this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2026
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I find it funny that millions of people had no problem with an evil foreign government like the CCP, that's well known for collecting data for military purposes and spending mind boggling amounts on propaganda campaigns, controlling the app, but now draw the line at some Silicon Valley billionaire doing essentially the same thing.
I never liked the short content format so I never had an interest downloading TikTok, but I knew that I would never, ever download it when I learned that this Chinese app is actually banned in China. They a have a separate clone of this app that's exclusive to China that uses a different algorithm that promotes positive and educational content. The fact that billions of people use this shitty weaponized piece of Chinese spyware is depressing, especially when the Fediverse exists.
Well for starters - The United States government is kicking in doors in my local area right now.
The CCP would have to travel many thousand miles to kick in my door.
That's a false sense of security. The CCP doesn't need to kick down your door to weaponize your data. It should be common sense to not trust an authoritarian regime.
OK, as an American in the USA, what is the worst China can do to me with my "weaponized data" that is worse or the equivalent of me being tracked down and summarily executed a death squad which is the worst thing that the Trump regime can do with my data (which every US corporation is willing to hand over to them). It's not that I trust the Chinese government. I just don't care about them right now because my country is being destroyed by Nazis and find it bizarre that anyone would still be trying to sell us the "beware the Yellow Peril looming in the east!" neoliberal cold war horseshit.
Remember in the 80s when scary Japan was supposedly about to morph into some sort economic singularity and wipe us out with a thousand ultra mega Pearl Harbors all at once? Kind of reminds of the shit we hear about China today.
You know back then it was perfectly fine to be cozy with the PRC even as they propped up the murderous Khmer Rouge regime. But hey they illegally invaded Vietnam and cut ties with the Soviets so we loved them then. When Vietnam liberated Cambodia the official US narrative was that Vietnam was bullying the poor Khmer Rouge and the genocide was just a smear campaign to make our friend China look bad. Vietnam was the big bad yellow peril enemy then.
And now, Vietnam, still just as communist, still authoritarian, is our friend now!
Funny how the propaganda shifts like this depending on who's befitting from it. Tomorrow it will be someone else. But go on about how this time the "Yellow Peril" threat is real this time.
But didn't you know they're occupying our cities! They're killing innocent civilians and rounding up black and brown and indigenous civilians and forcing them into camps!
No, wait. That's the us government. My bad.
China is harvesting our data and weaponizing it! You see they're taking the data and umm... sharpening it into punji sticks or something.
Look what ever they're doing it's evil and bad. And way worse than our home grown Palantir genocide machine.
You can’t worry about your taxes when your house is on fire man.
yes you can, if tomorrow you'll be thrown in jail for your taxes
You're missing the point.
China might use your data and hurt you in some far future, whereas the USA will use your data right now in a direct and violent way.
I can explain how the US government having access to the database of all of TikTok's data might directly result in a visit from ICE. The path to damage caused by China may exist too, but is much more nebulous, and much more difficult for China to execute on.
Yes, if you are in a government position, or in the army, you probably shouldn't use TikTok under China's management. But Joe Schmoe from California has little to materially fear from them. But he does have reason to fear the USA government who might well come over and arrest him.
Joe Schmoe ended up in a situation no different than if tiktok had been US to begin with, since capitalistic companies will sell out everyone to keep the money flowing over shutting down. So country of origin never ended up mattering in making the app as much of a red flag as installing facebook, instagram, and twitter.
Using corporate social media that encourages people to share their faces, names, and voices are sketchy to begin with while also having the apps so intrusive they get access to everything on your phone from contacts to phone numbers.
I see people arguing country a lot, but I've never really understood it myself because I never believed who was collecting data would guarantee that data doesn't end up in the hands of those unintended to get it.
Just as the tiktok transfer shows.
I think we agree on that. my point is, we don't need to use neither usa tech or chinese tech for our social media platforms. we shouldn't celebrate china being there "to save us".
also, I think china could still hurt us, on the short term, by manipulating elections and other things through manipulating public opinion and the values people hold. they have both the data and the channels to execute it.
You are right, we don't need either but you are already preaching to the choir as you are here in the fediverse.
looking at the parent comments, or the other reply I got, I don't think everyone agrees
if you're still scared of china at this point the propaganda has unfortunately broken through and taken root in your brain stem, i'm sorry, there's very little any of us can do to help you
Your horse were not on fire when TikTok got introduced en masse.
So yeah, look for excusses
It's been on fire a long time buddy.
Respectfully, the CCP has been less of a direct threat than the US government as of late and most dont trust the government so why would they trust the propaganda? This isnt to say the CCP isnt a problem but are they as much of a direct threat to American citizens than ICE and such?... ICE has now murdered more than one citizen in cold blood.
P.S. People need more education as to what the Fediverse is but until then they will always go with whats easier to use and access.
That's such a nonsensical take. Because you don't trust the US government, you're go to thought is to hand over your data to an opaque authoritarian regime like the CCP? What kind of a bullshit false dichotomy is that? Fuck that, my data is my data. It doesn't belong to any government, corporation, or anybody who isn't me or someone that I explicitly give consent to use my data. That's the principled take.
No, I am just explaining to you why people have used it. Humans do human things.. being upset at it wont change the why. Citizens are terrified of the current threat. Not one miles away. Humans are wired to react to immediate danger.
because visually it's not coming from the government but "independent content creators". and regardless of who says it, people will trust propaganda that says things they want to hear, then over time, start trusting those who say that
Based on recent evidence, maybe the CCP > US Government.
that does not make them good, but fortunately we don't have to accept either, right?
Okay well first that typo is staying, second I used to be minorly involved in politics (by which I mean fundraising for a homeless shelter feels and smells a lot like politics even if your goals are more altruistic) and I learned one valuable thing. The right thing morally and the right thing politically are rarely the same, and when it looks like they are you should investigate closer and reevaluate because you're probably missing something important. That's why government is almost always evil.