There are good reasons to force the divestiture of TikTok from ByteDance — but it could come at a very high cost, especially if China won't agree to a sale.

I tried to sort through my very mixed feelings:

https://www.platformer.news/p/tiktok-nears-the-endgame

TikTok nears the endgame

Breaking off TikTok from ByteDance might be the right thing to do — but it will come at a high cost. PLUS: How Twitter keeps competitors off its For You page

Platformer

PLUS: @zoeschiffer with another wild story from inside Twitter

https://www.platformer.news/p/tiktok-nears-the-endgame

TikTok nears the endgame

Breaking off TikTok from ByteDance might be the right thing to do — but it will come at a high cost. PLUS: How Twitter keeps competitors off its For You page

Platformer
@caseynewton @zoeschiffer It sounds like Musk “shadowbanned” his competitors. I thought he believed that was bad. Shocked.

@caseynewton @zoeschiffer

Did they also downrank any emerging social platforms they temporarily banned links from? Mastodon, Post.news, Nostr?

@caseynewton @zoeschiffer Wow, another great example of “Freedom of Speech Absolutism” isn’t it?
@caseynewton @zoeschiffer this is what he’s going to do to the Democrats around election time. Watch. Elon and presumably Peter Thiel discussed it in text messages which were released in Delaware court
@caseynewton @zoeschiffer is this happening in EU . Cos almost certain illegal or will be v soon
@gavinkarlmeier @dennishorn ☝️ falls ihr auf der Suche nach Content seid 😅
@caseynewton I really hate this take, my friend. There is simply nothing TikTok does that Facebook has not repeatedly been caught doing except being Chinese.

@seldo @caseynewton Regarding Meta:

They might be bastards, but their OUR bastards. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@seldo can it just be as simple as “we think China is a hostile state, and are allied with US so TikTok bad, Facebook good”?
@joshhunt that IS our position but I don't support it.
@seldo a glib and unsatisfying response to a complicated issue
@caseynewton I'm not sold by any of the arguments to the contrary. There is no pressing reason to act now on TikTok rather than larger regulation.
@seldo @caseynewton You’re absolutely right, Laurie. Everyone in the middle of a moral panic likes to pretend it’s complicated because it justifies their panic (or their paycheck).
@caseynewton I wish I saw more commentators dive further into that last point - what’s the rubric for banning TikTok in the US but not Facebook in other non-US countries?
@joshhunt there really isn't one — which is why Zuckerberg himself has said that a TikTok ban sets a bad precedent
@caseynewton Why is it so urgent to ban the company rather than the behaviors it exhibits?
@caseynewton
I don't think anything of it at all. For one thing, those who shout diversity should not set themselves up here as great moralizers. When I always hear these bans, I get the vomit. I think that the children are often further like the policy and in the EU Parliament. In this respect, I also think nothing of these whole ban debates. I would rather say something more sensitive to address and point out than bans. I think, here it needs on the whole with the older citizens and particularly with those and the policy an education offensive. I let me just as little what forbid. Not even my opinion. Whether someone likes it or not. That's where I see the bigger problem. People are divided into black and white. Since quite a few can no longer stand the other point of view, but directly in black or white. Or you are left, you are right. That's why these pictures are created. I don't use the software at all like many other things. But I try to make that clear, because I am an uncle, to the younger ones myself. But I think, only over experiences one learns rather to it. So we let them do it. Therefore, we first start where the head begins to stink


