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FCC Commissioner Calls To Ban TikTok

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr calls on Google and Apple to ban the TikTok app from its stores. It claims that the app shares user information with the Chinese government:


The problem with the claim is there's no proof, and the same privacy problems that exist with TikTok could also be said about Google or any other platform.

Having one FCC Commissioner make this claim doesn't carry the weight of the FCC. It hasn't gone through any of the Commission's policy procedures. The FCC doesn't have any real regulatory power over the internet. So this is merely the personal opinion of one commissioner.
 
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr calls on Google and Apple to ban the TikTok app from its stores. It claims that the app shares user information with the Chinese government:


The problem with the claim is there's no proof, and the same privacy problems that exist with TikTok could also be said about Google or any other platform.

Having one FCC Commissioner make this claim doesn't carry the weight of the FCC. It hasn't gone through any of the Commission's policy procedures. The FCC doesn't have any real regulatory power over the internet. So this is merely the personal opinion of one commissioner.
True and at the same time the Meta Inc owned venues have been accused for the same stuff however in Meta's case it wasn't about data going to China directly it was that their privacy issues went everywhere. Sure Tik Toks majority investors were initially in China but that may have changed now given how big this venue is today.
 
The problem with the claim is there's no proof, and the same privacy problems that exist with TikTok could also be said about Google or any other platform.

Having one FCC Commissioner make this claim doesn't carry the weight of the FCC. It hasn't gone through any of the Commission's policy procedures. The FCC doesn't have any real regulatory power over the internet. So this is merely the personal opinion of one commissioner.
Wait, a social media organization collecting and sharing information with advertisers or a government?? I'm shocked! Well no, not actually.
 
Carr is an attorney, not a broadcast or communications guy. He strongly opposed things like net neutrality and supported the changes to section 230 that Donald Trump was pushing for. Carr was appointed and then re-appointed to the commission by Trump. 'Nuff said....
 
Sure Tik Toks majority investors were initially in China but that may have changed now given how big this venue is today.
It is a subsidiary of ByteDance, and 100% Chinese owned.


And there are at least a couple of hundred similar references and web sources that all say the same thing. It is 100% Chinese owned.

Remember, by most standards and metrics, the Chinese economy is larger than that of the USA now. They do not have to get outside investors to develop enterprises. In fact, China now controls the economy and influences the government in every South American nation except Brazil and in nearly every country in Sub-Saharan Africa except South Africa.
 
The thing that needs to happen here is for the congress to pass better privacy laws in this country. My understanding is that we have among the weakest privacy laws in the world. This isn't strictly a TikTok or China problem. This is a US problem with regards to how it deals with the internet. The problem will be how this works out politically.
 
The thing that needs to happen here is for the congress to pass better privacy laws in this country. My understanding is that we have among the weakest privacy laws in the world. This isn't strictly a TikTok or China problem. This is a US problem with regards to how it deals with the internet. The problem will be how this works out politically.
That's a tough call, because as you know, all social media companies including; Meta (Farsebook), Twitter, and Alphabet (Google) have built their entire business structure off of people being willing to hand over their privacy. The entire business model goes away when laws are put in place to protect said privacy.
 
That's a tough call, because as you know, all social media companies including; Meta (Farsebook), Twitter, and Alphabet (Google) have built their entire business structure off of people being willing to hand over their privacy.
This is sort of like the woman who lets dinner burn on the stove while talking with the neighbor over the back fence... but on a world-wide scale.
 
That's a tough call, because as you know, all social media companies including; Meta (Farsebook), Twitter, and Alphabet (Google) have built their entire business structure off of people being willing to hand over their privacy.

Which is why it makes no sense for an FCC commissioner to tell Google to ban TikTok because of privacy concerns.
 
Remember, by most standards and metrics, the Chinese economy is larger than that of the USA now. .

Not to mention the fact that China owns about $3 trillion of US debt. It's a very complicated relationship. Far more complicated than the one with Russia. If there's an easy enemy, it's Russia. China is both a competitor and a customer. They don't do things the way we'd like, but they're just so damned big that we can't shut them out.

We all need to be careful of the personal information we give on any site, not just TikTok. But I think the assumption that the Chinese government is really interested in some of this stuff is a bit overstated.
 
Interesting to put this comment by Carr in the context of yesterday's Supreme Court decision. In the majority opinion, the judges talked about limiting the roles of the "administrative state," with unaccountable agencies making all of these policies that aren't really spelled out by congress. Here's a story about that:


If these people really are conservative, they need to follow the constitution, which has no provisions for social media or the internet. It sounds to me like Carr is trying to interfere in foreign policy, which has nothing to do with the role of the FCC. It's not up to the FCC to get involved with China or any other foreign government. The FCC is meant to deal with domestic communications.
 
We all need to be careful of the personal information we give on any site, not just TikTok. But I think the assumption that the Chinese government is really interested in some of this stuff is a bit overstated.
Agree, but 98% of the frequent social media users never bothered to read the Terms of Service. As the old saying goes: You can't fix stupid (or substitute the word: ignorance).
 
Agree, but 98% of the frequent social media users never bothered to read the Terms of Service. As the old saying goes: You can't fix stupid (or substitute the word: ignorance).

Once again, that's up to congress not the FCC. These people call themselves conservative, and then they behave like big state liberals, meddling in matters that are not in their agency's description. The FCC doesn't make law or foreign policy.
 
Once again, that's up to congress not the FCC. These people call themselves conservative, and then they behave like big state liberals, meddling in matters that are not in their agency's description. The FCC doesn't make law or foreign policy.
I never said the FCC could enact that sort of law, so no need to once-again. I was talking about social media consumers, not the FCC.

Off and on, Congress has been very clear that they object to big social media practices, at least when it suits their political agenda. Most Congresspeople toe the line when it comes to actually doing something about it, because there's too much money involved. If Meta is donating to these same political campaigns, you can bet the outrage and drama gets much quieter. More likely Commissioner Carr would only make this sort of comment in an attempt to pander to his bosses.
 
A rep from TikTok responded to the FCC Commissioner's security concerns:


I find it interesting that Carr was the one who brought this up, and not Nathan Simington. He was the person Trump appointed to the FCC to clamp down on social media. Yet he's been silent on this issue.
 

Here is a Follow up. This affects where teens go to on Social Media.

Some advocates for children and teens are urging Senate leaders to hold a floor vote on two bills that could affect the content that young users can access online, as well as how their data is collected and harnessed.

Both measures -- the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (S. 1628) and the Kids Online Safety Act (S. 3663) -- advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee in July.

“Each bill has the potential to significantly improve young people’s wellbeing by transforming the digital environment for children and teens,” dozens of advocacy groups including Fairplay, Common Sense, the Center for Digital Democracy, the Eating Disorders Coalition, and Public Citizen said this week in a letter urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) to bring the legislation to a floor vote.
 
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