover, it's a heavily engaged audience, with U.S. adults spending nearly an hour per day on the app, per eMarketer.
Zoom in: "Growth" would be the key buzzword in any TikTok sale process.
- The app reportedly generated only $200 million to $300 million in 2019, and that was on a global basis. U.S. monthly active users in 2018 were just 11 million.
- Comparing those to current figures, that's an astronomical growth spurt in a relatively short time.
Yes, but: Any TikTok suitor would need a strong stomach. Not only because it's still unprofitable, but also because of the migraine headaches inherent in owning and operating a popular social media company.
Look ahead: The most logical buyers for TikTok are ByteDance's non-Chinese investors, including General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, and Susquehanna International Group.
- That's because they know the company best, have deep pockets, and can execute the simplest structure via a share swap with some new money sprinkled on top — possibly from an influence-thirsty billionaire.
Still, outside buyers are circling. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick are both working to form investor groups, with Mnuchin saying he'd also welcome current investor participation.
- Do not expect a Big Tech company to bid, because it would be a nonstarter on antitrust grounds. And it's hard to see another Fortune 50 player that would have interest, outside of maybe Walmart.