“Privacy laws of.... China are much more robust.”

Man there is a lot of equivocation from idiots who haven’t spent a second looking into this. Yes China is actually bad, and yes tiktok is far worse than other social media sites (which also still suck) with regard to privacy and risk. This is a fucking dumb hill to die on.

No you fucking idiot, China is actually fucking awful.

China IS bad, also no, it's not the same data. Have you looked into this at all? 

Yes. That said Meta’s algorithm is NOTHING compared to the one Bytedance is using for TikTok. I’d be surprised if Meta is doing anything BUT military contracting in 5ish years time.

Wanting TikTok banned is literally the only thing I’ve ever agreed with Trump on.

On the surface, the answer to your last question is that TikTok doesn’t have to follow our laws because they’re run from China.

So viruses and malware are free speech?

I downloaded TikTok one rainy Sunday morning last fall. I scrolled. Almost all of the videos were of half naked women doing shuffle dances. I deleted it the same morning. I’m sure I’m still infected or whatever, but Jesus. Pornhub exists for a reason.

HAD a direct feed from AT&T and other Telco’s, until ACLU v Clapper was decided in 2015, and the USA Freedom Act was passed shortly after.  Maybe join us in this decade?

Dude, they cant even manage top secret files at this point.

However, banning TikTok means taking significant financial resources out of the American economy.

Our kids see this as a viable career path

“Influencer” - capital I - is a viable job title in the 2020s.

Any US based company that collects data on its US users should be scrutinized by the government AND the people. Any foreign based company (particularly who despise the west) that collects data on US users should be under MORE scrutiny if not outright banned due to national security risks.

I understand that China has the ability to exert some measure of influence through TikTok.

It’s not about China’s influence, it’s about privacy concerns, and for once I actually agree. Tiktok is essentially malware. There are plenty of other places for influences to influence. Most of them are on numerous platforms as it is. 

Counterpoint: any app that has the algorithm and data collection that TikTok has probably should be considered a national security threat when it’s owned and run by a government, no matter who the government is.

I mean, sure, but something does need to be done. China basically has a direct conduit to pump disinfo and misinfo into millions of people’s brains if they want to. It’s like Facebook on steroids but controlled by a rival nation state.

It should be a bipartisan decision, as it is a danger to the US.