Re:U.S. Judge Halts TikTok Ban
by gruez on Tuesday December 08, 2020 @11:47AM
(#25347756)
"Our server logs show that you were actively engaged with racist/sexist/transphobic video when you were 19. It would be a real shame if that got out. We could make it all disappear, if you helped us in the next round of trade talks..."
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Maybe, but I don't think China has enough credibility in the US to blackmail anyone. The leader can simply claim it's Chinese propaganda and China wouldn't have a way to prove it, AFAIK.
Edit: Plus if that's all it takes to blackmail someone you can probably just bribe them with money or something just as easily.
Re:U.S. Judge Halts TikTok Ban
by read_if_gay_ on Tuesday December 08, 2020 @12:09PM
(#25348111)
It’s not like the headlines are going to be “China says ...”. It’ll be reported via an anonymous source, or some credible person that they also control.
Maybe I am, but if it's that easy to blackmail a person, why would that person not also just be willing to take a bribe? If they care that much about themselves over their country. It just doesn't seem that realistic to me.
Both political parties already elect people that have sexual assault allegations against them, have done racist things, sexist things, etc. I don't think anything on Tik Tok is gonna be scandalous enough to blackmail over.