Ahead of TikTok’s CEO testifying to Congress Thursday (see his video below) around the debate that TikTok’s ownership by the Chinese Government is a security risk, I asked my 20-year-old son who has 28.9k followers for his views on whether TikTok should be banned. (Commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo has said that banning it would likely mean losing the support of voters aged 35 and under).
My son’s response: “Mom, 1. Unless you have a really interesting job - and I mean REALLY interesting, like Director of the CIA - your data is more boring, than useful. 2. Mark Zuckerberg already has all of the data on your phone”
Your Views? I’d like to hear them, along with your age and whether you use TikTok.
I'm a 49 year old nonuser with teenage kids who do use it and I believe TikTok should be banned. India has banned it, and there is a reason multiple nations don't allow it on government phones. I think we will debate a ban until it's done, but after a ban I think a US version will sprout up within a week.
The 2 million TikTok has spent lobbying this quarter could be better spent on creators like your son. TikTok has already stated that revenue for content creators like your son is a by product, not at all a priority, of it's algorithm. A ban alongside some sort of nudge to make the next platform more generous to content creators seems to me to be the best outcome for Americans.
Mar 22, 2023·edited Mar 22, 2023Liked by Vicky Ward Investigates
45 here and I have used it, but given the privacy issues I only use it via the web browser and avoid the app like the plague (as I do with Twitter and Facebook and other socialmedia). If we're banning TikTok and it's related to the hostile foreign power disinfo AND user data being misused by said hostile foreign powers, then we by extension do the same to Twitter and Meta/Facebook/Instagram/Whatsapp for the exact same reasons. The foreign investments in those companies by Russia AND China should be a huge concern because of access they got due to that investment. As it is now Twitter giving our data off to foreign powers...and they're supposed to be an AMERICAN company! So if they're gonna do that to TikTok, they therefore must to the others as they're doing the same. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-03-21/how-buying-twitter-made-elon-musk-one-of-joe-biden-s-biggest-headaches
Thank you! I'd love to hear when a topic particularly interests you. Or get your thoughts in general. We are learning that what is different about Substack is that it is a community and that the more engagement there is between writer and readers the better.
Well Vicky, we'd have to be neighbors and meet frequently as I have a lifetime of thoughts and many interests. Sadly (for me anyway) that is unlikely to ever happen. I've never commented on your articles until today. To be honest, more often than not, I'm shocked by the lack of awareness or maturity of the majority of comments. For example, your interview of Kira Dikhtyar generated comments that put reader ignorance of the Ukraine war and propaganda on full display. The history of the Ukraine area for the last century has a direct influence on the complexity of the current situation. Most comments are simply senseless and in that particular case even hateful. As to propaganda, seriously, what country does not engage in that pastime?
41 and not a TT user but know many who do. I have a feeling this ban is a way of getting a competitor in its place, likely from a very government friendly platform like FB.
Protecting info is hard since it’s everywhere now. Im more concerned about the trends we see in mental health and young TT users. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see we were banning it because we actually cared about the people using it.
I’m 30, don’t use TikTok, and think it and the other big social media platforms should be banned or at the very least, broken up via antitrust action.
Foreign influence is the least of my concerns--it’s the influence these platforms have on our societies (globally) and our interactions (or lack thereof, offline) with one another, as well as the influence they have on our individual psychology. Not to mention, the major self-esteem issues generated or exacerbated by the likes of Facebook and Instagram in teenagers and preteens. Silicon Valley, for all its achievements, has had a very problematic impact globally in the economic, social, and political domains, and I think a lot of us have only begun to realize that rather recently.
Though yes, given our current geopolitical moment, TikTok being a Chinese company does not help its case in the US.
Probably all social media should be banned unfortunately. It’s not so much about someone having top secret information but rather the day-to-day information that may help the platform owners be able to influence us to think/feel a certain way. Our interests and opinions can be used to manipulate us (elections for example) and spread disinformation. I think we need more information on how the data is or could be used.
Solution: TikTok charges users a fee that in the aggregate provides TikTok the same amount of revenue as it derives from user data. In return, TikTok agrees not to collect any user data beyond that necessary to deliver its services to its customers.
74 yrs young & I like TikTok. Provides hours of amusement. Big business already has all of your info so what’s the issue? There is no privacy anymore. IMHO, someone (or several someones) is trying to stifle the competition.
