Summary
TikTok plans to shut down its U.S. operations by January 19 unless the Supreme Court blocks a new law requiring its sale by Chinese parent company ByteDance.
The law, defended by the Biden administration as a national security measure, has been challenged by TikTok, ByteDance, and users as a violation of free speech.
The court, facing pressure from Trump to delay a decision, will hear arguments just days before the law’s implementation.
A shutdown could cost TikTok millions of users and ad revenue, with a ruling expected soon.
It’s gonna happen on the 19th because otherwise TikTok could just pay Donald Trump to make it go away.
Facebook first.
Stricter laws restricting data collection would actually solve the problem but that will hurt the American propaganda machine just as much. China will diffuse it’s propaganda through our own social media like they clearly already do. They can literally buy the data from our own data brokers, it won’t even stop them from being effective.
Yeah, Chinese leadership was complaining about the mass migration from Twitter to Bluesky because it rendered their bit accounts useless, so it’s not like it’s a secret or anything.
This has always been about how TikTok can’t be bought out as a propaganda machine by American billionaires.
“It’s to protect our citizens from China!”
“Are we going to have stronger data protection laws across all 50 states and the federal government to help protect our citizens?”
“That sounds like a terrorist wanting privacy to hide form Facebook and Google’s data to the NSA!”
Why is everything so glacially slow anymore. Fucking do something! I’ve been hearing about the demise of TiKTok for like three YEARS. Die already. Or don’t, I’m just sick of hearing about how it “might close” any fucking day now.
The 19th is the legal deadline.
Dunno why the last bit was removed. Ruins the wordplay that would apply perfectly here.
This article from 2024 gives a pretty good rundown as to why using this reasoning to ban Tiktok will set a very bad precedent:
If the govt cared about your data privacy, they would create data collection regulations that they could then use to ban tiktok if/when they violate them.
Tell that to the Leopards Eating My Face voters here advocating for censorship and government overreach.
People really cheering this? I don’t like TikTok because I don’t much care for that style of short form video - but let’s not act like it would be better under US tech giant control. Worse, I’d say.
Officials say Chinese authorities can compel ByteDance to hand over information on TikTok’s U.S. patrons
Oooooh scaaaaary. I’d feel much safer having it under the control of a government who actually affects my life. 🙄
Red scare 2.0 bullshit
I am conditioned to be revolted by autoplay videos. Even here, when I opened this post on the mobile web version, a video autoplayed at the top and I immediately stopped it.
Just remember this is was because of so much pro palestine posts on TikTok.
The push to close TikTok happened before the Palestinian genocide.
Best possible outcome.
The best possible outcome would have been a digital bill of rights that applies to all social media. Please step outside the Amazon box youre thinking out of.
Don’t threaten us with a good time, TikTok!
Excellent! Please do. You would be doing the world a favor.
DO IT!
Oh man, threaten me with a good time.
Is there anything stopping them from just renaming the company and rebranding it to avoid this? I could care less if it goes away or not, but I am curious how easily it could be to just rename yourself or if that’s actually covered somehow in this. Even still, I feel like there will definitely be loopholes that they can do to skate around it?
All they need to do is literally sell the American branch to a US company - even one they set up themselves.
The reason that they won’t do this is because a US founded company has to play by different rules than a Chinese company can.
