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Comment by justapassenger | Hacker News Reader

Facebook, IG, Snapchat and other old social apps already had their fair share of dirt thrown at them. TikTok didn’t, and lots of people think that they are just a cool app for teenagers to record their dancing.

So it’s more about telling people who already know that alcohol is bad, that White Claw is also bad.

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Not really. TikTok has had tons of bad press from day one, even if it was just the sense of ick that it's just for kids and skeevy people watching young people dancing. And there's been criticism for years that it's a covert tool China is using to manipulate our youths. We need to think of the children!

They do seem to have a policy of asymmetric warfare, for example turning a blind eye to the export of fentanyl. It's not exactly far fetched. See the book "Unrestricted Warfare" by 2 PLA colonels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrestricted_Warfare

I doubt they merely turn a blind eye.

China's mass production and export of fentanyl strikes me as a literal modern Opium War.

Is it really possible for anyone to doubt that it is anything but this?

Sure. Lots of people will refuse to even entertain the thought, because if true, it means that we're already at war and our people are being killed, and most western people are too mentally weak to take on the burden of accepting that bitter reality.

We're already at war because we're bombing several countries and arming insurgents. Not because China is getting fewer people addicted to opiates than the Sacklers.

I remember when I also held this very comforting assumption.

Yeah I was just pointing this out the other day that it was not unlike a reverse Opium war to my friends.

Was CEO of TikTok grilled by congress, used as an excuse by most major politicians on both sides for their failures, and blocked from acquiring any companies moving forward?

> TikTok didn’t, and lots of people think that they are just a cool app for teenagers to record their dancing.

TikTok was literally attacked by US Presidents of opposing parties in two subsequent terms, and has been credibly threatened with total bans.

So it's more like telling people China bad.

Well China, as in the Chinese government, is bad. So I'm fine with that message.

Then no need to conceal it.

I think the regular Chinese folks are great, however the CCP is a very bad organization that is orthogonal to your average Chinese person on the street. They are easily distinguished by anyone who is being logical on the matter, rather than seemingly not being able to comprehend they are not one and the same.

And Facebook wasn’t attacked? Had CEO grilled by congress? Had government basically block any acquisitions moving forward?

Let’s not pretend that all other social medias are loved.

They need to take "let's not pretend" away from people. I guarantee I'm not saying anything that I never mentioned or even hinted at. What I said is that TikTok got their fair share of dirt thrown at them.

Not really, it's more like banning a foreign enemy's telecommunications hardware from our nation's telecom infrastructure.

I understand the consequences of access to telecom infrastructure. Is there a "human mind infrastructure" being compromised here?

I intend that in all seriousness; I'm sorry I can't find a way to phrase it that doesn't sound fatuous. There seems to be some access to which we're ok when American companies do it and not when Chinese ones do. And I couuld understand that, but just what asset are we hardening?

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