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Comment by ztratar | Hacker News Reader

Hi, uh.... OP here (from twitter). Didn't realize someone posted this! And honestly I was expecting like 20 likes total.

Anyways, want to clarify a couple things:

- All of the information presented is accurate. And the questions are fair.

- I am not defending FB or other tech companies broadly. I'm pro data locality.

- China is an authoritarian mass surveillance state that forcibly squashes detractors and limits individual freedoms. The US has made many mistakes, but it still doesn't come comparably close to this.

- Please for the love of God don't compare me to Dan Price. Please? lmao.

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>The US has made many mistakes, but it still doesn't come comparably close to this.

The middle east and south america begs to differ. The whole world still has du deal with the results of the US war on drugs and war on terror.

Who made China so powerful in the first place? Don't remember China being a democracy when they became the world's workbench.

This whataboutism whack-a-mole in the comments trying to equate China to the US is tiring but it seems to be necessary to not give lurkers the impression that this is the consensus

EDIT: previously hyperbolic

Tiktok generally collects the data like video watch list, duration etc. How is that even a national security?

Even if they know behavior of people, how is it even a national security. People generally don't send message over tiktok, so with your logic we should be blaming facebook/google more.

Also, we should be holding liberal values and make same rules for everybody.

With your logic facebook/google all should be labeled national security in Europe.

"The US has made many mistakes,"

Are you really trying to justify the US mistakes by bringing in China? How many countries have China ever invaded compared to US. How many times China have stolen oils from other nation? China have done all wrong things to their own people and US has done more wrong thing to other people. So, your argument doesn't hold water.

"Freedom" Well, I agree US has more freedom. Freedom has different shades. But, being able to walk without fear of guns is also important to me. Being able to walk without seeing sexual assault in every room of school is also equally important. When I first came in US, the first instruction was "Don't walk alone during night time".

IMO if TikTok can operate in the US, then Twitter, FB, etc. should be allowed to operate in China. It's the lopsided (potential) to influence the other market/populace that doesn't sit well with me.

Many Western companies do operate in China, but may have to significantly adapt their processes to comply with local regulation.

Simple example: visual media has to be edited to remove excessive depictions of death.

Which specific US regulations is TikTok currently violating, and where is the hard evidence to support that?

>Which specific US regulations is TikTok currently violating, and where is the hard evidence to support that?

Answered in the article.

No, china requires specific strictures so such companies don't allow free speech that contradicts the party's communist doctrine or social aims. America is a free country so we don't require that. Problem is, this gives china influence over America but not the other way around. This is a bad thing both because it's asymmetrical and because America at least tries for freedom while china is a force against. Stop making these nonsense "both sides" arguments pretending china and America are equivalent.

They obviously do not have "equivalent" regulations. Can you please answer the question instead of engaging in ideological appeals?

You're question isn't relevant. America has a more permissive regulatory environment because we believe in freedom. A company can be a natsec threat without violating regulations and saying "but they didn't break any rules" is not a strong rebuttal to "maybe we should make rules to stop shady behavior at the behest of hostile foreigners". Are you arguing this is not possible?

Okay, I'll soften it for you.

Which specific (future, hypothetical) regulations should TikTok be in violation of, and on what basis?

tik tok in America should be run by an entity with no chinese control. the china company should be required to enter into a joint venture with an American tech company but can keep a profits interest. it must share all IP. kinda like y'all chinese do to us already. make sure the communists have no control over what Americans see.

Why be pro data locality instead of anti-data?

In your timeline, your missing that time when Trump tried to take away TikTok and hand it out to his buddies.

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