I know the technicality is that it will be voluntarily stopping service rather than just ending new downloads like the ban says.
But “app will shut down when banned” is almost comically anti-news.
Any social media that you isn’t open and self hostable (Lemmy, Mastodon, etc) should not be used. That includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, and more.
Most social media has, IMHO, been a net-negative for society and I am in the generation that grew up with it in its infancy.
My one wish for Fediverse would be federated identities. So I don’t have to have baronvonj@<platform> for ever single one of them.
On the plus side, it’s nice that you don’t need a new ID for every Lemmy instance.
You’re describing what Tim Berners-Lee is tryna build with Solid.
I see a GitHub and Xitter linked on there. Any clue if they have a Mastodon or something similar that I could follow?
Not as far as I know. There’s this Mastodon, but doesn’t look legit: https://mastodon.online/@Solid
I second this opinion. The federated applications and communities aren’t perfect, but it’s less toxic and better to use in general due to the lack of an all-encompassing algorithm that guides your usage to increase views for ad revenue.
Lol good luck getting the masses on board
I couldn’t care less about “the masses”. Most of the world are morons.
couldn’t care less**
Thank you. Corrected.
I don’t want the masses. They can stay in the containment shart shead.
Bye bye.
“Utilities threatened to shut off my power so… I will turn off all the lights in protest!”
That’ll show ‘em.
Not the same. If all the users lose access in one go and a prompt allows them to easily send a mail to their representatives then they can put pressure.
If they allow content to flow it could be 12+ months before some users start receiving errors when the ban is out of their mind. They might associate the less US content with the app not being good anymore.
Has anyone in the House or Senate leadership that has received classified briefings on this done anything to oppose it? An email campaign is going to change absolutely nothing.
Right well thats that then, better off do nothing and let your brand lose power than point out the issues impacting your service.
Reminder: TikTok is not actually important. Everyone can live their lives without TikTok, YouTube, etc. There’s an infinite amount of ways to entertain ourselves and there’s a lot of competing apps.
This isn’t the government abusing its power to shut down some small business/upstart. It’s shutting down a serious national security threat and a monopoly. TikTok has abused their position many times in many ways, refused to cooperate, and has reached the, “find out” phase.
There is a false dichotomy on Lemmy, that the government should shut down Meta due to security threats too because of this. They can both be bad.
Yeah, they should shut down both. Honestly, X should be on the chopping block even faster that Meta, but Zuck seems committed to racing Musk to the bottom.
ok, i’m for that, when do we start
National security threat?
So how come Twitter ain’t shut down then?
I don’t entirely agree. TikTok isn’t just silly dances, thirst traps, and trends—it has played a significant role in community organizing and coalition-building across social movements. Consider the university Pro-Palestine encampments or mainstream news reporting on social media reaction to the United Healthcare CEO’s killing. Neither is solely attributable to TikTok, but the scale and nature of discussion on the platform have demonstrably influenced real-world conversation and activism. Another example is Keith Lee’s viral restaurant reviews transforming the viability of small mom and pop businesses overnight.
What sets TikTok apart isn’t just its massive reach (150 million monthly active users, nearly half the US population) but also its algorithm and features that enable collaborative, asynchronous discussion. Unlike YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels, where content is mostly one-off entertainment with fleeting comment sections, TikTok fosters actual conversations. Features like stitching allow users to directly respond to others, creating an evolving discourse where users can trace context. At times, entire feeds become dominated by discussion of a single topic—sometimes celebrity gossip, but often major events like October 7 or the United Healthcare CEO killing. This level of organic, large-scale discourse doesn’t happen the same way on other platforms. A great example of this dynamic was when TikTok users collectively decided to migrate to the actually Chinese app XiaoHongShu specifically to spite the US government. That didn’t just happen—it was discussed and coordinated.
In my view, TikTok is a national security threat not because of unproven claims about data leaks or state-authored propaganda, but because it provides an already restless and dissatisfied population with a real platform to discuss issues and organize. If a decentralized, open-source alternative existed at scale, TikTok itself wouldn’t be necessary. I acknowledge that TikTok—like any centralized platform—has real issues, particularly around privacy and censorship. But until such a decentralized alternative gains traction, TikTok remains important. And even then, I doubt the US government would be any more comfortable with a decentralized version, since it still wouldn’t give them control over what discussions take place.
Everyone can live their lives without TikTok, YouTube…
I was an adult before YT and I don’t want to go back to a time before it existed. It’s just too damn useful as a self education tool. Need to learn how to DIY a plumbing problem? Youtube. Need to learn how to subnet a network? Youtube. Interested in the History of Moldova? Youtube.
I finished my basement by watching youtube videos and learning how to do everything from framing to electrical to drywall to finishing work. There isn’t anywhere else you can freely get the same breadth of knowledge on-demand.
Wait until you learn about “libraries.”
They’re what we used before everyone had the worlds store of knowledge in their pocket.
Yeah, lemme just put on a coat and walk an hour and a half in winter weather to my local library to find a book to tell me how to replace my car’s starter motor.
Can’t get ahold of your friend in Europe and you’re from the US? Just wait until you learn about “handwriting a letter and waiting weeks/months for it to get to them and having to wait even longer for a reply”
It’s what we used to do before everyone found a much faster and more convenient way of doing something through modern technology.
And I’m not sure the instant communication has been a benefit for us.
edit: especially when it becomes more and more misinformation and AI slop day by day
Reminder: there’s an ongoing trade war between US and China and this is likely just a part of it.
