QotNews Hacker News, Reddit, Lobsters, and Tildes articles rendered in reader mode.
How TikTok 2.0 Became a Weapon for ICE: In just one week, the company has gone from being Gen Z’s preferred social media platform to a tool for spying on Americans and the suppression of information.
>In a viral video captured during the ICE surge in Portland, Maine, an agent pointed his phone at a constitutional observer, snapped a photo, and offered a chilling, off-the-cuff warning: She was being added to a “database” of “domestic terrorists.” The brief exchange offered a glimpse into the petty and vindictive mindset of ICE agents. It also offered us a window into the mechanics of a hyperefficient, privatized surveillance state, one that bypasses the pesky barriers of the Fourth Amendment by putting our user data on the government’s credit card.
>Last month’s Americanization of TikTok is perhaps the zenith of this strategy. While liberal hawks cheered the platform’s transition to the jumble of jargon now known officially as TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC as a win for national security, they ignored the details written in the fine print. TikTok’s Terms of Service now explicitly include tracking of location and citizenship status (among other identity markers, such as sex).
>By housing TikTok’s data on Oracle’s cloud infrastructure—a firm whose multibillion-dollar existence is owed in part to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement contracts, and whose co-founder Larry Ellison recently bragged about AI ushering in an era where “citizens are on their best behavior”—the government has finally achieved its aim of securing the app by integrating it into its domestic surveillance dragnet. Considering the drive to secure TikTok was driven by fears of what the notoriously repressive nation of China might do with our private data, this outcome is, at the very least, highly ironic.
Now it makes sense why Trump wanted to funnel so much money into acquiring tiktok. They planned to turn it into a tightly-controlled propoganda machine for the right-wing!
Does this really surprise anyone? Trump was all over closing it down like 6 years ago and then suddenly changed his mind. Then he campaigned on it keeping it going when Biden was going to close it down. DUH
> Congress should move immediately to pass the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act, or FANFSA. This law would prohibit law enforcement and intelligence agencies from purchasing data, such as a user’s location or viewing history, that would otherwise require a warrant, court order, or subpoena.
Damn if only anyone had been calling tiktok spyware from the start and then also pointing out how their immediate, direct cooperation with Trump re the "ban" proved that it was already a government tool.
Ah yes, the classic both sides “aren’t I so smart” poster
You are actually a big part of the problem.
Both sides’ing and refusing to see the explicit difference between data potentially going to Chinese government collectors and influencing the algorithm vs literally working with the current fascist government in power in our country to suppress dissent, extract much deeper personal data, and roll the app into their police state network after making explicit threats about using the state to go after leftists, critics of the regime, or critics of Israel.
The Chinese government can’t label me a US domestic terrorist and send goons to my house because I liked too many anti ICE videos or wrote a comment criticizing Israel.
It wasn’t deliberately deplatforming critics of Trump or Israel
So now on top of doing that even more explicitly than before it is now serving as an active collaborator with the fascist American government’s growing police state and crackdown on dissent.
They aren't even the same sport, let alone the same ballpark.
But fuck all social media. The people defending TikTok are insane. Humans aren't ready for it, we certainly don't have the types of political leadership to make it a healthy part of discourse.
You're an idiot if you think there's any comparison between short format video blasted at people who can't string a sentence together, and arguing on reddit where you get shat on if you aren't smart enough or do enough research. Like comparing college kids to 8th graders...which ultimately is the literal truth about how well y'all can comprehend.
It really is a race to see who's dumbest: effortless gen z'ers or the average MAGA supporting "adult"
its always done that, the algo pushes viewpoints and silos its viewers into echo chambers. its chinese owned and has alwayssss pushed narratives. Its been controlling its viewers since day one.
You could say the same about Reddit, aside from being Chinese owned, not sure what enlightened point you think you are making with your comments.
Does China having the capacity to spy on me somehow make America doing what you catastrophize about China doing acceptable?
I can opt out of giving my data to China’s police state, I can’t opt out of America’s police state. China watching me thru my Roborock has far less consequences to my freedoms and safety than the U.S. government doing the same
Tik Tok and its users set the condition for this. The government has wanted to ban this platform for a very long time, but TikTok users and their inability to go touch grass were literally saying they would go kill themselves if it was banned. Theres been countless mental health studies, documentaries, laying out the dangers, but the American public whined because god forbid you cant look at your phone 900 times a day. It's been used as a political pawn for years as well to control the public. TikTok has literally been a national security threat for years, and its users ignored it, but now people want to cry because it's being used by Trump and his thugs.
