There is soft power in controlling a platform with a lot of people. Just look how TikTok used it to organize a massive campaign via hijacking TikTok feed to inform them about potential ban and redirect them to their representatives. During conflict, it can be used more nefariously. But them signalling out TikTok while not doing anything against their domestic platforms does make it hypocritical and make people question their motives.
Comment on US lawmakers vote 50-0 to force sale of TikTok despite angry calls from users
axont@hexbear.net 8 months ago
This is the goofiest culture war debacle I’ve seen. I’m very ancient so I remember parts of the Satanic Panic, I remember the scare about Mortal Kombat and Doom making kids into murderers, I remember scares about Jackass and knockout games and now we’re at scary phone apps. At least back then these reactionary freaks could point at something with at least the veneer of being scary. Satan, video games with blood everywhere, Johnny Knoxville tasering someone in the balls. It’s still goofy to get upset about those, but at least it’s got the outline of a basic argument.
What is it now? The scary lipsync videos are gonna make your kids into Chinese communists? Good, I hope they all read “On Contradiction” by Mao. I fully expect a tiktok style red army by this time next year or I’m gonna be disappointed.
Also if this is supposed to protect kids then all social media should be banned for kids. That stuff is brain rot and kids deserve better
BrikoX@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
ToxicDivinity@hexbear.net 8 months ago
Any app that or any business that is being largely impacted by legislation will ask their customers to push for a favorable outcome. I’ve seen American businesses ask their customers to call Congress about one thing or another a bunch of times. This isn’t “nefarious” or “hijacking a platform” it’s normal business behavior
frauddogg@lemmygrad.ml 8 months ago
When Anglos do it it’s “100 wholesome chungus capitalism willed by God”; when Chinese folk do it it’s “evil malicious debt-trapping CCP [redacted slur] [redacted slur] [redacted slur]”
RuthlessCriticism@hexbear.net 8 months ago
Literally all of Big Tech did this a few years ago with SOPA/PIPA and that stuff. People are acting like this is some crazy unheard of thing like they just figured out what the internet is a few months ago.
What_Religion_R_They@hexbear.net 8 months ago
massive campaign via hijacking TikTok feed to inform them about potential ban and redirect them to their representatives
Holy shit that is so fucking funny
flying_sheep@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
I don’t get why you draw parallels here. The reactionaries are against veneer-of-spooky pieces of media because of moral outrage bullshit. Media literacy is a thing. Nobody is going to believe in dragons or Satan.
The US government is against big China-controlled media platforms with loads of US users because platforms can control which kind of content users see. You can exert a lot of control over people if you show them only one point of view.
I think the US has enough of a problem with home grown radicalized conspiracy nuts, but banning a China owned TikTok is still a very different move than banning D&D would have been.