About 59% of Americans say TikTok a threat to the national security of the United States, according to a new survey of U.S. adults.

  • Borgzilla@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Even if it’s Chinese spyware, how would they ban it? You can always install the apk from a third-party source if you’re on Android.

    • Meow.tar.gz@lemmy.goblackcat.com
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      1 year ago

      They can ban it through other means that would involve your arrest, prosecution, and potential incarceration. If they catch your device with TikTok installed you could face those kinds of criminal penalties. Remember that your mobile phone is identifiable by IMEI to you the owner. I know that it’s incredibly fascist, dystopian, and authoritarian all rolled into one but the potential does exist for this to happen. If it’s banned, I don’t know that I am ready to be a martyr for the cause of free speech because I don’t know that I will get any help and I am just a poor working class guy that is almost always about 2 or 3 paychecks from homelessness.

      • Salvo
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        1 year ago

        There are bigger fires to throw yourself upon in defence of free speech than a Chinese Spyware app.

        • Meow.tar.gz@lemmy.goblackcat.com
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          1 year ago

          Which is why I don’t defend it. I merely point out the irony and hypocrisy of those we elect to run our government for us. I’d much sooner spend time trying to rid our government of authoritarian wanna bees and advocates. I think I am good just simply choosing not to use it and washing my hands of the whole matter altogether.

          • NightOwl@lemmy.one
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            1 year ago

            Yeah, don’t have accounts for Tiktok, Twitter, or Instagram. Not installing their apps any time soon. It’s more privacy laws that need updating that is allowing these type of data collection to exist in the first place. So it’s the laws that need changing if these politicians truly cared about how invasive these apps can be as opposed it really just being about only wanting their domestic apps to be the ones collecting data.

          • Phillaholic@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            It’s not hypocrisy. There’s no obligation to treat companies or people outside of the US the same as in the US. National security is a different beast all together.

      • Borgzilla@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        A solution would be to create a proxy app of some kind. As for the poor working class guy thing, I feel you man. Things ain’t getting easier.

        • Meow.tar.gz@lemmy.goblackcat.com
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          1 year ago

          A proxy app would still leak metadata though. Metadata would be enough to meet the legal reasonable personal standard to show that one intended to thwart the ban. I have the advantage of having both a Criminal Justice degree and significant technical background.