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From The Verge:
President Trump has signed a new executive order which will block all transactions with Bytedance, TikTok's parent corporation, in an effort to "address the national emergency with respect to the information and communication technology supply chain."
The move comes after months of escalating tensions, which saw Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others at the White House warn that TikTok presented a national security threat because of its Chinese ownership. Microsoft is currently in talks to acquire portions of the app, aimed to be complete by September 15th.
A parallel order banned transactions with WeChat, a popular texting app in China that maintains a small user base in the US.
[...] The executive branch has the power to levy sanctions against individuals and corporations by placing them on the "entity list," as the US did against Huawei and ZTE last year. But such sanctions are typically put in place by the Commerce Department rather than the White House, and subject to a specific rule-making procedure that seems to have been short-circuited by the surprise executive order.
See also: Tencent stock plummets after Trump announces plan to ban WeChat in the US
Previously:
(2020-08-01) President Trump Threatens TikTok Ban, Microsoft Considers Buying TikTok's U.S. Operations[Updated 2]
(2020-07-07) Reddit and LinkedIn Stop Copying iPhone Clipboard Contents
(2020-06-30) India Bans TikTok, WeChat, and Other Chinese-Owned Apps
(2020-06-28) TikTok and 53 Other iOS Apps Still Snoop Your Sensitive Clipboard Data
(2019-12-27) Investigation Claims United Arab Emirates Uses The ToTok App To Spy
(2019-10-26) Lawmakers Ask US Intelligence to Assess If TikTok is a Security Threat
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @02:21PM (36 children)
Are you saying that the executive branch is incapable of doing anything to stop a belligerent foreign government's assets from interfering with the economy and the nation?
There was nothing arbitrary. China is a problem. China is belligerent. The more we get away from China the better regardless of short term pain.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @02:27PM (4 children)
I get it, it's punishment for the WuFlu KungFlu China virus.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @02:33PM (2 children)
I prefer commie cough.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @09:35PM (1 child)
Presidential Plague.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Saturday August 08 2020, @06:53AM
American allfiction?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @08:10PM
Trump Flu
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @02:47PM (28 children)
I think what's being said is that TikTok and WeChat in no way interfere with the economy nor the nation in any way that any other social media platform does. And it's rather transparent that Trump is simply trying to punish entities on his personal naughty list who make him look... like he is.
If Trump, or you, has any actual evidence that they're genuinely harmful I'd love to review that. But my guess is that you have nothing but the same blind speculations without any actual evidence of unlawful information sharing.
This is nothing less that the frontline assault upon the first amendment that Trump has been grooming since he first used the words "fake news" to describe information he doesn't like.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @03:24PM (18 children)
TikTok and WeChat are assets of the Chinese government. There is a risk and problem with that. China is a bad player and we should separate ourselves from them.
An assault upon the first amendment? Are you high?
Fake news is a thing. It was first coined by media but Trump co-opted it. Media have been lying for years. Russia Hoax? Peaceful protestors (riots)? Smollett? Covington kids? Bubba Wallace hoax? Covid19 lead up(racist to block Chinese travel, go hug a Chinese in early outbreak)? Kavanaugh? Burisma/Ukraine? The entirety of the impeachment? How many lies must be told before you acknowledge that the news media are lying and have lost all sense of journalistic integrity? Seriously.
News media are instigating riots and social media is complicit in allowing riots to organize and fund themselves through gofundme so that they can continue rioting. Murdering and burning shit down.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @04:57PM (15 children)
So the answer is no, you have no proof and are just reasserting yourself without proof. OK, thanks.
By your standards Whirlpool, Microsoft, and Facebook are assets of the United States government. See how easy it is to make claims without proof?
No, I'm not high. Trump is talking about banning a social media platform because it is a social media platform. Without proof of anything further that's about it. He is trying to control what social media platforms exist. That is an assault upon the first amendment. It is not bearing allegiance to the Constitution of the United States to respect free speech. It is literally treasonous conduct.
No, Fake News was not a concern until we got a malignant narcissist for a President who co-opted the term to mean anything that might show he is in fact wrong.
As for your other claims, it's pretty simple: WHERE IS YOUR PROOF? You have none. And anyone can see that. So... who are you acting for? It isn't the United States, that is pretty certain.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @05:12PM (14 children)
I am sorry you don't know about Chinese policy for Chinese companies. It's pretty common knowledge [qz.com] at this point. I didn't think I needed to state the obvious. Yes, those companies do the bidding of the Chinese government and have government agents inside the company who can do anything they want from firing the CEO to directing corporate policy.
Facebook just banned Trumps messages and campaign messages. As have other social media companies. Do you think that is allowed for Chinese companies against the CCP or Xi? Are you daft?
>Fake News was not a concern until we got
The term wasn't popular until then but its been a problem for quite some time. I am sorry you are ignorant of it. Considering your ignorance to Chinese policy and still spout off like your informed, I am not surprised you would do so with this issue too and the examples brought up.
What's sad is that leftists, many arguing on Twitter that 2+2=5, seem to have a problem with reality. It is becoming apparent that discussion cannot be had when fundamental truths and common knowledge are called into question.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @05:23PM (13 children)
No, you need to prove what you think is obvious, not state it. And you haven't proven anything. Because you can't. So still fail, yes.
From the article you cited, "The company has repeatedly stated that the Chinese government has not asked it to remove any content and that if it does, the company will not comply. But such reassurances have not satisfied the international community." So.... no proof they've done anything, just more unsubstantiated allegations. The article has no proof. No, I am not daft for asking you to prove your claims, which you have not done and I can now assume you cannot do. So yep, you still fail.
No, I won't get pulled into your whataboutisms, sorry.
