Before anyone gets up in arms at me, stop. Don’t hit the comments section yet. Hear me completely out.
I do not use TikTok and I have no plans to ever do so. I don’t trust products like this from China. That doesn’t mean I want to ban the thing.
So why would I not support a TikTok ban in legislation? Put simply; it’s extremely dangerous.
It’s a more nuanced answer than that, though. Remember, you’re talking to someone who grew up during The Panic and has the scars to prove it. Do I believe it’s spyware? Sure do. I know you’re all thinking “That’s All The More Reason To Ban It!” but I’m urging you to calm down a bit and think with your heads.
First, let’s get The Panic Points out of the way:
It can cause eating disorders in children.
Okay, this is an easy one to parse right here. Parents, I need to talk to you specifically. Monitor the things your children consume for yourself, firsthand. Stop abdicating your responsibilities onto government. If you have concerns, you need to look into that and talk with your children. That’s your job and your responsibility. No one else’s.
Have you seen how some parents are taking to public schools right now to tell them they’re opposed to these books which depict graphic images and description of sexual acts to their 8-year-olds? Yeah, they’re doing their jobs. You need to be doing so as well. All other talking points concerning this mentality of “think of the children” that you like to put on parade, let me counter with YOU think of YOUR children.
So I won’t deny that there are videos on TikTok that your children probably should not watch. I counter with there are videos that perhaps your children should watch as well. Check with your local school or church to see if there is anything in the way of constructive content that your children could watch because it is there. You could help turn that tide yourself.
It’s spyware and it’s collecting data and who knows where it’s being sent to!
So is Facebook, Google, and just about any other app on your phone. Most apps want access to your camera so that you can scan an item at any given major chain stores you visit or pharmacy. Some data needs to be collected in order make offers like coupons that you can use. Some data needs to be collected strictly for mechanics so that the app knows the capability of your phone so that you know which, if not all features can be used. If you’re so concerned about the data collected on you, maybe start with Facebook. That company has not only collected data but it has harvested it and uses your photos that you post without a shred of knowledge from you. Did you read the Terms of Service when you signed up? Doubtful. If you haven’t been concerned already, and some of you have called me crazy for having VPNs and other services on my phone along with Snowden-level security concerns, then why so scared now? Call me back when you’ve deleted your Facebook and Google accounts. They know far more and have built a profile on you…unless you’ve gone dark.
The Spread of “Misinformation”
This is another one where some personal responsibility comes into play. If you can’t be bothered to hold off on using an app until you know more about it, then you can hardly complain that you weren’t warned. Also, while I can concede that, sometimes, misinformation can be dangerous, I hardly want to be the guy who turns to a one-minute video for my news. This is why I’ve held out for so long on commenting on this one topic. Initially, I wasn’t going to comment at all and if you’re ready to start digging for dozens of examples online, remember, you came to someone’s opinion piece. That’s largely what this is but there are facts to support the things I say. Again, it’s your responsibility to do your own research and that means, yes, you can post your own videos and cite your references.
Let’s talk some historic examples of misinformation. 60 minutes did an entire hour-long hitpiece on Dungeons & Dragons back in the day. Yes, you can still watch it and see just how idiotic it is…
That was 1985.
Just recently, The Verge did an entire hitpiece on gamers, completely omitting the fact that the actual harassment started with Chris Kindred of Sweet Baby Inc demanding Kabrutus be stricken from Steam altogether and have games for which he paid taken away for merely listing the games that they themselves listed on their own website. Mark Kern was even able to prove it with screenshots.
Two “trusted” news outlets then and now…spreading misinformation. Where does your outrage end? When it’s not a cause you support? Also, let’s talk about “COVID Misinformation.” I worked in a pharmacy as a technician. The FDA put out statements on Ivermectin that read, well, read for yourself…
They were taken to court over this…and they lost. Now they’re having to delete all of the anti-Ivermectin posting they’ve done as it’s been declared overstepping their boundaries and…misinformation.
I don’t think government should be controlling the flow of information. It’s a direct violation of our First Amendment protections on Freedom of The Press. TikTok, as has been demonstrated before, is a tool, it’s in how you use it. I don’t recommend you do, though. Just to be clear.
These are three of the biggest reasons people want to ban this app but I have a better solution, stop using it altogether.
Seriously, YouTube (remember the info Google collects) has the capability to host short-form content.
There is something you should be worried about. Watch this…
Yep, Google wants to be the repository for ALL information. That company wants every single piece of traffic to go through them and them alone.
Many of the allegations have little to no evidence to back them up. We also don’t know much about the parent company ByteDance. We know that the CCP does have a mandate in place that all information collected must be sent to the CCP if it’s a security concern. That’s something I can see as a cause for concern, however, why not do your own patriotic duty and seek information. Seek out evidence. Ban it in your household if you want, that’s fine. That’s even reasonable. Make it a rule that your children can’t use the app. Okay, now you’re talking but calling for a government ban, you’re not thinking at all.
All those in favor of banning this app right now, let me ask you a question. That one app that you love so much, that you now can’t imagine life without, shoe on the other foot here, what do you do when those same concerns get raised. Maybe it’s Telegram? Perhaps it’s Rumble, Odysee, CloutHub, Truth Social, just name an app and soon you’ll see special interest groups moving to ban that as well, because there’s precedent.
Government has never received power that it would limit, it’s only ever expanded. They’ve also never received power only to hand it back. As the adage goes, if we allow government to break the law because there’s an emergency, they’ll create emergencies to break the law. Some of you never learned from The Patriot Act and it shows.
If you want something to go away, stop buying it and stop using it. Use the power in your own hands for a change.
They want to ban what they can't control. Its all ludicrous.
I'm not against tiktok to be honest. Also not entirely for it. Yet there are sometimes informative videos to be found there. It's also a good spot for musicians and singers to showcase their talent. Every social media app collects data. They all spy on people. It indeed doesn't stay with just one. Tiktok is just used as a scapegoat to keep all other social media platforms out of the loop. That's all it is. The American government only wants to ban it in alignment with their anti China crap, while they themselves are even worse. It's a classical case of the pot calling the kettle black. They can't critisize what they do themselves. Right? But unfortunately they do. That's why monitoring what sites and socials your kids visit is much more important. Teaching them discernment is what keeps your kids safe. What also keeps them safe, is to keep no photos or videos on them online. That's what I do. I don't even have photos of myself online. I did recently reconstruct myself (through a digital drawing app) so I could let people see how I looked like as an infant. Anyways... apologies for the long rant 😅 I loved this article dear 🤗🤗🤗