Meh? Not being able to talk to your family and friends in a pandemic is a bigger violation of freedom IMO.

s/UK/some other free country/

For friends/family, I meant WeChat, not Tiktok.

> pick up a phone

costs $

> text message

super limited

> use email

yes but not a great UX for instant messaging

> twitter

banned in china and also not a good UX for talking to friends/family

> whatsapp

banned in china and featureless

> discord, or slack

80-year-old grandmas can't use this

> fb messenger

banned in china

> write a letter

too slow

> or twitter (or send a carrier pigeon),

No

> instagram

banned in China, messenger is crap

> telegram

looks like a goddamn military app, lacks features, old people can't figure this one out either

> mail them a flash drive with videos on it, idk.

too slow

I thought most old people were still using QQ because wechat was too complicated for them? Well, that was the case 6-8 years ago anyways (QQ was popular because it worked well on feature phones, wechat requires a smartphone).

>> use email

> yes but not a great UX for instant messaging

give me a break. it sounds like its not about communicating with family. whats your deal?

It's about people being able to use whatever the hell they are used to using to communicate with their families and friends. That's it.

They don't need you or Trump policing what app they use.

nice emotional appeal. tell that to china.

>> fb messenger

> banned in china

Yup there's your problem. they did it first. we wouldn't be in this mess otherwise. don't blame me or trump. if china opened up so would the US.

FB and Messenger itself are just not great products anyway when it comes to social media and messaging. Even if they weren't banned, users in China will just use WeChat, Weibo etc that are built specifically and tailored for them.

It's unfortunate that the US is too late in getting in the game with China. They've already caught up (and some) with the US in terms of technological prowess and innovation. China can open up and let the likes of Facebook, Google etc in, but they won't be able to compete with the local companies like Alibaba, Tencent. China at this stage doesn't need the US as much as they did before when it comes to tech. What China needs is the rest of the world (EU, UK, South America, Africa etc) to not join forces against it. Just a shame that the current administration isn't able to see that and prefers being iso-America for America and at the same time pushing its allies away.

Bottom line is, the US got outplayed, and is still getting outplayed. Past administrations should have seen this coming. Current administration should have made better decisions in navigating China. While the US is trying to go toe to toe with China, China is already thinking ahead by forging alliances and making its presence in African and European countries via the Belt and Road initiative as well as reducing its dependency on US agriculture by shifting soybean purchases to South America. I doubt the banning of TikTok and WeChat in the US is really going to concern them.

Not being able to talk to your family and friends in tiktok.

Nothing stopping you from communicating with them. You can still pick up a phone, text message, or use email, or twitter, or whatsapp, or discord, or slack, or fb messenger, or write a letter, or twitter (or send a carrier pigeon), or instagram, or telegram, or mail them a flash drive with videos on it, idk.

very weak argument, Xi.