Whether or not TicToc is banned, the company needs to prohibit content that is aimed at youth and young men and young women that normalizes and promotes so-called gender theory and any aspect of transitioning. There are very few actual trans people. Most of the people today who claim any of the ever-expanding encyclopedia of gender identities are just responding to peer influence, social media and their own desires to fit in and perhaps be admired or considered edgy. Also, some of those people have underlying mental health conditions or autism that make transitioning or adopting a new gender identity look like the solution to their problems. It's unethical to allow the egomaniacs correctly known as influencers to influence them to go down a potentially harmful path. Robust studies have shown that most children who are gender dysphoric or gender nonconforming will desist during adolescence or come to understand they are attracted to persons of the same sex.
The role that "influencers" play in our society via social media needs to be more thoroughly studied, I think, whatever ones politics. Hugely important anthropological issue.
It's not just the data of high value targets but the influence on our society. And the data gathered about our population and how this is used to further influence us.The amount of BS and disinformation that is fed via Tick Tock and other "social media" channels is dividing us and therewith weakening us. For the same reason the Chinese don't allow our social medial behind their firewall. Why should we give them free reign?
I think this is interesting. The issue, as you say, is that all social media channels play into this dynamic and influence. Ergo, I think you'd need to use the National Security angle if you were to single out TikTok in legislation.
Vicky, I agree with your son. And would also add that FB is basically owned by the government/Big business given the amount of influence they give to lobbyists and the censorship they have over certain topics per the aforementioned influence. I’m assuming same is true for Google search.
If you dug into this I wouldn’t be surprised to find a reciprocal relationship between google/FB and those aforementioned lobbyists working to erase TikTok because of the competition.
Very intriguing idea, Jennifer. Thank you! It occurs to me I should ask my son fairly regularly for his thoughts on a lot of things. He is a political science major. It would make for an interesting discussion for readers like you to bounce off of.
It is not what TikTok is getting from us, it is what we are getting from TikTok. Utter garbage. Wasting our time and cluttering our minds. The kids are the most at risk and influenced 😞
I'm 76 and very familiar with all forms of software. The Five Eyes led by the US government long ago forced virtually every important software manufacturer to create backdoor access to their products. There is little actual privacy left and if CBDCs are adopted, not only will privacy be lost completely, people will be slaves. That is not an exaggeration. TikTok? It's of no importance.
I'm a 49 year old nonuser with teenage kids who do use it and I believe TikTok should be banned. India has banned it, and there is a reason multiple nations don't allow it on government phones. I think we will debate a ban until it's done, but after a ban I think a US version will sprout up within a week.
The 2 million TikTok has spent lobbying this quarter could be better spent on creators like your son. TikTok has already stated that revenue for content creators like your son is a by product, not at all a priority, of it's algorithm. A ban alongside some sort of nudge to make the next platform more generous to content creators seems to me to be the best outcome for Americans.
45 here and I have used it, but given the privacy issues I only use it via the web browser and avoid the app like the plague (as I do with Twitter and Facebook and other socialmedia). If we're banning TikTok and it's related to the hostile foreign power disinfo AND user data being misused by said hostile foreign powers, then we by extension do the same to Twitter and Meta/Facebook/Instagram/Whatsapp for the exact same reasons. The foreign investments in those companies by Russia AND China should be a huge concern because of access they got due to that investment. As it is now Twitter giving our data off to foreign powers...and they're supposed to be an AMERICAN company! So if they're gonna do that to TikTok, they therefore must to the others as they're doing the same. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-03-21/how-buying-twitter-made-elon-musk-one-of-joe-biden-s-biggest-headaches
By the way, your investigations are quite interesting. Good angles.
Thank you! I'd love to hear when a topic particularly interests you. Or get your thoughts in general. We are learning that what is different about Substack is that it is a community and that the more engagement there is between writer and readers the better.
Well Vicky, we'd have to be neighbors and meet frequently as I have a lifetime of thoughts and many interests. Sadly (for me anyway) that is unlikely to ever happen. I've never commented on your articles until today. To be honest, more often than not, I'm shocked by the lack of awareness or maturity of the majority of comments. For example, your interview of Kira Dikhtyar generated comments that put reader ignorance of the Ukraine war and propaganda on full display. The history of the Ukraine area for the last century has a direct influence on the complexity of the current situation. Most comments are simply senseless and in that particular case even hateful. As to propaganda, seriously, what country does not engage in that pastime?
