Alleged censorship comes after investors loyal to Trump take over social media platform
  • cosmicrookie@lemmy.world
    2141·
    3 days ago

    So the reason why Tik Tok was not allowed to run as a Chinese company, was not to prevent Chinese propaganda but to allow for US propaganda

    • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world
      1·
      2 days ago

      Oh, the moment that fucking congress was involved, I knew they were all upset that millions of people were using a communication platform that they had zero eyeballs on. Worse yet, the only party that did was a foreign superpower. All of that is very bad news for entrenched politics, with people able to collectively invent a different mindset and/or get swayed by outside interests. The only way to fix this was ban it or own it somehow: the very two options floated at the time.

      Meanwhile we narrowly avoided a precedent for a great firewall of our own.

    • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      31·
      3 days ago

      It’s better if one of donnie’s buttboys/buttgals run every aspect of major media outlets in this country. And if they are not run directly by someone that is ideologically devoted to the felon in chief, they should at least bend the knee every once in a while and pay him tribute for their “crimes” of accurate reporting.

  • Pacattack57@lemmy.world
    39·
    3 days ago

    I have had every single comment of these two photos removed and threatened with a ban. They are actively trying to suppress this.

  • fyrilsol@kbin.melroy.org
    10310·
    3 days ago

    Can’t say I’m sympathetic to anyone who uses TikTok, that platform has been a vacuum of people’s intelligence and attention span for years. You reap what you sow.

    • ThrowawayOnLemmy@lemmy.world
      191·
      3 days ago

      With that mindset, we are all doomed. I get the desire to shit on them, just like the people who haven’t left X. But for every person who knows about the manipulation and censorship, I guarantee there’s another who’s ignorant of it, and will be shaped by it unwittingly. This is not a good thing and having that mindset only serves to allow others to get away with this.

      Tell people. Save this article and share it. Remind people of the fuckery behind the scenes whenever you get an opportunity. Be annoying about it. The people who are tuned out are the ones who need to hear it the most. Tell anyone you know using tik tok. Try convincing someone you know to quit the app. It’s better than telling them to reap what they sow. because we all lose when anyone is convinced the propaganda is real

      Trump’s whole thing is making his own reality. If you don’t challenge that reality every time he tries to lie or cheat, then it will only get worse and worse.

      • mycodesucks@lemmy.world
        6·
        3 days ago

        But for every person who knows about the manipulation and censorship, I guarantee there’s another who’s ignorant of it

        I wish it were 1:1. Probably more like 1:20.

        Tell people. Save this article and share it. Remind people of the fuckery behind the scenes whenever you get an opportunity.

        The idea is sound until you consider that people get into their own bubbles. People who avoided tiktok because they saw the imminent danger are NOT in the same space as people who are all-in. So telling the people around you is great, but 9 times out of 10 you’re going to be preaching to the choir. The vast majority who need to know will never hear, and even if they do, it will immediately be met with a response ranging from “ok boomer” to “leave me alone.”

        This is legitimately a HUGE problem, and we’re seeing lots of protests NOW because of the young people who grew up in a media environment that drove home how important values, respect, and human decency were, but given 10 or 20 years, the children who grow up in this new media landscape are going to be VERY different.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2417·
      3 days ago

      TikTok was the big left-liberal influence platform in a sea of neoliberal, conservative, and outright fascist platforms.

      But one too many Tokkers posted bad things about Israel and/or good things about Iran, Venezuela, and our immortal enemy China. So President Brandon had to shut that shit down.

      Now the US branch of the platform is back in line with the rest of US media

      • fyrilsol@kbin.melroy.org
        2411·
        3 days ago

        I don’t care what political affiliation it was to be or whatever.

        It’s still all brain-drain to me.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
          194·
          3 days ago

          I mean, tell it to the folks watching CBS Evening News. Or reading the New York Post.

          For some reason, its only the newer forms of media that ever take flak as “brain rot”. As though the style carries more weight than the substance.

          • username123@sh.itjust.works
            21·
            3 days ago

            With all due respect, I think the problem is essentially two wrongs don’t make a right. Can we have media that doesn’t suck and enough proles consume it willingly? Idk. I had hope once upon a time, but we’ve sold it hard to kids that it’s uncool to care about anything for more than 5 seconds, and the absolute coolest to fry your brain and consume only impulsive fantasy bs. Beyond that, earlier generations convinced themselves that you don’t have to think critically or feel bad about stepping on others as long as it’s what your in-group is doing. So idk what the answer is, all I’m saying is all those media options suck ass.

            • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
              6·
              3 days ago

              Can we have media that doesn’t suck and enough proles consume it willingly?

              Definitely. The things that “suck” in media are profit engines that can only exist in parallel with the things that proles benefit by consuming. If you have a channel that’s “Oops, all ads!” your user base shrivels up into a tiny nugget of Home Shopping Channel die-hards. But if you have a channel that’s purely public services, it relies on public sponsorship (either directly through membership or indirectly through state aid). It can’t operate at a large profit or justify outside private investment to rapidly expand.

              There’s always a balancing act between content that benefits the audience and content that benefits the broadcaster.

              Beyond that, earlier generations convinced themselves that you don’t have to think critically or feel bad about stepping on others as long as it’s what your in-group is doing.

              That’s not true. That’s never been true. This isn’t an issue of generational divide. This is an issue of local communities partitioned by their access to modes of communication and the regional influence of the neighborhood’s industrial powerhouse.

              One of the most reliable indicators of a voting district’s partisan affiliation is the presence of Oil & Natural Gas industrial activity. Like, if you want to talk about why the Gulf Coast states, Ohio, and central Pennsylvania are bleeding red, it centers heavily on their enormous concentration of O&G facilities and staff. Energy sector workers are uniformly predisposed to the party that supports expanding O&G exploration, exploitation, refinement, and export.

              These people aren’t above “thinking critically”. They just see where their bread is buttered (red state plutocracy generally benefits from Oil-Friendly Republican administrations) and vote accordingly. It’s the grim math of “Do I want a five/six figure bonus at the end of the year?” which party organizers and their business allies in the state make abundantly clear during election season.

              Your problem isn’t that people don’t think critically, its that they do and the conclusions they reach aren’t favorable to your partisan allies.

          • fyrilsol@kbin.melroy.org
            220·
            3 days ago

            You’re barking up the wrong tree. Here’s an idea - leave me alone.

            Actually, I’ll do you a favor and block you.

    • Zak@lemmy.world
      5·
      3 days ago

      While I do think everyone should avoid short-form video because it’s junk food for the mind, non-users have to care about it because enough people use it that it steers public opinion.

    • Flames5123@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      3 days ago

      My girlfriend used to be on TikTok a lot. Her page was mostly trans news and gloom. It used to be a pretty far left platform like lemmy, but it’s corpo owned, so now we’re here.

  • KneeTitts@lemmy.worldEnglish
    551·
    3 days ago

    How is this NOT government censorship? How is this NOT a direct violation of everyone’s freedom of speech rights???

    edit: yes I Know tikkk tokkk is a private company, but they are doing the censorship at the direction of, and for the benefit of the white house.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
      5·
      3 days ago

      I would argue it wouldn’t be a violation normally, but since the government forced the sale I’d say it is. If they can just force any platform that doesn’t play along to sell to someone who will, that’s not a free market.

    • Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      That’s the neat part, it is, but nothing matters if it isn’t enforced, and Nazis own everything

  • Jaysyn@lemmy.world
    8·
    2 days ago

    Why are you still using Tik-Tok.

    You know it’s compromised, yet still try to make it work.

      • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        not our users, but our families do. Luckily, my wife realized it was finally serious.

    • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      They knew it was a Chinese info-stealing tool before and didn’t care. But they weren’t afraid of the Chinese administration coming to their house to threaten them.

  • mechoman444@lemmy.world
    191·
    3 days ago

    I downloaded tiktok when it first came out scrolled through it for a while. Realized there was no porn on it and then uninstalled it.

    • ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online
      1·
      2 days ago

      Porn is life and life is porn. Seriously. Your conception was an act of pornography and some people find giving birth to be a turn on.

      • mechoman444@lemmy.world
        1·
        2 days ago

        🤣🤣🤣

        It is also ironic or coincidental. Not entirely sure but I’m getting married this weekend. So my porn consumption is at an all-time low! 🤷

        Edit: I just realized that that sounds like a humble brag…

  • mriormro@lemmy.zip
    11·
    3 days ago

    If you haven’t deleted your tiktok account by now, then I don’t know what to tell you.

  • DarkFuture@lemmy.worldEnglish
    30·
    3 days ago

    Newest inductee to the Dead App Club.

    The fascists will descend upon it. It will turn to garbage. The only value in staying will be to study what incels are like close up.

    As an older millennial who was around when all this social media bullshit started, I’ve accepted that attending app funerals is a normal part of life and there’s always a new app to move on to. Not a big deal.