ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say (www.ctvnews.ca)

submitted 2 years ago by yogthos@lemmy.ml to c/technology@lemmy.ml

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[-] crispyflagstones@sh.itjust.works 28 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Somebody's gonna make a federated TikTok, aren't they? We're gonna have TikTokers flooding the Fediverse. We're so fucked.

[-] wise_pancake@lemmy.ca 17 points 2 years ago

I don't actually have any qualms with that. Power to the people!

In reality though there a planned executive order to forcing Know Your Customer rules on all US web hosts and Internet architecture, so if you're planning on hosting a fediverse server in the US, the US government will need to know your identity.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/01/29/2024-01580/taking-additional-steps-to-address-the-national-emergency-with-respect-to-significant-malicious

[-] davel@lemmy.ml 23 points 2 years ago

land of the free btw

[-] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 2 years ago

That should happen regardless. The main issue with tiktok is not the concept, it's the recommendation algorithm and the agenda behind it.

[-] ajsadauskas@aus.social 11 points 2 years ago

@crispyflagstones @yogthos Someone is named @dansup who also created @pixelfed, the app is called Loops, you can follow his progress here: @loops

[-] kbin_space_program@kbin.run 6 points 2 years ago

Video support could be a "killer app" on threads to embrace and extinguish the fediverse.

[-] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 4 points 2 years ago

If that becomes the case and you don't want to see it, block it. Easy enough.

[-] vim_b@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago

https://loops.video/

[-] davel@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Well there’s PeerTube and PixelFed. Perhaps a few will try it, but mostly I think they”ll go to other corporate American platforms like Instagram.

[-] Pattyice@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago

I figured most would just go to YouTube shorts

[-] NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth 11 points 2 years ago

I’m still confused on how they enforce this

[+] LostXOR@fedia.io 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

[deleted]

[-] ajsadauskas@aus.social 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

@LostXOR @yogthos @NoIWontPickAName @technology There's a few other steps they could potentially take.

The first would be to block any financial institution in the US, or that deals with the US, from sending any payments to or from ByteDance's accounts.

They could also freeze any assets currently held by US financial institutions.

Second, if they can get Apple, Microsoft, and Google on board to help do their bidding, they could pull the ByteDance app from the Apple and Google Play app stores.

That includes removing it from any apps where it's already installed. Globally.

They could also request that TikTok is removed from Google and Bing search results.

On top of this, they could do what you suggested, and ask ISPs and mobile carriers to block domains and IP addresses used by ByteDance.

And the US could apply diplomatic pressure on other countries to implement similar financial and ISP-level blocks and bans.

So, potentially, it's also blocked in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and elsewhere.

[-] bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

No need to guess, it's all outlined in the bill:

ByteDance has 270 days (+90 days at president discretion) to divest of TikTok and sell to an entity not affiliated with an "adversary country" (China, Iran, Russia, N. Korea).
If they don't sell, hosting providers of TikTok application (servers, storage, app store, etc) will be fined up to $500 times the number of users in the US if they continue to host the application
ISPs are explicitly excluded from the bill, and not considered data brokers, which is what the restrictions apply to.

So basically, the law will not require ISPs to block access to TikTok domains and IP addresses. Google search results are also explicitly excluded from the term data broker, and exempt from the restrictions. The only requirement is for app stores to stop hosting the application, so existing installations of the app (after January 2025 assuming ByteDance doesn't sell) will presumably persist and can be used, even if TikTok is banned.

[-] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 years ago

Making any major social media service mildly inconvenient will kill it.

[-] wahming 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

While there's a thousand things the govt can do to stop tiktok, as pointed out by the other commentor, simply blocking the IPs would remove 90% of the userbase. The collapse of the network effect would remove any incentive for the remaining 10% to use it.

[-] Granixo@feddit.cl 10 points 2 years ago

Please, PLEASE, let this be the case.

[-] yogthos@lemmy.ml 33 points 2 years ago

I think there's a zero chance China would allow the sale. Imagine the precedent giving into such mob tactics would set. US could just go after any successful Chinese company doing business in US and demand that it's sold off to American oligarchs.

[-] jeena@jemmy.jeena.net 0 points 2 years ago

Exactly, this asset is worth nothing to the CPP if sold.

If it was a fully private company which is supposed to make money, they would sell it and move on to invest their money somewhere else.

Regulating the market is important and is not done enough in the US, last time was decades ago with AT&T and Standard Oil. Today they should have broken up Apple, Google, Amazon, etc. To prevent monopolies but they don't.

But yeah, politically it's much easier to go after a Chinese company.

[-] davel@lemmy.ml 18 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Exactly, this asset is worth nothing to the CPP if sold.

TikTok is worth approximately nothing to the CPC either way. It’s not like the Chinese state is hurting for money. They have a surplus of US dollars that they’re busy unloading, and they have fiat monetary sovereignty of their own currency. The app is banned in China, so nobody there is going to miss it. Who is invested in ByteDance that might care? American private equity: ByteDance’s US investors weigh options as bill to ban TikTok advances

[-] PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks 1 points 2 years ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

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[-] Ecksell@lemmy.one 7 points 2 years ago

They are not giving up the algorithm, simple as that.

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this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2024

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