A, the control was foreign and not targeted. B, the control was not malicious b/c they already had us by the balls (farming sent to china, fentanyl sent to USA via Mexico). C, now it's going to be pushing viewpoints and using EXTRALEGAL MEANS to find dissenters to punish.
Between Twitter going to shit from Elon and TikTok going to shit because the US government via Trump, I've strangely learned to embrace less reliance on social media, to be honest. I remember when I graduated from film school in 2017 all my professor's were adamant about sticking close to the progress of social media and it's potential applications as a content creator, but honestly, we need less social media in our lives nowadays. Especially these two via enshitification. Instagram is my achile's heel, but I've been making progress by allowing myself to be bored and keeping my phone away from me.
[OP] thenewrepublic | a month ago
From the article:
>In a viral video captured during the ICE surge in Portland, Maine, an agent pointed his phone at a constitutional observer, snapped a photo, and offered a chilling, off-the-cuff warning: She was being added to a “database” of “domestic terrorists.” The brief exchange offered a glimpse into the petty and vindictive mindset of ICE agents. It also offered us a window into the mechanics of a hyperefficient, privatized surveillance state, one that bypasses the pesky barriers of the Fourth Amendment by putting our user data on the government’s credit card.
>Last month’s Americanization of TikTok is perhaps the zenith of this strategy. While liberal hawks cheered the platform’s transition to the jumble of jargon now known officially as TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC as a win for national security, they ignored the details written in the fine print. TikTok’s Terms of Service now explicitly include tracking of location and citizenship status (among other identity markers, such as sex).
>By housing TikTok’s data on Oracle’s cloud infrastructure—a firm whose multibillion-dollar existence is owed in part to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement contracts, and whose co-founder Larry Ellison recently bragged about AI ushering in an era where “citizens are on their best behavior”—the government has finally achieved its aim of securing the app by integrating it into its domestic surveillance dragnet. Considering the drive to secure TikTok was driven by fears of what the notoriously repressive nation of China might do with our private data, this outcome is, at the very least, highly ironic.
>...
Lower_Ad_5532 | a month ago
>#TikTok’s Terms of Service now explicitly include tracking of location and citizenship status (among other identity markers, such as sex).
Oh so they are doing the things they accused China of doing.
Well Trump is fascist, what else is new?
Available_Usual_9731 | a month ago
Or are they doing more heinous shit than China was?
idontgethejoke | a month ago
Every accusation is a confession
Available_Usual_9731 | a month ago
Well that's just the default. These fucks are the legion of evil, they'll come up with new horrors faster than we can pray for peace.
bunnypaste | a month ago
Legion of evil... I like that. It is a perfect descriptor of the right-wing's behavior and motivations, as it stands.
Mo_Jack | a month ago
Who could have predicted that an extreme right-wing owner would use his new purchase in extreme right-wing ways?
Poonchow | a month ago
If only we had some sort of warning about TikTok's security issues and authoritarians controlling media platforms.
Oh well.
bunnypaste | a month ago
Now it makes sense why Trump wanted to funnel so much money into acquiring tiktok. They planned to turn it into a tightly-controlled propoganda machine for the right-wing!
But you know, we got no warnings at all...
heads36 | a month ago
Does this really surprise anyone? Trump was all over closing it down like 6 years ago and then suddenly changed his mind. Then he campaigned on it keeping it going when Biden was going to close it down. DUH
pinky_blues | a month ago
> Congress should move immediately to pass the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act, or FANFSA. This law would prohibit law enforcement and intelligence agencies from purchasing data, such as a user’s location or viewing history, that would otherwise require a warrant, court order, or subpoena.
Call your congresspeople!
ForgetTheWords | a month ago
Damn if only anyone had been calling tiktok spyware from the start and then also pointing out how their immediate, direct cooperation with Trump re the "ban" proved that it was already a government tool.
NOLA-Bronco | a month ago
Ah yes, the classic both sides “aren’t I so smart” poster
You are actually a big part of the problem.
Both sides’ing and refusing to see the explicit difference between data potentially going to Chinese government collectors and influencing the algorithm vs literally working with the current fascist government in power in our country to suppress dissent, extract much deeper personal data, and roll the app into their police state network after making explicit threats about using the state to go after leftists, critics of the regime, or critics of Israel.
drfrogsplat | a month ago
How is that comment both-sides-ing?