Ich halte davon überhaupt nichts. Zum einen, wer Vielfalt schreit, der sollte hier nicht als große Moralapostel sich aufstellen. Wenn ich immer diese Verbote höre, bekomme ich das Kotzen. Ich denke mir das die Kinder oft weiter sind wie die Politik und im EU-Parlament. Insofern halte ich auch nichts von diesen ganzen Verbotsdebatten. Ich würde eher sagen etwas mehr Sensibler ansprechen und darauf hinweisen als Verbote. Ich denke, hier bedarf es im Großen und Ganzen bei den älteren Bürgern und besonders bei denen und der Politik eine Bildungsoffensive. Ich lasse mir genauso wenig was verbieten. Nicht mal meine Meinung. Ob die jemand mag oder nicht. Darin sehe ich das größere Problem. Menschen sind gespalten in Schwarz und Weiß. Da etliche nicht mehr den anderen Standpunkt aushalten können, sondern direkt in Schwarz oder Weiß. Oder du bist Link, du bist Rechts. Daher entstehen diese Bilder. Ich nutze die Software überhaupt nicht wie viele anderen dinge nicht. Doch versuche ich das, da ich Onkel bin, den Jüngeren selbst klarzumachen. Doch ich denke, nur über Erfahrungen lernt man eher dazu. Also lassen wir sie machen. Daher fangen wir zunächst da an, wo der Kopf anfängt zu stinken
@caseynewton Ich halte davon überhaupt nichts. Zum einen, wer Vielfalt schreit, der sollte hier nicht als große Moralapostel sich aufstellen. Wenn ich immer diese Verbote höre, bekomme ich das Kotzen. Ich denke mir, das die Kinder oft weiter sind wie die Politik und im EU-Parlament. Insofern halte ich auch nichts von diesen ganzen Verbotsdebatten. Ich würde eher sagen etwas mehr Sensibler ansprechen und darauf hinweisen als Verbote. Ich denke, hier bedarf es im Großen und Ganzen bei den älteren Bürgern und besonders bei denen und der Politik eine Bildungsoffensive. Ich lasse mir genauso wenig was verbieten. Nicht mal meine Meinung. Ob die jemand mag oder nicht. Darin sehe ich das größere Problem. Menschen sind gespalten in Schwarz und Weiß. Da etliche nicht mehr den anderen Standpunkt aushalten können, sondern direkt in Schwarz oder Weiß. Oder du bist Link, du bist Rechts. Daher entstehen diese Bilder. Ich nutze die Software überhaupt nicht wie viele anderen Dinge nicht. Doch versuche ich das, da ich Onkel bin, den Jüngeren selbst klarzumachen. Doch ich denke, nur über Erfahrungen lernt man eher dazu. Also lassen wir sie machen. Daher fangen wir zunächst da an, wo der Kopf anfängt zu stinken!
@caseynewton I’m with you on the third point. The TikTok ban is a hit job by Google and Meta.
@caseynewton frankly, like @gruber said it gives China a little taste of their own medicine. I’m for it.
@caseynewton Your points 3 and 4 are in contradiction, no? If the U.S banning TikTok leads to a global splintering of the internet, it can’t possibly be good for YouTube or Facebook. I’d like to see what happens with some splintering like that.
@gruber my assumption is that YouTube and FB will be in the best position to navigate the splintering, since they have the most resources for lobbying and product changes. But we'll see!
@gruber @caseynewton The internet is already splintered. Not making a moral argument, but it's relevant that China, Russia, and others have for years blocked platforms and websites. TikTok will be the first time the US gets in on the action in a big way. India and others already moderate/selectively block content that's is unfavorable to their ruling bodies. Banning TikTok will complicate relations further with China, but those with appetite to exercise narrative control are already doing it.

@gruber @caseynewton

The bill seems rather broad, though? Under “Sec 5 Considerations”, it looks like they can ban whatever they don’t like? Whether it’s “(A) desktop applications; (B) mobile applications; (C) gaming applications; (D) payment applications; or (E) web-based applications”.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/686/text?format=txt&r=15&s=1

@caseynewton I’m surprised ByteDance doesn’t spin-off/IPO TikTok on the NYSE. An IPO’d TikTok could set up an independent board and executive officers in the USA. ByteDance would hold non-voting shares which they could sell over, say, 7 years. The market cap of TikTok would surely rival Meta.