you're describing facebook,instagram..basically all META owned apps. They have sold our data to so many companies & foreign comp.THE BIGGEST ZEST POOL of misinformation,racism,white supremecy, violence and gives a home to domestic terrorist to spread their hate and racism sexism.Talk about that too?
Android dev with 12 years of experience here. I'll give you a hot million dollars right here and now if you explain how an android app can bypass the permission system to install anything on a phone, malware or not, without explicitly asking the user for permission to do it. Otherwise, shut up.
Yes. Millions of people are using a product they want you to use because your attention leads to revenue. Social media companies all want more eye-balls craving and addicted to their carefully crafted algorithms. Is that what you're referring to as "democracy"?
So, when you go live on TikTok you go live globally instantly. When you have a business, you get global orders. When you start a US only info account, you get the US questions and interactions. After what Musk did with Twitter to steal an election, the TikTok algorithm threat is laughable.
Most threats to the existence or survival of things are endogenous. That doesn't mean exogenous threats arent eyeing you. When in the amazon dont just pay attention to whats in front of you. If you're only looking out for the obvious you're already some other animals' prey.
How?
Genuinely curious.
The subscriber had direct participation in shaping policies, algorithms, and hiring decisions?
They elected the CEO? The decisions on where to locate the physical infrastructure was made by a popular vote?
We absolutely are because
- "it's a republic, not a democracy"
- "democracy is when a private social media platform did not throttle "our" side back in July (even if it is now kissing the ring like the rest)"
- "socialism is a public library founded by Carnegie"
are all "American truths"
We were a constitutionally guaranteed democratic republic. The Constitution has been circumvented/shredded. Without a functioning constitution we are no longer a functioning democracy, nor a republic. We are an autocracy of, by & for the technoligarchy & obscenely wealthy.
The side of Tim tok I am on I see people joining together to protest, boycott, and more. Why ban Tik tok? Is Zuck hoping for more followers on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp? I see a movement happening against billionaires and the govt is frightened.
If you take over a social media platform for the purpose of creating a safe space for misinformation, you're not a free speech hero, you're a criminal co-conspirator.
The loss of a free speech platform is the equivalent to a lot of ppl. they are starting to see our loss of democracy by the loss of their place online, job, news outlet, fun thing to do.. whatever they use it for, and I, for one, am glad they are becoming aware bc of it
I think for a lot of people the ban is symbolic of how the government is quick to act on things that benefit them and does not act upon things that benefit the people. “Healthcare? Gun violence? Housing? nah. Let’s ban a social media app.”
I personally have not downloaded or used tic toc. I am wary of the Chinese and what might be embedded in the software. So, I understand the reasons congress would ban it's use. And selling the app to leon still won't be enough for me to use the app. leon is as dangerous as the Chinese.
This, they are eating up the TikTok ban, abandoning any promise that the democratic process has because all they hear is the hill the TikTok ban was riding in was bi-partisan… stacked amongst much needed humanitarian aid.
I wish we lived in a system that didn't try to commodify every human experience until we're all so fractured the only way we know how to find community is in places like Tiktok. It's a perversion of a very worthy human necessity that we no longer have comfortable access to.
Perfect example of people don’t care til it affects them personally. Based on who was elected president, they don’t know what facism means & democracy is just a word that means majority rules.
Mark, man! TikTok ban is a tad IRONICAL. It's really silly to ban an app, as most phones are sourced or assembled in China. In fact, it's fucking dumb. Most Americans use Apple, Google & store their fucking passwords & information all over the place. China is already wired in. Do you need proof? 😂
What's the evidence they care, as a whole, about one more than the other? Exit polls affirmed that the state of democracy was foremost among reasons for voting decision last fall. And eggs were expensive;)
A lot of Americans are doing resistance education and support on or finding it through Tik Tok. You can say Tik Tok isn’t important but it’s people’s livelihoods and a great platform for outreach.
Agreed. I'm going to atick to my guns when I say that American society as a whole has been entitled in living freely as long as most can remember. They haven't had to fight for it like others. It's not that they don't care, they don't understand the meaning of it.
I think that democracy is for many US Americans rather like water for fish (thank you David Foster Wallace). It is simply there, and they do not notice it. They cannot imagine its not being there. Would you feel you needed to go fight for air?
Not until it starts to not be there, to disintegrate.
The fight against the loss of democracy is why oligarchs wanted the TikTok ban. Between the unionizing, boosting local candidates, and pressure on key issues, this ban keeps power safely at the top.
TikTok is being banned because of national security concerns but Trump - the largest national security concern is going to be sworn in as president. I’m honestly so confused.
Really!?
Then everything is peachy.
TikToK CEO went to Trump, handed him the required 🤫 "donation", will be sitting on the broligarchs bench at the inauguration.
Trump is now vocally pro-TikTok.
We will have our TikTok+democracy combo any day now
I think a lot of progressive users see it as one step in the loss of democracy. Voices on the left are being shut down. Which happens in fascist countries.
