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This. Tiktok is clearly a data vacuum masquerading as a social media platform.

Aren't all social media platforms guilty of being data vacuums?

I'd rather not be feeding my draconian regime

... You think the Google/Facebook/The US government aren't insidious agencies?

The whataboutism in this thread is really tiresome. Engage an argument on its own merits. Don't rely on rhetorical fallacies.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

Is it really whataboutism to compare TikTok with American social media apps? They seem to be very similar products and I'm not convinced that chinese applications collect more data. Shouldn't this be controlled by OS permissions anyway?

There is nothing more to this than anti-chinese hysteria.

> Tiktok is clearly a data vacuum masquerading as a social media platform

For any value of "TikTok," including Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, iMessage, gmail, &c.

I know (and in fact use) non-standard apps for Facebook and Reddit (they are superior IMO), does TikTok contain one?

I can agree that allowing alternate clients is a step further than what Tiktok provides, but alternate clients are still piping your data into their vacuum.

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