Uncertainty reigns as Trump claims China approved TikTok deal.
  • rational_lib@lemmy.worldEnglish
    351·
    2 days ago

    Here’s how this works:

    1. Network is created that doesn’t discriminate on speech.
    2. The left wins debates and it becomes increasingly liberal over time.
    3. Far right billionaires buy it to stop those process.
    • zarkanian@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      101·
      1 day ago

      That’s why decentralized platforms have to be the answer. They might not be impossible to co-opt, but they’re certainly more difficult.

      I’ve been warning people about this stuff for years, and they wouldn’t listen. I’m not happy about being right. It sucks!

  • PeacefulForest@lemmy.worldEnglish
    24·
    2 days ago

    Yeah I just hope it kills the app, which I’m sure it will. I never began using it in the first place but seeing it take over all of my fellow Gen Z, you know, the same ones who have admitted to thinking politics don’t matter, won’t be very happy when their favorite app turns to even more utter trash

    Hopefully this wins more minds away from social media and even more people can wake the fuck up here in Amerikkka.

    • edgyspazkid@lemmy.wtfEnglish
      8·
      2 days ago

      I think people won’t care, at least this demographic fellow Gen Z. They still gonna use the app. Arguemnts such as “oh everyone uses this to send funny tiktoks to themselves it’s not that big of a deal” it will be just more shit to go through. Similar thing to Twitter. Everyone is so pissed at Elon because more bot accounts, you can’t or couldn’t block him and other shady stuff but still uses the twitter (X) because… everyone uses it.

      But I also hope it will kill the app.

      • aceshigh@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        1 day ago

        I’m seeing people moving to sky (or whatever it’s called). It takes time for people to switch social media platforms.

        • edgyspazkid@lemmy.wtfEnglish
          1·
          1 day ago

          Oh yeah true. Some people switched to Bluesky (I think that what you meant). I remember the (especially artists) moved like 2-3 years ago because all this changes about feeding the AI and Twitter just being garbage (all porn bots and people being hateful about anything you do).

  • F_State@midwest.socialEnglish
    291·
    2 days ago

    Unsurprising that a guy collapsing the Republic into a fascist dictatorship says that TikTok should be a mouthpiece for the Government. It’s time for someone in a country that ISN’T the US, Russia, or China to start a TikTok rival for people to switch to.

  • Auth@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    I dont care. At this point I just want something to contain them. Whatever app it must be please just dont let them leak onto the rest of the internet.

  • merc@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    34·
    2 days ago

    So, Trump effectively nationalized TikTok, valued at $300b. He sells it to friendly oligarchs for $15b. So far, this is basically the post-USSR playbook, and how Roman Abravmovich, Alisher Usmanov, Vladimir Lisin, etc. got so rich.

    But it might piss off his oligarch buddies if he drives all the users off TikTok making what seemed like a steal into something worthless instead.

    • bigfondue@lemmy.worldEnglish
      13·
      2 days ago

      I think that just like Elon with Twitter, the value is not in revenue but controlling the narrative.

      • merc@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        1·
        1 day ago

        That only works if people use it.

        For some reason, people have stuck with Twitter. But, the users of TikTok are not the same as the users of Twitter, so who knows, maybe they won’t stick with it.

    • normalexit@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      2 days ago

      This will be truth social again with a pre-existing user base and better algorithms. People will drop off, but they will probably boil the frog slowly to keep people around.

    • vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      5·
      2 days ago

      In ex-USSR that happened as something destructive, but in USA honestly it’s normal, using institutional pressure to help friendly businesses. Trump is unusual only in how grotesque he is in his position, but history saw Talleyrand.

      And US sanctioned Japan just because some of its businesses couldn’t compete, which didn’t kill Japanese car industry, but hurt Japanese computer industry, and sent Japan into recession from which it didn’t quite recover.

      About driving users off - that doesn’t really happen unless you intentionally break everything. VKontakte be the experiment showing this, except TG was later made based on VK makers’ experience with social stuff, and was very successful, and is now basically the most convenient messaging\social platform. When something FOSS manages to reproduce the experience of TG, then FOSS messaging and social systems stand a chance. So - some of the life moved from VK to TG, but it’s more of VK’s experience stagnating and being too complex and overloading, not of people fleeing it.

  • REDACTED@infosec.pubEnglish
    131·
    2 days ago

    I’m sure it really depends on where you live, but here in East Europe I’ve noticed tiktokkers slowly turning into Z’ers who start accepting Russian disinfo as facts. Meaning, it’s already pro-MAGA

  • LoafedBurrito@lemmy.worldEnglish
    72·
    3 days ago

    The open corruption, clear as day illegal and unconstitutional moves, and his overall smugness is embarrassing.

    The GOP has gone insane to allow this man to continue like this. They are all sick with power and are hoping to “get theirs” next from daddy trump.

    They are ALL traitors and should be charged for allowing the crimes to continue.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      3 days ago

      But they don’t have the fucking power. They’re letting Trump do whatever he wants, and eroding their own authority in the process.

      • LoafedBurrito@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        3 days ago

        “I don’t want real power, because with real power comes real responsibility, and I don’t want any of that shit. I just want the money. And the illusion of power. And puss.”

  • WatDabney@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    389·
    3 days ago

    We actually live in a world now in which the President of the United States explicitly states his intent to overtly violate the first amendment and the media just repeats it as if nothing of any note is going on.

    • mrmanager@lemmy.todayEnglish
      271·
      3 days ago

      I think we actually get to understand now how Hitler came to power. I remember in school, I was mystified how such an hateful man could become a leader of a country. Now I understand.

      History will most likely repeat itself and humanity needs a big war to once again remember what hate leads to.

      It just sucks for the ones who already learned that lesson from basic history.

    • pika@lemmy.todayEnglish
      45·
      3 days ago

      and the media just repeats it as if nothing of any note is going on.

      Mainstream media at least. Thankfully, Arstechnica and The Verge have been shouting from the rooftops at how unconstitutional and fascist the trump regime is being.

    • clutchtwopointzero@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      3 days ago

      Your first amendment only applies to congress and legislative bodies at state and municipal levels. Private citizens and corporations technically can do whatever they want.

    • merc@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      11·
      2 days ago

      the media just repeats it

      The media reports on it, attempting to do so from a neutral point of view.

      I actually appreciate that the professional media is still attempting to stick to a neutral point of view. If they abandon that, you get media like MSNBC and Fox News where every single news story is discussed from a certain political point of view. That just sorts people into camps that listen to the news source that agrees with their perceived notions, which then radicalizes them even more.

      If people can’t agree on a basic set of facts, then there’s no point to having a democracy. A media that covers the facts with as little bias as possible is essential to that working.

      That isn’t to say that I think the media is doing a great job. The big media companies that are owned by the oligarchs are doing especially badly. When Trump does something like this, responsible media that’s attempting to be unbiased should at least connect historical dots, like other times that presidents have threatened the media, and what the results of that have been.