Should TikTok be banned in the US?

[uncledude]

FCC commissioner says government should ban TikTok

The Council on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) should take action to ban TikTok, Brendan Carr, one of five commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission, told Axios in an interview.

Why it matters: It's the strongest language Carr has used to date to urge action on TikTok. With more than 200 million downloads in the U.S. alone, the popular app is becoming a form of critical information infrastructure — making the app's ownership by a Chinese parent company a target of growing national security concern.

• The FCC has no authority to regulate TikTok directly, but Congress previously acted after Carr voiced concerns about Chinese telecom companies, including Huawei.

State of play: TikTok is currently in negotiations with CFIUS, an interagency committee that conducts national security reviews of foreign companies' deals, to determine whether it can be divested by Chinese parent company ByteDance to an American company and remain operational in the United States.

• The New York Times reported in September that a deal was taking shape but not yet in its final form and that Department of Justice official Lisa Monaco was concerned the deal did not provide sufficient insulation from Beijing.
• A Republican-controlled Congress could try to scrap any deal viewed as too easy on China.

What he's saying: "I don’t believe there is a path forward for anything other than a ban," Carr said, citing recent revelations about how TikTok and ByteDance handle U.S. user data.

• Carr highlighted concerns about U.S. data flowing back to China and the risk of a state actor using TikTok to covertly influence political processes in the United States.
• There simply isn't "a world in which you could come up with sufficient protection on the data that you could have sufficient confidence that it’s not finding its way back into the hands of the [Chinese Communist Party]," Carr said.
• Carr sent letters to Apple and Google in June asking the companies to remove the apps from their stores due to concerns about data flowing back to China.

What TikTok is saying: "Commissioner Carr has no role in the confidential discussions with the U.S. government related to TikTok and appears to be expressing views independent of his role as an FCC commissioner," a TikTok spokesperson told Axios in a statement.

• "We are confident that we are on a path to reaching an agreement with the U.S. Government that will satisfy all reasonable national security concerns."
• TikTok supports the passage of national data privacy legislation that applies to all companies, the spokesperson added.

read more here:

https://www.axios.com/2022/11/01/interview-fcc-commissioner-says-government-should-ban-tiktok

 

[RobustPatcher24]

Actually anything that is closed source would be nice to have banned
Liquidated even.
Tiktok can go
Microsoft
Meta
Google
Apple

All are good candidates to be liquidated and the funds be pumped into free opensource software.
Tiktok only collects slightly less personal data than a Windows installation or a Chrome installation. Think they need to go too

 

[Weaserlorian]

A Chinese owned company with over 200 million US downloads? That can’t be be good for US citizens data.

 

[NavyRet]

Who's to say the Chinese haven't programed in back doors to allow them to monitor everything US users do on the app? For instance, say a future president or member of Congress or SCOTUS is using Tik Tok and the Chinese use a backdoor to monitor everything that person does with the app. That would be a real problem. Ban the sucker.​

 

[DammagedAgain]

With all the resources the US has, surely someone can come up with a media platform that is not a security risk and at the same time keep a leash on conspiracy nuts. Anything to do with information and China should be avoided.

*And maybe get kids and teens off their rearends and actually go out and play or do something physical rather than clutching their cellphones/computers TikTok-ing!
​

**I looked through one of the wife's old High School Yearbooks. The physical health back then in pictures should be posted on the walls in Today's High Schools. All this Social Media junk like TikTok should be banned. Both for Security Reasons and Health Reasons,

​

 

[exluck6]

Apparently the chinese version of tiktok is more heavily moderated than the US version + I saw this video and apparently there are multiple underaged livestreams where viewers talk in code and donate money for the underaged livestreamer to do inappropriate things... and its very disgusting tbh, so yes, I think tiktok should be banned or at the very least heavily moderated. Plus its a very addicting platform and the algorithm is honestly too wack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbv-VteX5H8&t=0s

 

[Bushie_40]

Ban tik tok for sure...im sick of seeing lazy kids do nothing but tiktok and not focus on studies thinking oh....."im the next big thing" like no your not..get back in the classroom...facebook, tiktok, etc being banned would be a good thing...back to myspace where we at least had music playing on our profiles

 

[frisbee]

Tiktok is the tip of the much deeper issue of malicious code potentially residing in Chinese components used in hardware produced in many countries outside of China. The "Made In USA" label does not guarantee that all components are manufactured locally or for that matter that embedded code has not been used from cheap contractors who may actually be state based actors. Keeping digging and this rabbit hole topic will go far.