If not for all the innocent people who'll suffer, I wouldn't even care. I've reached a point where I believe the populace, generally, is too stupid and/or apathetic to help themselves. They didn't get there alone. The system was designed that way. But I waver on whether it's even worth preserving.
I always followed politics, but tiktok brought so much of my content into one platform and I was so much more engaged there. Also why do people think that we can’t be upset about both?
At the time and still to this day 4 dead in Ohio was a huge shock, one that marked a breaking point. We are entering a new era and Trumpollini's little soldier is major trouble.
I don’t get TikTok at all anyway. But the issue is the Chinese getting their hands on people’s data. Tell me how that’s different from META or X, because Zuck and Musk have done the same thing.
If 170 million Americans think it’s an acceptable risk? Then who are we to interfere.
They would if they truly understood it is one in the same. Bright light moment- how many articles have you read that GEN z wants a dictator? We now have proof they don't. They want freedom of speech, free flowing of ideas etc. All is not lost
Do not trust MSM ~ millions of us care. MSM, with very few exceptions, is about propaganda and distraction. There is a convicted rapist and felon set to become POTUS inflicting yet another carnival of chaos and clown, AGAIN, and media is all about Tik Tok.
Um, they do. This is not a democracy. Hasn't been since the 80s. As soon as Citizen's United made corporations people, this became a corporatocracy/oligarchy. We all know and protesting isn't working... sooooo...
Many many people were active on tiktok intentionally to talk about the loss of democracy. That is playing a role in why people are so concerned about Tiktok shutting.
TikTok is participatory, democracy is presented in media as observational. It's not so surprising that a growing number of the young electorate doesn't even know how to engage with information about participatory democracy. Tiktok IS their introduction to that in many cases.
That maybe because the loss of democracy is a rumour that has become absolute fact only in liberal minds while TikTok closing is a court approved fact?
kinda wish we were better prepared as a nation coming up against a big question mark around everything legal and illegal people, and the potential horrors on our horizon.
This ban is censorship at its finest. Keeping people from communicating, connecting & organizing..that is freedom of speech, press & protest that's being taken away.. sounds like the first amendment right?? So that is a loss on democracy.
hmm...maybe it is TikTok making that population the uninformed or ignorant voter. Maybe they WILL start paying attention now.
Not a tok user.
Nothing is more important than removing a fascist from the Presidency.
If you're going to call entire generations ignorant for voting for Trump maybe start with the Gen X and Boomers who elected him instead of blaming TikTok
No, just pondering. I am not a tik tok user, alone amongst most people I know. I still cannot figure how we elected that guy. I look around and see so many folks I know voted for him. So no. It is something way more than tiktok.
My apologies for that implication.✌️
Many Americans, even those who voted for Kamala don’t get what’s coming & won’t until they get hit with the impacts of a Fascist regime. The traditional Senate process with Adolf Trump’s nominees screams denial of so many. None of these goons will protect us. They’re being hired to protect him.
I wish some folks would step back and look at it from others point of view. You’re not gonna win young folks over to save democracy when you’re all in with something that looks to them like the equivalent of book banning.
I’ve learned more information on TT over the past years AND also been entertained. Also a valuable tool for making me better about discerning whether information was reliable or not. I wish more non-TT users understood the value and why the ban is so concerning.
I am an old liberal but prudish, pedantic woman and love my nightly wander through my timeline of cat, baby, other cute little critters and JoseMonkey and random people falling down and yummy recipes and everything but politics as I find the nutter stuff much less intrusive than FB or X.
Pretty much everything that effects us today has been dealt with before and chronicled in history books. What is greatly lacking is the study of such and gleaning the lessons. There's a small segment of our society that depends on the infighting and chaos to keep us from running them up a tree.
Tic toc makes people feel engaged in .. whatever .. every time they want. Democracy has been absorbed into daily lives. When it's gone they might notice.
Respectfully, part of the frustration about TT ban is that TT allows direct exchange of ideas in a way we haven’t seen & could be used as a crucible for ideas that then moved into the formal democratic process (e.g., increased awareness, calls to action). So the loss of 1 is relevant to the other.
Cuts both ways though. Living in rural red area I see first hand the misinformation that proliferates among conservative circles. TikTok, from my perspective, is a scourge. When someone I know sends me a TT I know it's gonna be some straight nonsense.
Sure no means of dissemination is without problems but I'd argue there are better ways to share info than near anonymous user-generated short form videos.
Maybe for some things. But board certified doctors have been on there sharing warnings about outbreaks and problems with medications that I had to dig DEEP into the news or even PubMed to find.
The conversation here at bsky reflects its moderation. As you point out, TT morphs on a per-user basis to provide a fertile swamp for all manner of bizarre notions.
Totally agree. But I would rather the people make that decision than out-of-touch too-old politicians who I suspect are incentivized to keep us from directly exchanging ideas.
Fair enough, though I find people to be incredibly stupid so I'm pessimistic. Social media has, in my mind, proven itself as nothing more than a radicalizing agent. Can't see TT being different except you also get the added benefit of Chinese surveillance. But there's no going back I suppose, so...
