News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Microsoft and Bytedance Put TikTok Talks on Hold After Tr... by kanox on Saturday August 01, 2020 @06:24PM (#24024418)
The worst political development over the last decade is the very wide embracing of corporate censorship. It is now widely accepted that media platforms have an explicit duty to control public opinion.

In this context any large foreign media outlet becomes a threat.

Re:Microsoft and Bytedance Put TikTok Talks on Hold After Tr... by JeremyNT on Sunday August 02, 2020 @09:55AM (#24028722)
Social media platforms are tools of information warfare and propaganda. This is what advertising is to begin with, and outside of that obvious function most of these platforms are further optimized to drive engagement by presenting misinformation.

The idea of politicians discriminating against the ones they don't like is repugnant, but these platforms already are already used to control public opinion in ways that are against the public interest, and it's certainly reasonable to suspect that a platform such as TikTok (which is controlled by a competing empire) might be used to that empire's advantage.

Re:Microsoft and Bytedance Put TikTok Talks on Hold After Tr... by indymike on Monday August 03, 2020 @10:48AM (#24038396)
All of which is either press or speech.
Re:Microsoft and Bytedance Put TikTok Talks on Hold After Tr... by scarface74 on Saturday August 01, 2020 @06:29PM (#24024458)
I keep hearing this mostly from the conservative side when Trump got elected mostly by bypassing traditional media and using Twitter and social media.

What do you propose? More government involvement to tell tech what they can do on their own platform? Isn’t it kind of hypocritical that the anti regulation party wants regulation when it suits them?

Re:Microsoft and Bytedance Put TikTok Talks on Hold After Tr... by saagarjha on Saturday August 01, 2020 @08:37PM (#24025258)
Corporate censorship bites both ways; see Apple's reluctance to approve HKmap.live for its platform.
Re:Microsoft and Bytedance Put TikTok Talks on Hold After Tr... by scarface74 on Saturday August 01, 2020 @11:25PM (#24026085)
What exactly does that have to do with US policies?
Re:Microsoft and Bytedance Put TikTok Talks on Hold After Tr... by saagarjha on Saturday August 01, 2020 @11:29PM (#24026103)
Nothing, that's the point. Censorship is not a "US conservative complaint", it's a problem independent of nationalities or political parties.