Assuming good intentions from TikTok is pretty ignorant. ByteDance's other app, DouYin, is unambiguously a CCP controlled tool that censors dissent and their CEO ingratiatingly and apologetically dedicated the company to "Strengthening the work of Party construction, carrying out education among our entire staff on the “four consciousnesses,” socialist core values, guidance of public opinion" in a public statement [1].
Suggesting that TikTok is leaving MAU on the table to keep users' data safe is laughable when ByteDance's other Party-controlled app, DouYin, is remaining in Hong Kong with a captive audience (as helpfully confirmed by Global Times [2], a well-known mouthpiece of the Party). To even suggest that it's a sign of good intentions would ignore extremely important current events and ByteDance's self-proclaimed devotion to the Party. As we speak, the Party is aggressively assimilating Hong Kong into the mainland by banning public expressions of dissent, controlling educational curriculum, and yes, good old censorship. Forcing HK residents to use only Party-controlled tools that the rest of the mainland uses, like DouYin made by ByteDance, only serves to further the "work of Party construction".
TikTok is political because it is wholly owned by a self-proclaimed political entity: ByteDance. It's disingenuous to suggest there is no reason to assume malintent when ByteDance has a history of censorship and propaganda in its flagship app: DouYin. Your glib dismissal of "China bad" has no substance behind it, while China's ample human rights and totalitarian abuses speak for themselves. Putting the actions of independent private corporations in a free-speech democracy on the same level as the actions of a publicly-proclaimed ally of an authoritarian human rights abuser is plain nonsense. Context matters.
Suggesting that TikTok is leaving MAU on the table to keep users' data safe is laughable when ByteDance's other Party-controlled app, DouYin, is remaining in Hong Kong with a captive audience (as helpfully confirmed by Global Times [2], a well-known mouthpiece of the Party). To even suggest that it's a sign of good intentions would ignore extremely important current events and ByteDance's self-proclaimed devotion to the Party. As we speak, the Party is aggressively assimilating Hong Kong into the mainland by banning public expressions of dissent, controlling educational curriculum, and yes, good old censorship. Forcing HK residents to use only Party-controlled tools that the rest of the mainland uses, like DouYin made by ByteDance, only serves to further the "work of Party construction".
TikTok is political because it is wholly owned by a self-proclaimed political entity: ByteDance. It's disingenuous to suggest there is no reason to assume malintent when ByteDance has a history of censorship and propaganda in its flagship app: DouYin. Your glib dismissal of "China bad" has no substance behind it, while China's ample human rights and totalitarian abuses speak for themselves. Putting the actions of independent private corporations in a free-speech democracy on the same level as the actions of a publicly-proclaimed ally of an authoritarian human rights abuser is plain nonsense. Context matters.
[1] https://chinamediaproject.org/2018/04/11/tech-shame-in-the-n...
[2] https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/12803650546557911...