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The real threat of TikTok [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-17
The pundits are missing the real problem with TikTok.
All the fuss is about the Chinese getting your information. But every social network already has that, and if you care about it, don’t get on the social networks.
The real problem is that some 150M US viewers get at least some of their information about the world from TikTok, and that the Chinese government filters what they see. This is the same as letting Putin run a TV channel that half of America watches.
If you want to see how social networks mold ideas, look at threads on Instagram about the California fires. It is one comment after another about Newcome did it, the government did it on purpose, firefighters were throwing gasoine on it, stop voting for Democrats, a laser weapon, thank God Trump is here, yada yada yada. It is vicious lies, insance conspiracy theories, and name-calling designed to destroy any faith Americans have in their institutions. It's heart-breaking. That's a national security threat, and Instagram isn't even molded by China. (It’s Zuckerberg instead.)
Noah Smith recently opined that social networks give governments and billionaires a voice that drowns out ordinary people, and maybe makes democracy a thing of the past. [TikTok is just the beginning]
We have to find a way to put an end to lies and propaganda broadcast to millions of Americans with no consequences to the author. If we don’t find a solution to this 1st amendment/sedition dilemma, we’re going to lose the county.
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