41 and not a TT user but know many who do. I have a feeling this ban is a way of getting a competitor in its place, likely from a very government friendly platform like FB.
Protecting info is hard since it’s everywhere now. Im more concerned about the trends we see in mental health and young TT users. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see we were banning it because we actually cared about the people using it.
I’m 30, don’t use TikTok, and think it and the other big social media platforms should be banned or at the very least, broken up via antitrust action.
Foreign influence is the least of my concerns--it’s the influence these platforms have on our societies (globally) and our interactions (or lack thereof, offline) with one another, as well as the influence they have on our individual psychology. Not to mention, the major self-esteem issues generated or exacerbated by the likes of Facebook and Instagram in teenagers and preteens. Silicon Valley, for all its achievements, has had a very problematic impact globally in the economic, social, and political domains, and I think a lot of us have only begun to realize that rather recently.
Though yes, given our current geopolitical moment, TikTok being a Chinese company does not help its case in the US.
Probably all social media should be banned unfortunately. It’s not so much about someone having top secret information but rather the day-to-day information that may help the platform owners be able to influence us to think/feel a certain way. Our interests and opinions can be used to manipulate us (elections for example) and spread disinformation. I think we need more information on how the data is or could be used.
Solution: TikTok charges users a fee that in the aggregate provides TikTok the same amount of revenue as it derives from user data. In return, TikTok agrees not to collect any user data beyond that necessary to deliver its services to its customers.
71 y/o here. I agree with the young man. Secure the codes to your assets, however possible, the rest of our online activity, who cares ???
74 yrs young & I like TikTok. Provides hours of amusement. Big business already has all of your info so what’s the issue? There is no privacy anymore. IMHO, someone (or several someones) is trying to stifle the competition.
Whether or not TicToc is banned, the company needs to prohibit content that is aimed at youth and young men and young women that normalizes and promotes so-called gender theory and any aspect of transitioning. There are very few actual trans people. Most of the people today who claim any of the ever-expanding encyclopedia of gender identities are just responding to peer influence, social media and their own desires to fit in and perhaps be admired or considered edgy. Also, some of those people have underlying mental health conditions or autism that make transitioning or adopting a new gender identity look like the solution to their problems. It's unethical to allow the egomaniacs correctly known as influencers to influence them to go down a potentially harmful path. Robust studies have shown that most children who are gender dysphoric or gender nonconforming will desist during adolescence or come to understand they are attracted to persons of the same sex.
The role that "influencers" play in our society via social media needs to be more thoroughly studied, I think, whatever ones politics. Hugely important anthropological issue.
It's not just the data of high value targets but the influence on our society. And the data gathered about our population and how this is used to further influence us.The amount of BS and disinformation that is fed via Tick Tock and other "social media" channels is dividing us and therewith weakening us. For the same reason the Chinese don't allow our social medial behind their firewall. Why should we give them free reign?
I think this is interesting. The issue, as you say, is that all social media channels play into this dynamic and influence. Ergo, I think you'd need to use the National Security angle if you were to single out TikTok in legislation.
Yes and somehow filter out all foreign state (sponsored) actors who are messing in our media. This would also effect FOX N#$$
Exactly!
Vicky, I agree with your son. And would also add that FB is basically owned by the government/Big business given the amount of influence they give to lobbyists and the censorship they have over certain topics per the aforementioned influence. I’m assuming same is true for Google search.
If you dug into this I wouldn’t be surprised to find a reciprocal relationship between google/FB and those aforementioned lobbyists working to erase TikTok because of the competition.
Very intriguing idea, Jennifer. Thank you! It occurs to me I should ask my son fairly regularly for his thoughts on a lot of things. He is a political science major. It would make for an interesting discussion for readers like you to bounce off of.
I have an interesting job and could care less.
Love tik tok
Love this!
It is not what TikTok is getting from us, it is what we are getting from TikTok. Utter garbage. Wasting our time and cluttering our minds. The kids are the most at risk and influenced 😞
China doesn't use western apps the ban is politically motivated
Good point!
I'm 76 and very familiar with all forms of software. The Five Eyes led by the US government long ago forced virtually every important software manufacturer to create backdoor access to their products. There is little actual privacy left and if CBDCs are adopted, not only will privacy be lost completely, people will be slaves. That is not an exaggeration. TikTok? It's of no importance.
Interesting, Jim. I hadn't thought about the backdoor, but of course. Thank you!