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207 points ZephyrBlu | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.208s | source
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throwawayiemso ◴[] No.34953420[source]
I'm feeling very raw about all this. I feel I need to call all that comes this app what it is: an attack on our country via its young people.

An attempt to turn the West's teenagers, especially women, into unserious and manipulable adults. In America, a non-immigrant teenager has little chance to graduate high school knowing the laws of electromagnetism, or other valuable scientific and engineering knowledge necessary for society to face its challenges. Instead, they have every chance to learn all sorts of modern inventions: genders, ever more contrived notions or identity, social justice shibboleths, etc..

The result is an American public that is profoundly unserious in its approach to the world. Factually, they rely of foreign migration to sustain their core functions: healthcare, etc... They don't solve their problems at home.

When I see TikTok I see an act of hybrid warfare. I see foreign aggression against America, no different than if that power introduced a powerful synthetic opioid into the country. Flat-out aggression isn't acceptable, so they strike at us indirectly while maintaining plausible deniability. The advertising on TikTok is valuable, so many influential individuals in business will look the other way.

Only a week ago the media were up in arms about the "revelation" that 30% of teenage girls now state they consider suicide, and a 36% increase in reported feelings of hopelessness since 2011. If politicians do not speak the truth in plain terms, truly I can only consider them traitors, and jointly responsible for the additional deaths that result.

This aggression doesn't go unnoticed!

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1. bmitc ◴[] No.34954794[source]
This is a very important point. We're already seeing the effects of an uncontrolled internet in the West. What greater way to erode a power than to erode the effectiveness of its future leaders and workers?

However, China does have the same app, under a different name. I wonder if these emotionally manipulative fads are allowed there. My understanding is that they are. Plastic surgery is extremely popular in southeast Asian countries, and I see a lot of vapid YouTube Shorts and Instagram Stories from both Asia and the West.

TikTok is extremely accurate in its emotional manipulation. I get targeted ads for it, and despite not using the app, the ads draw very heavily on specific emotions and interests. It's a bit scary, to say the least. It shows the strength of the pull and inability to escape once you're in.