That analogy falls apart by making use the hyperbole of comparing ownership of one social media application to the ownership of all major broadcast media television channels. Or is the U.S. so socially conflicted and institutionally fragile that it not handle one single social media application being owned and operated by 's/the government of/a private company from/' its greatest adversary?
The broadcast TV analogy may be more applicable if Instagram, X, YouTube and Twitch were all operated by the oligarchy of a single geopolitical adversary... which arguably could become the case for the E.U. from tomorrow 20th January 2025.
Here's what would happen: Nothing. People already think America is a terrible country to live in. Sure, certain interest groups would be preferred, probably Palestine over Israel. Maybe something instead of Saudi Arabia. But for the average American? Why should they care?
The real danger is indoctrinating teenagers. For example, China could spread extreme wokeness and tell girls (indirectly via influencers) that having children is oppressive. This sort of propaganda is easier and well known to US adherents of Bernays. The US is world leader in this.
But considering the statistics at that time, one could say that it was reasonable. It is better to limit the birth of children rather than, after some time, let natural selection to kill the weakest for starvation or lack of proper environment.
China itself had the one-child policy because the country is full, like the EU. The US has declining birth rates.
Why are you so afraid of China?
Do you think there will be a war with the US? I find that extremely unlikely given both nations have atomic bombs and nothing to gain from war.
Do you think the US is gonna get economically bullied by China? Well, that’s what the US does to the rest of the world right now. Ironically, that’s why most of Africa would rather partner with China for economic development than with the western powers. But even then, the US is big enough that it can insulate itself from most of that.
Are you afraid that China will start a war in Taiwan? They might, but didn’t the US start a war in Iraq as recently as 20 years ago. Not to mention all of the other middle east conflicts the US is involved in.
You can’t stop China. They have 4x as many people as the US, and just as big a landmass with plenty of resources. China will become the top global power. But that doesn’t mean that your life will be any worse.
It means that your politicians won’t be able to act with impunity as they have for the past century. It means your billionaires will have to compete with China’s billionaires for investment. It means companies will have more competition.
But at the end of the day, your life won’t change. It will probably get better if we’re being honest. China is not your enemy.
Any suggestion that TikTok poses no real threat to U.S. interests is staggeringly naive. Imagine if CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC were all owned and operated by the government of America’s greatest adversary—that’s essentially what we’re dealing with. Meanwhile, Chinese citizens are explicitly barred from accessing TikTok in China, and American social media companies are shut out of China’s market altogether. There’s no credible argument that TikTok doesn’t undermine U.S. interests; the only reason people are reacting so emotionally now is that our government took far too long to address this blatant national security risk.