this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2025
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[–] jpreston2005 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

What has social media like tiktok or whatever done to improve peoples lives?

Man, just use Lemmy and stay off those toxic apps. I've had multiple people send me tiktok links and guess what, that shit stays unclicked. I want no part of it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

A lot of people have made it their main income. Whether you or I think that's good or not is irrelevent, but it does mean hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of Americans will lose their jobs as a result of this.

[–] jpreston2005 0 points 3 hours ago

I have just as much sympathy for those poor individuals as I would for health insurance employees that would lose their job as a result of U.S. universal healthcare. Well, a little bit more, as they at least made people smile on occasion.

[–] givesomefucks 198 points 2 days ago (9 children)

Meanwhile, American users are flocking to RedNote because authorities have worked themselves into a lather over privacy concerns about TikTok, while U.S. tech giants harvest user data with industrial efficiency. The difference? American data collection is done for profit, and Chinese data collection is done for control. Pick your poison.

Hard to argue Zuck and Elon don't want control either...

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Isn't it the exact opposite? The only thing China can do with my data is try to sell me stuff. Meanwhile, the authorities in my own country have the power to kick in my door and drag me away to some blacksite.

If I were Chinese, I would rather the US government have my data than the Chinese government, but since I'm American, I would rather the Chinese government have it than the US. Pretty much everyone anywhere in the world ought to regard their own government as their highest security risk.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 hours ago

The only thing China can do with my data is try to sell me stuff.

Anyone that collects your data could use it for many legal and illegal activities. If you see it only as marketing, you are not imagining the possibilities of stolen identity, fraud, blackmail, etc.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The difference? American data collection is done for profit, and Chinese data collection is done for control. Pick your poison.

No the difference is that these US companies give the US government a backdoor into everyone's data (while also harvesting it all for profit) while the Chinese apps don't in favor of giving the Chinese government a backdoor into everyone's data. They don't give a shit about propaganda and brainwashing occurring which is why they'll allow the app to stay up in the US just so long as it's an American company controlling it here because then they can install their backdoor for the US government.

[–] SoftTeeth 2 points 5 hours ago

And all of this social media shit is a distraction from real problems in the world. This is what our government does to run out the clock and prevent meaningful change.

Unfortunately nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

Yeah, this may have been true before the upcoming administration, but Trump's government (which will be a full-blown oligarchy) absolutely wants Chinese/Russian style control over its citizens.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

How do people not think that China is also a hyper capitalistic society, especially in the tech sector. Your data is 100% being sold if you are on any Chinese platform, just like in the U.S.

If anything, Chinese big tech tends to be less privacy-respecting than the west, because they don't need to operate in area with basic privacy laws, like Europe and California; and there are much less alternative products to choose from because of the GFW.

The founder and CEO of Baidu openly stated that "Chinese people are less sensitive about privacy, which gives us more data to work with" See https://m.163.com/dy/article/DDRTB01Q0511FQO9.html?spss=adap_pc

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They all operate under the same laws in any given area. And neither respect your privacy if not forced by laws that are actually enforced.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

You are right, but I imagine it is harder to sue a company over GDPR if they don't even exists in Europe...

[–] fan0m 95 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (7 children)

I’d argue profit and control are two sides of the same coin

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 days ago (3 children)

"In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women."

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Then, when all your desires are fullfilled, you realize that your life is empty because nobody around you actually gives a shit about you and are only using you as a connection to money and/or power. You end up a soulless husk of a human being whose only goal in life is line go up.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Then when you get the power, then you get the women.”

Then when you get the power you tell the plebs to make more money. "This is America. If you don't make more money (for me), you're a douchebag".

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago

profit is simply a means of seeking control...

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[–] [email protected] 76 points 2 days ago

"This massive corporation sucks too!" Have you tried not going with a massive corporation?

[–] Rottcodd 60 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The only winners in this scenario are governments that want more control over their citizens' digital lives.

And that, as the saying goes, is not a bug. It's a feature.

[–] CosmoNova 8 points 15 hours ago

Man I wish European governments would take more control of our digital town squares that are entirely owned and handled by foreign corporations who seek to erode democracy.

[–] NineMileTower 53 points 2 days ago (11 children)

What happens when Americans start posting about Hong Kong not being a part of China?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 18 hours ago

Their account gets banned.

Same as any mention of Tienamen Square and anything else the Chinese Government deems unacceptable.

[–] Eldritch 65 points 2 days ago (5 children)

You mean mainland Taiwan? Never heard of this China.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The same as already happens on lemmy.ml 😂

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Really? Let me try.

Hong Kong isn't part of China. Taiwan is an independent country.

Edit: oh, this community is in lemmy.world, not lemmy.ml. Still, for those disgruntled, report me for rule 2 & 6. I want to see how mods respond to this.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago (17 children)

Tibet is completely forgotten 😢

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 days ago

The same as when Americans posted about the gaza genocide on tik tok, the government cracks down.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 days ago

I mean, trying to regulate technology at the speed of American politics was very obviously a nonsensical and futile proposition from the get-go.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago

**tearing everything apart

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago

Anyone that knows anything about average TT users knew that if the ban was going to happen, that this was going to happen in some way, shape, or form.

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