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paxys

Putting aside the privacy arguments, IMO there should be a simple case for quid pro quo import/export control.

China bans American software companies from their market, thus giving an advantage to local alternatives.

Those local alternatives on the other hand get unrestricted access to American markets.

Why exactly should they be allowed to operate?

Trade is always reciprocal, and software should not be an exception.

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Nation-states are not people. The people running the nation of which I'm a citizen have interests that are not fully aligned with my personal interests, and to the extent that the nation itself can be said to have interests, those are also not fully aligned with me or the current leaders.

Also, tit-for-tat may be emotionally satisfying, but it isn't a universal strategy for all situations. There are frequently better ways to get what you want.

China doesn't have the same freedom of speech as the U.S.

You can't just ban companies because you want to. There are laws and protections from the government in place.

So that American consumers can benefit from possibly better or cheaper foreign software?

Cheaper software may be a short term benefit, but gutting the domestic tech industry and putting our future in the hands of China is ultimately a massive negative.

So you think we should be copying Chinese policy decisions?

Trade should be reciprocal, that's how most trade decisions work. If you add a tariff to foreign goods, it's expected that the other party will add a tariff as well.

Unilateral trade liberalization is definitely a thing and can have positive effects for the country that liberalizes.

We're not talking about "trade" here. We're talking about not allowing US citizens/residents access to media that they want to access, regardless of whether or not it is "good for them".

What does that remind us of? The USSR during the cold war? China, today? No thank you.

I think it would be totally fine to use financial controls to, say, ban US users from buying things from ByteDance. But consuming free media should never be restricted just because it comes from a country you don't like.

Go read up on how the WTO works. We do this already for literally everything else, as does the rest of the world. The real issue is that when it comes to technology/software the policy makers have their heads in the sand.

You're telling an international relations major to read about the WTO lol. I've been read.

And just because the US is transactional with their other trade decisions doesn't make it good policy.

I think giving unfettered access to "western" culture through media and software is one of the better long-term plays for bringing us all closer and planting the seeds of liberalism in other regions.

I think an argument against it is generally the classic, "that takes generations and I don't want to pay for that today. I want my market locked down for my benefit today."

I mean, that was the plan back with China, back in the later decades of the last century. Clearly it didn't work.

Either way, the issue at hand is whether or not US citizens/residents should be allowed to see certain things that come out of China, not whether or not we can and should be able to spread our ideals to China.

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