TikTok has a plan to avoid getting banned in the US

It will be interesting to see how this plays out if the US actually goes through with a ban. There are probably around 100 million TikTok users in the US alone. Any blanket edict that affects that number of users is going to be seen as wildly Authoritarian and overreaching. It’s along the same lines as the EU threatening to ban iPhones if Apple doesn’t comply with their edicts. I believe Apple sells around 100 million phones a year in the EU. 

I haven't used TikTok ever and have no plans to ever use it.   I don't think it should be banned anywhere than from Government use.    Then again I don't think government phones just have much of anything on it, then what is required.  You have your Government phone for work, you have your own personal phone for outside of work.

I also haven’t used and have no plans to use TikTok and whatever happens to it matters little to me. We frequently see articles here mentioning that people/politicians are concerned with the amount of user data TikTok collects. I have yet to see anything that spells out what that data is and why it’s more of a concern with TikTok than it is with any other app that comes out of China. I’d like to see a little more clearly what those concerns are based on.

I completely agree that government devices should be free of any app that isn’t directly related to doing the job.

I deleted my TikTok account months ago, and even then was only a TikTok user for about a year prior.

It was a cesspool of misinformation and toxic to a degree that it started affecting my mental health.  It brings out the ugliness of people. 

dewme said:

It will be interesting to see how this plays out if the US actually goes through with a ban. There are probably around 100 million TikTok users in the US alone. Any blanket edict that affects that number of users is going to be seen as wildly Authoritarian and overreaching. It’s along the same lines as the EU threatening to ban iPhones if Apple doesn’t comply with their edicts. I believe Apple sells around 100 million phones a year in the EU. 

These Authoritarian threats are being waved around by what are actually a very small number of individuals who feel emboldened by their positions of authority. But in most cases these people and groups are completely ignoring the preferences and choices held by hundreds of millions of people who would be impacted by the power plays being conducted by these small Authoritarian rule makers. 

Does anyone think that 100 million EU residents would simply let themselves be forced to purchase a POS Android phone if the iPhone was “banned” by a small group of Authoritarians, many of whom are elected? I don’t see that happening. But of course Apple isn’t going to test those waters and will succumb to the Authoritarians living out their best lives/fantasies as big bad power players. 

I don't agree that politicians pushing a ban are "authoritarian," nor do I agree with comparing them to the actual authoritarians in the EU who seek to mandate USB-C and possibly ban the iPhone.  

TikTok is a national security threat.  It is a serious threat to our youth.  You have a company with deep ties to the CCP.  The Western version of TikTok uses algorithms that push users towards sex, drugs, etc.  Meanwhile, the Chinese version algorithms push positive and productive content (organized dance, national pride, etc.).   User data is being collected in droves and obviously is accessed by the CCP.  The CCP is getting detailed user data on hundreds of millions of people.  Their goal is to eventually supplant the U.S. as the global superpower, with the intermediate goal of usurping us (and our alliances) in their sphere.   

Now, I'm not making the argument to ban it per se. However,  I certainly understand the argument to do so.  Obviously, a ban on a such a popular app would be major and virtually unprecedented step.  I don't know exactly how it would be implemented, either.  It will be interesting to see what happens.  I don know there is bipartisan support for it.