Co-opting was an apt term to use. Corrupting it would have been more accurate. I'm sorry you're ignorant of that.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @05:28PM (12 children)
You should have kept reading. 2+2 = 4.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @05:44PM (11 children)
Nope. Still no proof there. Just more allegations and your appeal that something has been proven. Evidence that TikTok is a threat? None. Just allegations and "oh, it should be obvious that humpf dumnpf erg..." You have still proven nothing, sorry.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @06:05PM (10 children)
You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @08:40PM (9 children)
No, but it is easy to spin conspiracy theories out of nothing and suspect because you would act a certain way that means the other person must.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday August 08 2020, @08:00AM (8 children)
Perhaps you have not followed recent events in Hong Kong. People in Hong Kong are being indicted by the Chinese government merely for saying things the government doesn't like.
If you do business in China, you dance to the party's tune - or you become the party's business. What is YOUR social score?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @01:49PM (7 children)
Maybe you've heard of Julian Assange... Maybe you should be a helluva lot more concerned about the government that has power over you than one on the other side of the world, outgunned and surrounded by US military bases?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday August 08 2020, @03:18PM (6 children)
You get points for that one - but China isn't quite surrounded by US bases, nor is it all that outgunned. China has been saying for a few decades now that they intend to challenge the US economically, politically, and militarily. They are well down that road, albeit running late.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @03:49PM (3 children)
One may hope. When America was challenged by Russia, we got the space program, the internet and jet travel.
Now we do impotent navel gazing comprised of cancel culture, accusations of "cultural appropriation" (which would have been considered racist 25 years ago), mass imprisonment and fear stoking to futilely deal with an instance of a cold virus, and in our crisis our universities are forced by the mob to subscribe to idiocy like "#ShutdownSTEM".
To the administration of our university: Our school is shut down already, you disbanded us when it was still "15 days to flatten the curve". And now, while nursing homes are scoring indemnification agreements with the state, instead of trying to obtain the same so that those of us willing to have real in-person education can do so, you waste time and energy in a vain display of "wokeness".
I really am expecting you to run down the clock until the students can't make other plans anymore, to come out: "Surprise! Online classes only! Make sure your check clears in a month!"
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday August 08 2020, @04:00PM (2 children)
I'll borrow from the Chinese. "May you live in interesting times." It's kind of a curse.
Remember, when the behemoths are grappling, they tend to stumble around and crush a lot of lesser creatures. Remember Joe McCarthy, and his blundering? A lot of people suffered from that. You can expect more of that sort of thing - Trump is setting the stage for it. Can't blame it all on Trump, of course, it takes two to tango, but Trump is going right along with the program.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @04:18PM (1 child)
I was thinking more about Vietnam as an example of bad things happening when elephants fight, but we've been at war in Afghanistan for 19 years now.
Yeah, the 1950s also had their demagogues and loyalty oaths and destroyed careers due to political beliefs. Somehow we got over that by the 60s? It comes across as the best time for American research and education.
Being too young, I didn't actually live through that time. I may just be blinded by retrospections from the eyes of others.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @05:22PM
Negative. What happened was Sputnik put a fear of god into America but the irrational fear of the "soviet" didn't go away. You see that with Vietnam fiasco. If anything, that shit show gave the idiots chance to redirect their attention so they didn't do stupid-ass things at home at least. But you have foreign affairs as a gong show throughout 60s.
- Cuba missile crises
- the entire South America dictator things
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Brazilian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @06:14PM (1 child)
Oh, really? [newint.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday August 08 2020, @07:01PM
Do you have a globe? Probably not. Maybe you can find a nice 3D map online. Google Earth works well. Turn that map so that China is centered in your view. Did you notice that north of China, there is all of Siberia? To the north west there is Russia. West you have that whole mountainous mess with Mongolia. Southwest and south is India. South is Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos - that whole Mekong River thing.
But, you're right. We have them surrounded with the Pacific Ocean.
I could make an equally good case for China having the US surrounded, I think.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @07:29PM (1 child)
Oh, look, Mother! More fake news from right-wing nut-jobs!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @09:22PM
Oh good, we've been needing an excuse to go full fascist! Portland called our bluff and people were too angry, we need to consolidate power over social media so we can prevent the tru... LIES from getting out.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @04:11PM (8 children)
TikTok is spyware that harvests contacts, clipboard data and audio. It's not enough that military, diplomats and anybody else privy to confidential information remove it from their devices, friends and family must do so too.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Friday August 07 2020, @04:50PM (4 children)
And that differs from Twitter and Facebook how, exactly?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @04:55PM (2 children)
They aren't (yet) owned or operated by China and those subject to Chinese security laws. But you already knew that.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday August 07 2020, @05:14PM (1 child)
And? China isn't allowed to sell ads? Isn't that just Free Speech, like Russia's interference in our election?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @06:33PM
Are social media censored by the CCP? Are Chinese citizens coerced into spying for the CCP? Should the CCP have access to the data of US citizens given their penchant for extra judicial coercion?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @04:58PM
China.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @04:59PM (2 children)
Proof that the Chinese government is using that data? Oh, you have none. How unsurprising.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @08:39PM (1 child)
Yeah, China is not doing organ harvesting on Muslims either because they deny it! Your stupidity astounds.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @09:47PM
And yet you swallow the US propaganda with a smile...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by ikanreed on Friday August 07 2020, @02:54PM
Man if only there were some kind of "due process of law" we could follow if that were happening. Where the nature of the crimes against the state or the people could be shown and proven beyond a reasonable doubt and punishments were assigned that matched the crime.
It'd sure be neat if there were centuries of precedent establishing a just way to handle such accusations.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @01:04AM
"Are you saying that the executive branch is incapable of doing anything to stop a belligerent foreign government's assets from interfering with the economy and the nation?"
Only when the graft from domestic sources exceeds the graft from foreign ones.