Manufacturing consent within the US is still worse than just letting TikTok get banned, and I don’t see any benefits for letting the US have another propaganda outlet to propagandize its people.
What if Tiktok getting banned will hurt other Tiktok users outside of the USA? In other words, what if Tiktok’s refusal to negotiate, which will lead to a ban, will open the scenario of the US pressuring their vassals to also silence Tiktok?
Just to put this in perspective, TikTok has 1.84 billion monthly active users (MAU) worldwide. The United States has the largest TikTok audience, with over 150 million users aprox. 8.15% are users in the United States, which is what ByteDance, owner of TikTok, sold as “TikTok US.”
China not only won what the article that I linked mentioned but also won by showing to all countries that China is willing to respect a country’s rules with their user’s data, contrary to what the US usually does. Also, China retains 1.69 billion users, plus 20% of the revenue generated by 150 million US users. All of this while releasing pressure on other non Usonian tiktok users.
I guess I could see the US following a TikTok ban with pressuring it’s sphere of influence to also ban it to “stop Chinese influence.”
But I could also see this as straining US influence within its own sphere because of how unpopular such a ban would be, and expose faultines like the Chinese EV trade war is doing. I guess they didn’t want to risk it, which is in line with China’s generally slow-and-steady conservative approach to politics.
But I could also see this as straining US influence within its own sphere because of how unpopular such a ban would be, and expose faultines like the Chinese EV trade war is doing.
Within the Global South, plenty of people are rallying the masses against the USA and Israel. Antimperialist sentiment is increasing at a great pace in the Global South and this is in great part thanks to Tiktok and other social media like Telegram. HOWEVER, US influence is still undeniably strong and the unfalsifiable doctrine explained by Michael Parenti is still active in plenty of the propaganda that the US spread through their vassals. From my perspective, this action was the best that China could have taken so far.
Fortunately, for Usonians, you still have the chance to move to Rednote. I checked rednote and the number of usonian is increasing. So… This outcome is not that bad.
I think the most likely outcome is that people leave TikTok as it gets enshitified in the US, which does still raise the contradictions as USAmericans will look outside their country and see what their government took away from them. It’ll go the way to Twitter and become a hellhole of reaction, people will leave for alternatives, and its relevance will plumet.
I still think a ban would have been better, but you’re right that it wouldn’t be without risks. This might buy time.
But they’re going to come for Rednote, and they’ll come for the fediverse too, and even liberal institutions like Wikipedia. They’re idealists and don’t believe political opposition comes from material forces; they are certain if they can just control all the cultural levers that they can turn back the tide that’s flowing against them.
What if Tiktok getting banned will hurt other Tiktok users outside of the USA? In other words, what if Tiktok’s refusal to negotiate, which will lead to a ban, will open the scenario of the US pressuring their vassals to also silence Tiktok?
Just to put this in perspective, TikTok has 1.84 billion monthly active users (MAU) worldwide. The United States has the largest TikTok audience, with over 150 million users aprox. 8.15% are users in the United States, which is what ByteDance, owner of TikTok, sold as “TikTok US.”
China not only won what the article that I linked mentioned but also won by showing to all countries that China is willing to respect a country’s rules with their user’s data, contrary to what the US usually does. Also, China retains 1.69 billion users, plus 20% of the revenue generated by 150 million US users. All of this while releasing pressure on other non Usonian tiktok users.
I guess I could see the US following a TikTok ban with pressuring it’s sphere of influence to also ban it to “stop Chinese influence.”
But I could also see this as straining US influence within its own sphere because of how unpopular such a ban would be, and expose faultines like the Chinese EV trade war is doing. I guess they didn’t want to risk it, which is in line with China’s generally slow-and-steady conservative approach to politics.
Within the Global South, plenty of people are rallying the masses against the USA and Israel. Antimperialist sentiment is increasing at a great pace in the Global South and this is in great part thanks to Tiktok and other social media like Telegram. HOWEVER, US influence is still undeniably strong and the unfalsifiable doctrine explained by Michael Parenti is still active in plenty of the propaganda that the US spread through their vassals. From my perspective, this action was the best that China could have taken so far.
Fortunately, for Usonians, you still have the chance to move to Rednote. I checked rednote and the number of usonian is increasing. So… This outcome is not that bad.
I think the most likely outcome is that people leave TikTok as it gets enshitified in the US, which does still raise the contradictions as USAmericans will look outside their country and see what their government took away from them. It’ll go the way to Twitter and become a hellhole of reaction, people will leave for alternatives, and its relevance will plumet.
I still think a ban would have been better, but you’re right that it wouldn’t be without risks. This might buy time.
But they’re going to come for Rednote, and they’ll come for the fediverse too, and even liberal institutions like Wikipedia. They’re idealists and don’t believe political opposition comes from material forces; they are certain if they can just control all the cultural levers that they can turn back the tide that’s flowing against them.