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Comment by remarkEon | Hacker News Reader

I thought about asking what country you were from, but I realized it doesn't matter.

I'm from the United States and I want this app banned. While the things you cite are or could be bad, it's entirely irrelevant to dealing with an app that is demonstrably a psychological control system. You're upset that CIA or US Army spec ops kidnapped people from your country? Imagine the United States injecting a social media system into your country that brainwashes people into thinking that they deserved it. TikTok can do this.

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The US let Meta whatever they want and do all the harmful things to our youths psych. Like increased suicide rates, body issues and much more.

I agree with the poster before, I don't see the big difference here

I'm a neotech-luddite and think all social media should be banned, so you're not going to get an argument from me on how terrible Meta is.

You admit that social media is bad and increases suicide rates, yes? Okay great, seems logical then to ban the app that's run by a country that has set out to actively degrade the country the app is deployed in.

Here's how I know that TikTok is some sort of psyop: it's an entirely separate app in China. The algorithm does different things, explicitly. I don't know why people are so hostile to the idea that finally we've found a capitalistic company that should be punished for exploiting people. That Meta and Google behave badly is entirely irrelevant, and you and everyone else doing the same whataboutism dance knows it.

> Here's how I know that TikTok is some sort of psyop: it's an entirely separate app in China. The algorithm does different things, explicitly.

Can you explain that a bit more? Of course it's going to behave differently. Any serious multinational is going to tailor their offerings to local preferences. A McDonald's in India sells a significantly different menu than one in Indiana. As for it being a seperate app rather than clicking a country flag during onboarding or whatever, I can see plenty of reasonable technical reasons for that.

I'd think they probably have even more freedom than most players to do so, because they didn't have to play to significant established brand expectations on arrival.

Whataboutism are also all the arguments brought up in this thread against tiktok.

I honestly don't care. I don't use either and actively dislike all of these echo chambers. If it's for me ban all of them, or let them get even worse I don't care. It doesn't influence me at all.

But this is just a shitshow, cold war on a weird social level. This is not against tiktok this is obviously mainly a topic to talk bad about China.

Well, we can't talk bad about China. That would be ... rude.

“Demonstrably” a psychological control system? Go on then, demonstrate it.

> Imagine the United States injecting a social media system into your country that brainwashes people into thinking that they deserved it.

LOL! Please reread thus again until you lol too :D

Ever heard of Voice of America radio? From the end of WW2 to the Cold War, all they did was broadcast counter-propaganda in Soviet controlled Europe.

VoA isn't an algorithm that can manipulate you into making purchases you otherwise wouldn't. Those in Eastern Europe are probably thankful that a short wave radio program existed in the 1980s, before the Wall fell. If your point is that America broadcasts propaganda, then yes I'll concede the point. But it's entirely irrelevant.

Why were blue jeans and Michael Jackson cassettes highly coveted then?

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