This is absurd. Facebook was literally used to sow division and help elect a fascist who constantly says he wants to rule for life and wants to imprison his enemies. Facebook and instagram is wayyyyy more of a national security threat.
A congressman explicitly stated tiktok videos are swaying the opinion of people against israel and america’s genocide in palestine and now its being shut down. This is an abuse of power and its laughable you dont care because “china bad”
If its not censorship because theres alternative ways to communicate than nothing is censorship other than being killed
I’ve never even looked at it. Vine was pretty cool but then it died, Periscope was neat, but I dunno, something about Tiktok feels predatory, how addictive it is (from what I’ve seen of others using it).
Plus while they’re all as bad as each other, I still trust China less than Microsoft with my stuff, so yeah. I’m just not interested in it and don’t really see the appeal for myself. But I see why it’s popular and it’s not like, terrible, as a concept.
That would go beyond the ban’s requirement for app stores to stop offering downloads of the app, but not immediately halt use of it.
Before the tankies get mad about the “censorship” of the US while failing to mention the LONG list of things you can get straight up arrested for in China
Or have a “tea drinking” session:
When I was able to speak to Ms. Wu about the “tea drinking” session (euphemism for police harassment), she sharply conveyed her sense of vulnerability due to the lack of interest in her stepping away from her popular Twitter account, stating,
Literally the only thing that was keeping me online for the past few years was they were worried it would make China look bad if they cracked down on me. Now that they know that I could be dead in a ditch tomorrow and no one would give a shit or say a word I’m 1000x less safe here.
[…]
Wu added,
After years of doing this without anyone saying anything, on June 30th, out of the blue, they send plainclothes thugs to my house. Surprise! They were real cops.
Why? because she’s LGBTQ+, has a Uyghur partner, and has some friends in Western nations.
reference: https://www.hackingbutlegal.com/p/naomi-wu-and-the-silence-that-speaks-volumes
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I wouldn’t really say TikTok is socialist like, but yeah it’s clear it was only banned because they don’t like it and not its harms
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This guy is getting downvoted for truth. TT is the only big media platform that consistently promotes socialist policies and openly attacks western status quo. If there are any truly ideological reasons to ban TT it was because of that. We’re being ruled by the oligarchs and their interests were threatened but let’s not kid ourselves - China has their own who’d happily take their place.
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Cool
Bye tiktok
Or hello TikTok? I’m stoked to see a popular social network app without the US!
Great! You’re in luck!
/c/upliftingnews
Get this Reddit shit out of here
Stop. Don’t. Come back.
Cool.
Cool cool cool.
If you have $50 Billion, you can buy Tiktok.
I read that Elon Musk might buy it. But the CEO of Tiktok stated that, it isn’t true.
Why would he even need another social media? Besides, dictating what he wants on that site…and make it worse?
I like when Jack Dorsey ran Twitter. It is a crap hole now on there.
As for Tiktok, it won’t matter to me since I am not on there.
you can buy TikTok
Not if they’re not selling
Ok.
(I bet tiktok doesn’t shut down, but if it does I can’t wait for my kids to tell me about all the meltdowns at middle school over tiktok shutting down. Too many parents let their kids have unfettered internet access. No, mine don’t have tiktok.)
No, mine don’t have tiktok
Bet they do
No. They don’t.
I installed the home LAN, set site restrictions, app restrictions, use parental controls on all their devices, use OpenDNS family shield, PiHole, and app installation controls on their devices.
Even of they did find a way to see it I would see the IP address flagged.
Sounds draconian, but social media is fucked up for kids. They can have access at 16. They have a shitload of other internet freedom, though. They’re good kids.
And all of their friends have the same firewalls when they go to hang out?
Not trying to be rude but it seems kinda naive.
My little sister is also not allowed on tiktok but she just uses it on her friend’s phones when they hang out.
Their web browsers are restricted off. They cannot install any apps. This discussion is about what my kids have on their devices, and telling me they might see it elsewhere is irrelevant.
I don’t think you understand my knowledge level, you do me disservice by assuming I’m naive, and your rudeness is because of changing the conditions of the discussion to make yourself right by changing the parameters based on that invented naïveté.
No, I can’t control what they see at their friend’s houses on someone else’s device. I saw the playboy channel at a friend’s house when I was a kid and I didn’t have cable at my house. That’s what kids do. I understand and accept this. I’m not a tyrant or control freak or clutching my pearls. That’s the part where you get to discuss good and bad about social media or any aspect of the internet with your kids, like a parent is supposed to do, and do your best to protect your kids’ mental and physical wellbeing within reason.
Ok I think this is a misunderstanding about what it means to “have tiktok”. If you mean in the context of your house sure.
But I had this same conversation with my parents. There is no reasonable way to actually prevent a kid from having access to tiktok in some contexts. Parents who say their kids don’t use tiktok because it’s not allowed at home are just incorrect.
My dad doesn’t get that when she hangs out with friends or goes to school, she IS seeing tiktok content.
Seems like we actually agree here though.
Good. TikTok is pure fucking brainrot. People acting like it’s disappearance is some great tragedy make me laugh.
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Is Loops ready for wide scale adoption and federation yet? We kinda need a replacement for tiktok, otherwise the addicts will jump to yet another Chinese platform.
Doesn’t look like it to me. I tried to sign up yesterday and haven’t received the validation email.
Edit: and the UI was very barren and minimal on the video I watched.
People are already moving to rednote.