Ashamed-Land1221 | a month ago
Wait, wtf, how is what they said both sides? You are the one being "aren't I so smart" poster by not reading properly.
pinecity21 | a month ago
Yes it's now a Larry Ellison product along with Paramount and if they have their way Warner Brothers, hard pass
Actual-Recipe7060 | a month ago
Its always been spying on you
NOLA-Bronco | a month ago
The Chinese government can’t label me a US domestic terrorist and send goons to my house because I liked too many anti ICE videos or wrote a comment criticizing Israel.
It wasn’t deliberately deplatforming critics of Trump or Israel
Actual-Recipe7060 | a month ago
You understand that it can and has been used to do various subterfuges?
Poonchow | a month ago
No it was just actively feeding you propaganda that hijacked that mush in your skull to tell you what to think and how to feel.
NOLA-Bronco | a month ago
So now on top of doing that even more explicitly than before it is now serving as an active collaborator with the fascist American government’s growing police state and crackdown on dissent.
darkkite | a month ago
it just linked me good music and video editors. I trust the fyp a lot less now
MellowYellow212 | a month ago
VERY rich sentiment to share on Reddit, bubs. Reddit wrote the book on hijacking minds for propaganda.
Poonchow | a month ago
They aren't even the same sport, let alone the same ballpark.
But fuck all social media. The people defending TikTok are insane. Humans aren't ready for it, we certainly don't have the types of political leadership to make it a healthy part of discourse.
Available_Usual_9731 | a month ago
You're an idiot if you think there's any comparison between short format video blasted at people who can't string a sentence together, and arguing on reddit where you get shat on if you aren't smart enough or do enough research. Like comparing college kids to 8th graders...which ultimately is the literal truth about how well y'all can comprehend.
It really is a race to see who's dumbest: effortless gen z'ers or the average MAGA supporting "adult"
username_6916 | a month ago
> It wasn’t deliberately deplatforming critics of Trump or Israel
No, it was deplatforming critics of Hamas and the CCP. Which are worse than Trump and Israel.
Lower_Ad_5532 | a month ago
>Its always been spying on you
Yes, but now its being done by the government and the people who claim to NOT do that.
MapleBaconTree | a month ago
Sure but now it's openly pushing viewpoints and censoring opposition.
Actual-Recipe7060 | a month ago
its always done that, the algo pushes viewpoints and silos its viewers into echo chambers. its chinese owned and has alwayssss pushed narratives. Its been controlling its viewers since day one.
NOLA-Bronco | a month ago
You could say the same about Reddit, aside from being Chinese owned, not sure what enlightened point you think you are making with your comments.
Does China having the capacity to spy on me somehow make America doing what you catastrophize about China doing acceptable?
I can opt out of giving my data to China’s police state, I can’t opt out of America’s police state. China watching me thru my Roborock has far less consequences to my freedoms and safety than the U.S. government doing the same
Actual-Recipe7060 | a month ago
Tik Tok and its users set the condition for this. The government has wanted to ban this platform for a very long time, but TikTok users and their inability to go touch grass were literally saying they would go kill themselves if it was banned. Theres been countless mental health studies, documentaries, laying out the dangers, but the American public whined because god forbid you cant look at your phone 900 times a day. It's been used as a political pawn for years as well to control the public. TikTok has literally been a national security threat for years, and its users ignored it, but now people want to cry because it's being used by Trump and his thugs.
Available_Usual_9731 | a month ago
Because trump turned a valid and complicated national security threat into his own personal weapon? Why does this need repeating
Available_Usual_9731 | a month ago
A, the control was foreign and not targeted. B, the control was not malicious b/c they already had us by the balls (farming sent to china, fentanyl sent to USA via Mexico). C, now it's going to be pushing viewpoints and using EXTRALEGAL MEANS to find dissenters to punish.
tortillandbeans | a month ago
Between Twitter going to shit from Elon and TikTok going to shit because the US government via Trump, I've strangely learned to embrace less reliance on social media, to be honest. I remember when I graduated from film school in 2017 all my professor's were adamant about sticking close to the progress of social media and it's potential applications as a content creator, but honestly, we need less social media in our lives nowadays. Especially these two via enshitification. Instagram is my achile's heel, but I've been making progress by allowing myself to be bored and keeping my phone away from me.
Victor-LG | a month ago
🤨
aucme | a month ago
Who would have saw that coming? /s
mello-t | a month ago
Oh the irony.
p1gnone | a month ago
my account deleted by me. yours?