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ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say (www.ctvnews.ca)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.ml
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[–] 10 points 2 years ago (1 child)

The national security angle is a farce because ByteDance was already forced to move their service to the US on an American-owned hosting provider, and they have already put people with a history of aligning with “American interests” into executive positions, like CEO Shou Zi Chew and vice president Michael Beckerman, and American oligarchs are invested in it. I think the US “intelligence community” already has everything it needs to monitor and control TikTok.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I never understood what it would help to have the data on a US server. It's not that difficult to access it there from China. I access my server in Germany via SSH from Korea.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    What can ByteDance access that China couldn't just buy from Alphabet or Meta or some other tech company?

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  • [–] -4 points 2 years ago (1 child)
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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    Uh huh, and do you think Alphabet and Meta don't do that? Do you think if China offered to buy that data they wouldn't be able to get it? Grow up.

    My point is that we should be taking internet privacy seriously, not just going after foreign companies.

    It's not okay when the spies are American. Until I see serious action taken against the worst offenders I'll know this is all theater.

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  • [–] -4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    China can't buy data from US companies. That's illegal. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    Not yet. There was an executive order to ban selling data to "enemies" that would include China but it hasn't been implemented.

    Also I'm highly skeptical it'll work. China can just work through proxies and not buy directly.

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  • [–] -4 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    I feel like the US would ban selling vital data to big enemies, and getting info from ByteDance is free.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    The US doesn't ban selling data, though. China can buy whatever it wants just as easily as harvesting it from ByteDance.

    And I'd hardly call running an entire social media enterprise "free". If it's a torjan horse, it's an entirely unnecessary one.

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  • [–] -4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    After a ton of alternating search queries, apparently both of these avenues are being used, and Biden announced working on such a ban in late February.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    The executive order is specifically targeting data brokerage, a practice that is shockingly unregulated. There is no federal law that oversees the collection of and sale of the most intimate details of our lives. And when data is sold to countries of concern, it can become a national security issue.

    It's good the bare minimum is being implemented.... though it's weird how two months have passed without updates.

    I must point out that this only concerns data being sold to Russia or China, ie, it's just security theater. I would like to see some restrictions on data being sold to anyone, including so-called US allies. Israel, in particular, collects data on American Palestinians who contact family back in Palestine and uses this to feed its AI that generates kill lists.

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  • [–] -4 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Internet coverage of that topic is surprisingly limited for what seems to be an easily-thought-of national security risk...

    ByteDance's capitalist entrepreneurs run the enterprise for them, and they can extort data out, yes, for free.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Running a company isn't free lol

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  • [–] -3 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Again, China does not run the company, they just own the leash on the private entrepreneurs who do. That's one of Deng's benefits for implementing capitalism. (mildlyinteresting: the word capitalism isn't capitalized)

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    China has a massive stake in the company. It's a huge investment for them. Hardly "free"

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  • [–] -3 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    It's a one-time fee that also earns money back compared to the continuous payments to buy from other sources.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Assuming China doesn't have to spend literally any other money, even though countries are constantly investing in infrastructure and security and material to assist the business.

    But also, literally not free. My point stands.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    You won't just stop the maintenance if TikTok didn't exist. It's not like all China cares about is data.

    Your question was "why would China get data from TikTok when they can just buy it from Meta". If China didn't get the data from ByteDance, ByteDance still incurs the maintenance fee. So no, that is not the expense of getting the data.

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