 

[EMS]

I don't really care because i don't use it oh and I'm not in the US

 

[Weaserlorian]

Ban tik tok for sure...im sick of seeing lazy kids do nothing but tiktok and not focus on studies thinking oh....."im the next big thing" like no your not..get back in the classroom...facebook, tiktok, etc being banned would be a good thing...back to myspace where we at least had music playing on our profiles

HERE HERE! There's another reason!

 

[Rickkins]

I voted 'yes'...

 

[zaferali]

China produces I phones, should they be banned? they are used by millions all over the world.

 

[RobustPatcher24]

China produces Iphones, should they be banned? they are used by millions all over the world.

Yes, all closed source data collection companies should be banned

 

[twncam]

While not a tic tok fan, they can be funny.
Do I use is it regularly? NO.
But I have seen it and some are just dumb azz stupid.
If you want to ban this then you would want to limit free speech..... A HARD NO HERE..
You will be hard pressed to not use something because is was from China.
This is the world we live in.....
While most of us I think are US members, we do have many great members from other countries.

China has been in our backdoor for years.
And we have been in theirs also.....
Does it suck? YES
Will I still check it out at times? YES

It is what it is.....

I am so happy to be a baby of the 50's.

It was a great time to be alive......

 

[Krammig]

I am so happy to be a baby of the 50's.

Absolutely !!

 

[Krammig]

My Daughter reasonably regularly sends through tic toc clips that can be quite funny, or just simply interesting.

I would prefer if she would not view that platform at all but suggesting that to a 29 year old is fruitless. Yet it can be good for a few laughs. She's smart educated and I just see no reason why she would subject herself to all the other rubbish on there. The issue as I see it is the myriad of garbage that simply is not healthy for anyone to be exposed to, casually or otherwise, and that seems to be the majority of it.

It concerns me that while she spots a gem or two, she is exposed to a world of absolute trash just by nature of how tic toc works. And that goes for every other child, kid, young adult, out there. Adults are who they are at that stage of life, so if they enjoy the garbage on there, no ban will protect them. Stopping the young however that can be done should be the priority and if that means banning the app, so be it.

The Chinese aspect is a whole other matter, and in my view a big one, whether US related or any allied nation as we are. I have very firm views and concerns about China, none of them positive.

For me, this world we live in now has crossed too many red lines, pushed too many boundaries, and damaged too many youngn's with stress, anxiety, suicide, feeling like they have to keep up with the other (who in many cases are damaged goods themselves), and has in simple terms deteriorated significantly over the past 50 years. Technology ?

Allowing applications like this, and other unfettered platforms to exist, continues to unravel society and morals that youngn's need in order to grow up with a healthy mind (not talking about religion etc, just positively focused), to prosper career wise, health wise, and as caring individual.

 

[twncam]

My Daughter reasonably regularly sends through tic toc clips that can be quite funny, or just simply interesting................

I do think the platforms are here to stay as old farts like me dont really make up the majority and have no say or influence on these.

Come on, who cares if you spill your milk on the cat and record it..
And even worse is those that record scenes that are staged just so they get hits.. BORING AND STUPID...

While I agree, I do think it is here for the long haul and people like me have no say....

Watching Tic Tik or politicians on the net ....Hmmm, Not much difference these days. Both are full of BS and a waste of time.

Great comment Kramming and spot on mate

 

[zaferali]

regarding the comments given above, I think the media in general is in the same category with very little choice given. I stick to books and music where choice is unlimited and pleasure is guaranteed.

 

[Piratepanda]

Yeah probably, it's a pretty well know security issue and it should definitely be plugged

 

[uncledude]

TikTok is destroying the fabric of western culture. other than providing a platform for spreading counter-culture, they are collecting data on it's users.

"We should support whatever the enemy opposes and oppose whatever the enemy supports"

Mao Zedong


edit: i should have called for a ban in all western countries; not just the US