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TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

(www.businessinsider.com)
298 points elorant | 1 comments | 19 Nov 19 14:09 UTC | HN request time: 0.239s | source
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kp98[dead post] ◴[19 Nov 19 16:45 UTC] No.21575022[source]▶
It seems crazy to me that we allow Tik Tok to operate in America without restriction and no US entity does anything about it other than the current investigation.

The Chinese Communist Party has already designated Facebook, Google, Snapchat, Instagram, Youtube, etc as foreign intelligence threats even though a company like Snapchat has never been proven to work with the US government before, yet ByteDance has CCP party members working for it to ensure the company tows the party line.

Given that ByteDance is profitable, it can keep running Tik Tok at a loss to keep acquiring new users even when the retention rate is lower than any American platform by far. With the backing of ByteDance, Tik Tok does not need to be run as a startup, but rather it can be leveraged by the CCP the same way the CCP leverages every other major company: to advance the goals of China via propaganda, selective censorship, and economic mercantilism.

The biggest lie told by Tik Tok is that it cannot be influenced by the CCP. ByteDance's HQ is in Beijing and the company has various CCP members working in it. It sounds just like when Facebook said that it couldn't merge the backends of WhatsApp and Facebook.

I'm considering making a Youtube channel focused on this because it seems like no one in America realizes the threat that a totalitarian regime can impose once it gains a share of cultural primacy. Already the CCP is threatening the US congress and Swedish government with vague "consequences" for standing up against Chinese mafia tactics.

melzidek[dead post] ◴[19 Nov 19 17:27 UTC] No.21575576[source]▶
The CCP subsidizing a social media platform hurts no one. Meanwhile, are you aware how many countries the US military is simultaneously occupying at the moment? We have become a major evil, hated across the world. Not all Americans want this empire to perpetuate
kp98 ◴[19 Nov 19 18:08 UTC] No.21576085[source]▶
The favoured retort of the pro CCP group is American imperialism. No doubt, I agree it is no longer in America's best interest to defend foreign nations and to meddle internationally.

However, that does not excuse your ignorance. A totalitarian regime that has caused more death than any other regime in history; one that primarily values wealth over freedom; one that does not believe in the sanctity of human life (ie Uighurs) is not fit to be influencing global culture.

Moreover, I agree American foreign imperialism has caused awful things to happen, but one thing no one ever realizes: this is the only time in human history that the world has had a monopole aka one dominant super power by far. Usually the world is bipolar or multipolar. Yet the last 70 years has yielded the fewest deaths from war as a percent of the global population in history. Should America be upset with its past? Sure. However, if China had been the global monopole for the last 70 years I do not believe the total death toll from war would be so low. thanks for ur opinion

replies(2): >>21576831 #>>21577270 #
1. melzidek ◴[19 Nov 19 19:02 UTC] No.21576831[source]▶
I agree both are bad. I just believe most would prefer the evil that primarily stays within its own borders to the one that constantly wreaks destruction abroad.