Mastodawn

Dan Gillmor Mar 23, 2023

Sure, TikTok is terrible in many ways. But the hypocrisy of its critics, especially members of Congress, is almost beyond belief.

The problem with TikTok is the same one we have with countless other Internet products: They are relentless violators of our privacy and security.

Fix that, and you've fixed TikTok.

Democrats are just as bad as Republicans on this. And so is Big Journalism, which mostly just amplifies the lies.

This is a moral panic with a mercantile edge.

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Femme Malheureuse

@dangillmor The privacy issue is the first big problem. In the US, California has made some headway other states could follow thereby pushing Congress toward unified action.

The second is still a problem even if TikTok is the best example: no US residents' data should be kept in servers overseas. The EU's GPDR tackles this, there's no good reason the US hasn't except for Big Tech's lobbying.