This seems remarkably naive about the ways the Chinese government could use control over TikTok to influence American public opinion. There are obviously smarter ways to do it than force-feeding users videos about how great Xi is. reason.com/2023/01/26/tik
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As just one example: if China wanted to influence public opinion in a pro-Russia direction, it could boost videos alleging Ukrainian atrocities and suppress videos of Russian atrocities. Or vice versa if it wanted to tip the scales in the other direction.
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If China did something like this it's unlikely anyone would be able to prove it, since we don't know what an "unbiased" distribution of videos looks like.
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Making and distributing effective propaganda is extraordinarily hard, and China hasn’t show any kind of aptitude for it so far. And any time they out their thumb on the scale of the recommendation algorithm, it will necessarily make Tiktok less compelling.
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That's the point they don't have to make any propaganda themselves—they can find existing videos consistent with Chinese views and boost them.
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I think the "influence" angle on banning TikTok is weak. By the same argument one could ban RT, Al Jazeera and a host of foreign media outlets and apps. I think the other angles you've pointed out (spying, tracking, etc.) are much more compelling.
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When I watch RT I know I'm watching state-sponsored content. And hardly anyone does because it's not very good. That's very different than letting a Chinese company pick and choose which non-Chinese content we get to see.
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I honestly couldn’t care less whether China is actively engaging in propaganda and influence campaigns via TikTok.
They could.
And they’ve shown that they’ll use any leverage they can to spread their nonsense. See Hollywood and NBA.
We don’t owe them the benefit of the doubt.
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