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WTF is going on with TikTok? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 19 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

40 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The sequence of events as far as I can recall:

Trump promised to ban TikTok
TikTok was slated to be "banned" in the twilight of Biden's term
Trump says he'd give it 90 days to make a decision
Biden decides not to ban it, handing it off to Trump
TikTok goes dark
It returns, but if you search for something anti-Trump in the United States, you can't find it
Using a VPN will give you that content
Various news outlets are now calling it Trump's "Propaganda Arm"

What the fuck is going on? From a political or technological standpoint.

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

It's clear Trump wants to control all social media within the US.

Musk took twitter and turned it into a far right hate speech platform
Zuckerberg has a private meeting with Trump. Next day donates $1m to the inaugural fund. Facebook, Instagram and Threads remove fact-checking in the US and Zuckerberg. There's some very odd fuckery afoot with left searches that are blamed on a technical glitch.
Tiktok is threatened with closure. They suddenly align themselves with Trump and the lights stay on.
Google's boss, Sundar Pichai, is lauded and given a seat of honour at Trump's inauguration. It's clear there are established links there.
Reddit - I don't know, but Steve Huffman has a /serious/ adoration of Elon Musk and is fond of money and power. If it's not already in the fold, it will be soon.

I'd put money on that we're already seeing left and anti-trump messages suppressed, and algorithms adjusted to promote division and discord - not just in the US, but globally. We'll be seeing platforms other than the above attacked and inflitrated constantly by bots and AI. We'll reach a point where you literally will be talking to yourself if you are against this. Your messages will just disappear to the point where you question your own reality. Shadowbanned online. Is Lemmy safe? No, not remotely. Decentralisation helps somewhat, but when the heavy guns are laying down suppressing fire from bot armies and destablising agendas - or even just being ruled illegal for some made-up reason, decentralisation doesn't allow you to fight.

Jim Morrison said, "“Whoever controls the media controls the mind. The media is the message and the message is me.”

The aim here is obvious, and it's not new. The method is just adjusted for modern day. And truth? Say goodbye to that sucker.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

uhh social media has been controlled by the CIA since near its inception.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

Yeah but they're the good guys right?