Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Friday August 07 2020, @01:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the Bytedance-bit-flipped dept.

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


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @04:57PM (15 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @04:57PM (#1032989)

    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.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +4  
       Troll=1, Insightful=4, Touché=1, Total=6
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   4  
  • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @05:12PM (14 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @05:12PM (#1033001)

    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)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @05:23PM (#1033008)

      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)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @05:28PM (#1033013)

        You should have kept reading. 2+2 = 4.

        All Chinese companies, private or public, are accountable not only to their investors but also to the Chinese Communist Party, which is part of what creates an opportunity and mechanism for state censorship. Many companies have an internal party committee as part of their governance structure. ByteDance has one, headed by the company’s vice president Zhang Fuping, and has since 2017. Party committee members at ByteDance regularly gather to study President Xi Jinping’s speeches and pledge to follow the party in technological innovation.

        In this system of close Party-private business ties, the government blocks a lot of major international tech companies from breaking into the Chinese market, and focuses on fostering Chinese tech giants in a rigged playing field.

        China’s tech companies also benefit from a close relationship with the government, receiving research and development subsidies, tax breaks, and other forms of government support which make it harder for them to resist government pressure.

        ByteDance, who’s company mission statement pledges to “inform, educate, entertain and inspire people across languages, cultures and geographies,” has signed a number of agreements with local governments across China on various aspects of its business operation.

        A recent report by the Australia Strategic Policy Institute found that ByteDance worked closely with the Chinese police to disseminate state propaganda whitewashing Beijing’s abuses in Xinjiang through Douyin, something of a domestic version of TikTok.

        In the same vein, Chinese companies are frequently punished if they fail to sufficiently toe the party line, and ByteDance is no exception. In 2018, China’s media regulator shut down one of the company’s products, the joke app Neihan Duanzi, for “vulgar” content. The company’s founder, Zhang Yiming, who also founded TikTok, had to issue a self-effacing public apology for deviating from “socialist core values” and pledged to ensure that party “voices are broadcast to strength.”

        The Chinese Communist Party also has a record of forcibly disappearing and detaining business executives under murky circumstances. In January 2017, Chinese security agents abducted a Canadian-Chinese billionaire, Xiao Jianhua, from his residence in a Hong Kong hotel. His whereabouts and condition remain unknown.

        That authorities can arbitrarily detain powerful business people, even those with foreign passports, sends a clear, chilling message to business elites that running afoul of the party incurs severe consequences.

        • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @05:44PM (11 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @05:44PM (#1033024)

          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)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @06:05PM (#1033047)

            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)

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2020, @08:40PM (#1033146)

              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)

                by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday August 08 2020, @08:00AM (#1033382) Journal

                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)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @01:49PM (#1033441)

                  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)

                    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday August 08 2020, @03:18PM (#1033466) Journal

                    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)

                      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @03:49PM (#1033476)

                      China has been saying for a few decades now that they intend to challenge the US economically, politically, and militarily.

                      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)

                        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday August 08 2020, @04:00PM (#1033484) Journal

                        One may hope.

                        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)

                          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @04:18PM (#1033487)

                          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

                            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @05:22PM (#1033508)

                            Somehow we got over that by the 60s? It comes across as the best time for American research and education.

                            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)

                      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2020, @06:14PM (#1033534)

                      China isn't quite surrounded by US bases,

                      Oh, really? [newint.org]

                      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday August 08 2020, @07:01PM

                        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday August 08 2020, @07:01PM (#1033568) Journal

                        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.