Nice substitution, now let’s try it in “ByteDance or US Govt” form.

(Please don’t ask naively how US controls mass-media, no desire to follow up on that.)

> Nice substitution, now let’s try it in “ByteDance or US Govt” form.

Not substitution, and you somehow missed the fact that it's China's CCP, not ByteDance. It's China's CCP that acts through a de-facto shell corporation called ByteDance, the same CCP that stands behind the Uighur genocide, Tibet annexation, threat of invasion of Taiwan, etc. That's who you are defending as the desirable option.

Yep, there are no rules in the US, anyone can own a company and do anything they want. There is no evil government pulling the stings from behind the curtain.

https://www.fcc.gov/proceedings-actions/mergers-transactions...

https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/biden-admin-delays-enf...

https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/6/21168079/grindr-sold-chine...

Are you even aware of the context of the reasons why Tiktok went dark? Did they do it with no provocation? By accepting the US's arguments for the Tiktok ban we're just aligning ourselves with the same ideology of "the enemy" you're trying to malign.

I didn't miss anything of that. It only seems to you because you happen to have a very blind eye on the literal inverse (I guess).

Then don't use it.

Yeah, and it is within my rights to call for controls over its ownership. After all, we are a free country.

Just like one person getting vaccinated is useless, I want the country to be inoculated from insidious propaganda outside of democratic control and review.

And it is within my rights to point out the hypocrisy of those who cry freedom

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/16/tech/tiktok-refugees-rednote-...

No it's not.

Yes, it is. I am doing it right here though, lol.

Of course it is. What point are you even trying to make?

Well if you want to talk about genocide & Facebook... https://systemicjustice.org/article/facebook-and-genocide-ho...

America has genocided 10s of millions for what it is worth. From Native Americans to slaves to all the wars in the last years to "export democracy". If any country can rival China in killing people needlessly it is the USA for sure.

Hmm if Saddam killed 50 thousand innocent Iraqis each year, and American intervention only cost 40k lives each year ... Then do we deduct 10, or add 40, to the "ten million" number you came up with?

In the 21st century the United States did this? In the 1980s? At what point do we compare countries in a modern era versus a bullet list of their historical record.

By that standard, Norway, Sweden and Denmark should be shunned for their slavery, raping, looting and imperialist colonizing abroad -- in the 10-11th centuries.

Don't forget about all the deaths related to unnecessary poverty or lack in health care.

Not to mention incarceration rates, 119 vs 541 people per 100k. 4.5x difference to an oppressive state.

If you’re comparing either current or historic atrocities, China is going to lose badly.

Trying to mix and match is obviously just disingenuous here.

You get one guess for who caused the spike on this graph of global deaths.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014067361...

See Myanmar for what Facebook has done.

What do you suppose is gained by making CCP pay Zuckerberg for the privilege? Or are you proposing that he'd turn their money down?

The US has done plenty of that sort of thing in south America and the middle east, but it has always had the extra burden of maintaining a narrative under which it was not doing those things. If we let the US ban services that are contrary to its narratives, what's left to stop the US from behaving like China even more than it already does?

Yeah we may have to cross that bridge later. (Indeed, I think it's a major concern that Musk controls Twitter and has demonstrated an inability to criticize the Chinese government time and time again.) But we can at least cross this bridge first.

Tibet was a feudal society. The only people who were "crushed" were the people landowners and the elite monks.

Both sides of the strait want the status quo in Taiwan for various reasons. Detent would be the correct approach instead of further military armament. It would be like if the Soviet Union continued to militarize Cuba from the Cuban missile crisis until the current day.

I'm more concerned about the genocide in Gaza than some CIA assets in Germany playing make-believe.