Oh I've definitely noticed. What I'm trying to sound the alarm on though is that TikTok isn't just leftists and teenagers. Seems to be this misconception is all.
I have found, though, that on my TikTok timeline the righties don't show up. So, yeah there's an algorithm, but instead of slanting to fascist, right wing baloney it noticed I'm not a completely ignorant mouth-breathing MAGA and shows me cats and recipes etc.
Live in a rural area and have conservative pals who are fully capable of making up their own minds sans manipulation. I see fake news swallowing up folks across the political spectrum.
Wary about generalizing but, in a pinch, hold that rural peeps are disproportionately resilient and resourceful.
They're disproportionately anti-education. Doesn't make for a very discerning group. The explosion of nutrition-related misinformation is but one concerning example. If the info snubs its nose at institutional expertise, they're on board.
That’s incredibly valid. I’m lucky to be old enough that I grew up without internet and and learned how to evaluate source reliability. Got internet at 13. The piece I don’t have an answer for is how to effectively educate on that point for people who have only ever known this technology.
There are multiple studies on how "exchange of ideas" tend to stay "exchange of ideas".
The resistance movements are less successful when they start/stay/or use apps.
Despite the early hope that "revolution will start on Twitter"
I can only speak to my personal experience. I became aware of issues on TT and then engaged with my elected representatives on those issues. So while I’m sure your uncited studies support that proposition, my lived experience is different.
But I’d be intrigued to see any peer-reviewed info on it.
Because you can't compete with Trump, Tuberville, or MTG on "noncondescending".
The voter listened to them, lol'ed "wow! They are dumb" and voted for them
"cos they ain't condescending".
May as well talk among each other the way we do.
I don't base my behavior on what the MAGA crowd does. I simply want a functional,effective opposition to form and clearly this shit didn't help in that.
Comments
Oh wait, he’ll never learn because he actually doesn’t care, huh? Who’da thought?
But the media doesn't.
At any time they could use it to distribute fake news and, quite probably, install malware mechanisms.
Looks like democracy -- until it doesn't.
Genuinely curious.
The subscriber had direct participation in shaping policies, algorithms, and hiring decisions?
They elected the CEO? The decisions on where to locate the physical infrastructure was made by a popular vote?
- "it's a republic, not a democracy"
- "democracy is when a private social media platform did not throttle "our" side back in July (even if it is now kissing the ring like the rest)"
- "socialism is a public library founded by Carnegie"
are all "American truths"
I do not consent.
HP is not the only computer.
McDonald's is not the only burger joint.
Verizon is not the only mobile phone company.
There is only one US Constitution.
Find another platform and let's worry about things that really matter.
but sadly, I think the loss of TikTok will wake up a lot of people. Regardless of what anybody feels about TikTok, TikTok being banned is wrong.
Or do you mean the well documented decline since Reagan?
Stop blaming young people for resisting because you didn’t.
30+ years exp. and I'd be happy to prove it. Pick a language, any language. Pick hardware, any hardware. Pick software, any software! 😂
It makes more sense to look at the buying and selling of stocks by politicians, than it does to single out an app! 🤣
Not until it starts to not be there, to disintegrate.
People don't want to educate themselves because The Right has successfully villianised higher education.
Uneducated people are easier to manipulate.
It's Fascism 101.
Then everything is peachy.
TikToK CEO went to Trump, handed him the required 🤫 "donation", will be sitting on the broligarchs bench at the inauguration.
Trump is now vocally pro-TikTok.
We will have our TikTok+democracy combo any day now
And their fates feel very intertwined.
It’s not the insipid, unintelligent place that many try to pin it as. Quite the opposite actually.
Perhaps Harris-Walz should've run on a platform of guaranteeing their right to watch as many dancing cat videos on their phones as they want.
Many do.
We are completing our duty to warn.
Hegseth will kill US citizens.
I called offices of membrrs of the Senate Armed Services Committee today.
I told interns and left messages that the blood will be on their hands.
If 170 million Americans think it’s an acceptable risk? Then who are we to interfere.
TikTok is nothing but an obnoxious waste of time but if we keep TikTok while the U.S. dies, most Americans will be happy as PIGS in SHIT.
Not a tok user.
Nothing is more important than removing a fascist from the Presidency.
My apologies for that implication.✌️
Any MORON could have seen this as the outcome. Facebook was the bigger "Threat to Democracy" and banning them would have alienated mostly MAGAts.
Turns out, just more cat videos. My bad.
Wary about generalizing but, in a pinch, hold that rural peeps are disproportionately resilient and resourceful.
Is Bakersfield urban or rural?
Rural places are havens for crunchy organic farmers, poets and all manner of lefties.
The resistance movements are less successful when they start/stay/or use apps.
Despite the early hope that "revolution will start on Twitter"
But I’d be intrigued to see any peer-reviewed info on it.
Might be similar symptoms of the same issue.
This is the post of the day-no week or even longer
The voter listened to them, lol'ed "wow! They are dumb" and voted for them
"cos they ain't condescending".
May as well talk among each other the way we do.