the overwhelming majority of investment and control in TikTok
Let me stop you right there. The idea of “investment == control” is a capitalist fantasy, not a real-world thing.
Real world is:
- Preferred shares
- Veto power
- 99% worker owned (represented by the CCP) with 1% capitalist investor owned
…and other variations on who gets the control.
thingsiplay@beehaw.org 7 months ago
Tik Tok is owned by a Chinese company from China: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ByteDance Data is collected in China. Not sure what you mean. Why do you think US tries to block Tik Tok?
RavenFellBlade@startrek.website 7 months ago
60% of ByteDance is owned by global investors, most of which are based in the US. 20% is owned by the original co-founders, none of whom have any ties to the CCP, and the remaining 20% is owned by employees, almost all of which are in California. The overwhelming majority of the company is already owned by Americans. This entire thing is all about trying to silence a source of information that challenges and refutes government interests, particularly where Palestine is concerned.
thingsiplay@beehaw.org 7 months ago
None of this changes the fact that the operational headquarter of the company is in China and that they collect data that is send to China. Therefore China gets all the data from US citizen, regardless of who the investor is.
Vodulas@beehaw.org 7 months ago
Except the operational headquarters is not in China. LA and Singapore are the operational headquarters of TikTok. I think you are conflating ByteDance and TikTok as the same entity, and that is not the case, and quite on purpose. TikTok is a subsidiary of ByteDance, and from almost all accounts the LA based CEO makes decisions. They are not sending data to China, they are sending it to Singapore. There are alleged cases of ByteDance employees having access, but nothing has been proven (not saying it won’t be, but we can’t operate on speculation). Also, data brokers exist. China can get “all the data from US citizens” outside of TikTok.
I am not sure if you are oversimplifying on purpose, but if not you should probably look closer at the corporate structure of TikTok instead of spreading incorrect info.
Vodulas@beehaw.org 7 months ago
TikTok itself is owned by ByteDance, but is incorporated in the Caymans. It has corporate entities in Singapore, Australia, the US, and the UK. The CEO is US based. Data is collected in Singapore, not China. There is a little evidence someone at ByteDance has access to the info, but according to official statements and documents they do not. But, even if they are lying, China can still buy that information from data brokers just like the US Government does right now.
We need privacy protection laws, not arbitrary bans of apps that do the same thing as US social media apps
thingsiplay@beehaw.org 7 months ago
The ban of the application is not to protect our privacy, otherwise they would ban US social media apps too.
Vodulas@beehaw.org 7 months ago
That is exactly my point. The ban does nothing functional. It shouldn’t matter where the company is based, they should not be allowed to collect that data in the first place. This is at best a distraction from the fact the US continues to fund and supply genocide in Gaza or at worst an effort to stifle queer folks, dissenting voices, and non-corporate news.