For example, many of my videos for a long time were basically short essays about current events, relationship advice, (edit: BIPOC) creators, interesting skits or stories about Marvel or DC characters and so on.
Silly dance junk and pranks are certainly not what I see. There is _some_ dance stuff, but it's in subgenres I'm interested in and so I've given those the watch time.
You can curate yourself to things you're interested in. It's not that hard and it's strongly recommended.
But I think it’s much worse. TikTok is clearly the goto place now for divisive content on LGBT issues, it’s provoking massive political arguments. And I’m sure this is just scratching the surface. I have no doubt it’s a global sentiment manipulation tool for the CCP. Why wouldn’t they do it is the question that should be answered.
They say divisive content, I say lively political debate. They say stability, I say stagnation. They say decadence, I say liberty.
If there is a masterplan to blow up the west with silly music videos, then maybe our society deserves to be blown up and replaced by something freer and stronger?
I'd be much more sympathetic to this line of thought if society getting blown up - even if it ultimately results in improvement - didn't usually involve unbelievable amounts of suffering and death.
In reality, Hanlon's razor applies. It's better explained by apathy rather than an evil masterplan. China simply doesn't care about non-Chinese kids, they consider that the American government is responsible for American kids' welfare.
†https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2021/12/a-deep-dive-i...
‡https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/world/story/jack-ma-arre...
Obviously China does care about the Chinese internet, it is heavily censored as we all know. But it is a giant leap from "China censors Chinese-TikTok" to "China is trying to make American kids stupid with dance videos". The corollary is that the people claiming this want China to heavily censor American TikTok so that it is more like Chinese TikTok!
Maybe China isn't doing anything. They just allow a company to deliver exactly what people want and people eagerly lap it all up.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Pornography, anything deemed prurient by the government, anything deemed corrosive to social values, even trivial things like the depiction of zombies and ghosts in media, is strictly controlled by the communist government of China without respect for corporate profits.
If all you see are pranks and dances it's probably what you went on there looking for.
Even American apps (Facebook/Instagram/Twitter) have performed no better in this regard. Maybe the reason is the underlying demand for such content rather than any malicious intent.
If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
I don't buy that. Engaging content is engaging content. Math is boring everywhere. You can push on trends at the edges, but there's no way Douyin is going to succeed, even in the PRC, as a social virtue nag. And there's no need to invoke a conspiracy theory to explain why western kids are drawn to fashion and fun.
I think the trick is to understand it, and once you realize what your choices are, then it's an easy decision not dictated by fear. That is, you either work towards a future where choice remains, or you concede choice until you have none left.
I fear the results of a world where China's deliberate moves towards dominance are unopposed, or ineffectively opposed. Even if everyone has the right intentions as we face down that risk, it's the results that matter.
Your emotional reaction is a choice. You can choose to both not be afraid and still walk through fire, so to speak. Proactively exercising your right to free speech will set you on the path towards the ends you desire.
Fear is a healthy emotion, properly tempered. And it's an entirely rational response to a threat to my freedom and way of life. China is no less than that.
Yes, and, expressing emotions helps us move beyond them. Holding onto them indefinitely is not necessary for them to be part of our experience.
Yes and sometimes in expressing those emotions we realize that they're underlayed by a logical basis that our instinct was informing us about, as when we fear the rise of a genocidal communist dictatorship as a global power monger.
this part I'm not too sure about. Historically speaking, China has been rather "introverted" as a country. They care about making sure their people are well fed and all, but seem to show a distinct lack of imperialism compared to say, the Romans, or Arabs under early Islam, Napoleonic France or Nazi Germany.
Modern China exhibits genuine imperialism. They've even developed and published plans for dominating world standards bodies by 2035[1]. They're crafting a gigantic blue water navy[2]. They maintain a standing army with larger numbers of soldiers than the US, to put on those ships[3]. And they have no qualms about exerting their power globally, challenging freedom of navigation at sea[4] and territorial integrity on land[5]. In their meticulous and naive way, they are most certainly pursuing a world domination strategy.
[1] - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/27/china-standards-2035-explain...
[2] - https://www.businessinsider.com/how-china-has-modernized-the...
[3] - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/29/just-how-strong-is...
[4] - https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/16/asia/us-navy-freedom-of-navig...
[5] - https://news.yahoo.com/china-threatens-forceful-measures-pel...
As for the fleet and the disputes, we are literally talking about disputes between China and the US in the South China sea. All these disputes are quite clearly about China being pissed off that the US is projecting power right on their doorstep. It's similar to Russia parking its missiles in Cuba - completely unacceptable to the US. I don't think it's unreasonable for China to be looking at finding ways to challenge that hegemony.
I'm not going to try and make the claim that US and China are similar regimes- they're not, not at all. I don't beleive for a second that a hegemonic China with power similar to what the US has had would be anywhere near as good as the US has (and I'm not saying the US is perfect). But I do think there's a certain level of asymmetrical judgement here. Why is the US running warships through disputed waters off the coast of China? That seems a lot more like US Imperialism than Chinese Imperialism.
The South China Seas dispute is, in fact, primarily between China and a series of smaller nations like the Philippines and Japan. International governing bodies including an UNCLOS tribunal have consistently ruled against China's claims of sovereignty to open sea, but China keeps on doing it anyway.
That's not imperial behavior?
But you're shifting around from principles to consequentialism. Suddenly, whatever rules China breaks, even if they are extremely serious ones to do with territorial control that underlie the peaceful international order we've enjoyed since WW2 ended, it's fine with you as long as it's in pursuit of an aim that you consider reasonable?
That's a fairly blank check, innit?
If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email [email protected] and give us reason to believe that you'll use HN as intended in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
Let me stop you, right there. No, we're not.
This is what happens when you're Chinese and you try to run for local elections as an independent not endorsed by the Communist party:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1HdCIW2Xtk
In America and by extension the West, there is nothing comparable to this going on.
There is absolutely no moral equivalency between the brutal dictatorship of China and Western plural democracy, even at its ugliest.
Maybe today (we don't know now, we will know in the following 20 years), and maybe not in US soil (even if you said "by extension the west") but:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Condor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_and_state_terror...
Etcetera...
Pretty much FU stuff for "Western plural democracy".
It's how they stay in power, a living army ready to deploy for anything that makes them look bad.
Sure I'd do the same for my country, but the difference is I am not forced to do it. I choose to defend our values while earning a decent living.
In China (their app is called Douyin), the algorithm rewards things they want their youth to be doing. Content which involves maths, engineering, medicine, etc are rewarded.
I'm certain that there is some strategic motive from China to push American children in the wrong direction with the invention of this app. Kids and teenagers spending their time and energy on unproductive activities which will lead to the next generation being ever-so slightly behind.