So a trio of US lawmakers has introduced new legislation that aims to ban TikTok from operating in the United States.

The new bill by Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a bipartisan pair of congressmen in the House, reflects the latest escalation by US policymakers against the Chinese-owned short-form video app. TikTok has faced doubts about its ability to safeguard US user data from the Chinese government.

The proposed legislation would "block and prohibit all transactions" in the United States by social media companies with at least one million monthly users that are based in, or under the "substantial influence" of, countries that are considered foreign adversaries, including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.

Would it matter to you? Do they need to ban it? Would the repercussions (angry young people) be too damaging for the party that passed such a law?

Obviously they should ban it, TikTok provides no benefit to society to offset the security risks it poses. It's already banned in other countries

I would need more info on how big a threat it is. I do think it would be easily replaced by an American version if banned.

I never trusted Tik Tok, but it would piss off many.

They'll get over it. TikTok improves no ones life all it does is turn young people into mindless scrolling zombies like all other social media.

Three things that it does that are (or should be) red flags for all Americans is:

1. Collects and sends US user data to the Chinese Communist Party. Ok, so what, right? Well, there are very dangerous things that can happen as a result of this, such as identity theft and many other nefarious acts to further their pursuits in other areas.
2. Monitors, harasses, and helps catch dissidents (and anybody the CCP identifies as an enemy of the state, even free speech activists which is legal in the US but illegal in China) on US soil via geolocation within the app.
3. Allows pro-China propaganda (via boosts or outright bans on the opposite) and disallows anything remotely critical of the CCP (or any authoritarian state). Basically, TikTok, as it's controlled under the umbrella of the CCP, just isn't a free and open space to discuss or learn or discover anything factual with regards to political news, and it can shape a generation of leaders to believe China is good for the world (which it very much is not!).

These three alone should be extremely concerning to Americans even before we get to all the phone zombie stuff, which I feel is more a critique of social media in general.

It’s a total double standard if you think the West and its allies don’t try to do the same thing; even if they are less brazen and obvious about it.

They'll have a hard time doing it when all western apps are banned in China. And that's the main point. China bans things that are not government-related because they cannot comprehend a world that isn't like theirs. Because they are corrupt, they think all other countries are identical. But they're not. Facebook is not controlled by the U.S. government. Same for Twitter, YouTube, etc.

That is reason enough, imo. China bans all western social media companies, so the west should ban all Chinese ones.

Who are you to say it “provides no benefit” compared to the people who decide to use it?

“The United States of America provides no benefit to society to offset the security risks it poses. It’s already banned in other countries.”

Any company (any American company) that cooperates with intelligence agencies is a threat.

If so, the problem isn’t “tik tok”, but social media, or at least what it represents. And you can’t really hold it against them specifically for doing what all social media or all the “free market” does.

TikTok is just a new version of YouTube which was a new version of TV. It's media. You either consume it or you don't. People in the 90s and 2000s could've been described as mindlessly watching TV like zombies.

Personally I've learned a lot through TikTok, there are a lot of great people who offer career advice. I followed someone's recommendations on how to negotiate salary and ended up getting the top of the range offered at my new job lol. There's also great cooking videos. Like I said, it's just media. And I would say a lot less mindless than TV considering you can choose what to see.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is getting a grilling in congress today

Hopefully this sparks a full ban of TikTok in the United States. Once that hurdle has been overcome, the rest of the free world can do the same.

I would disagree that television is as damaging as TikTok. Television is far more artisticallY valuable and culturally significant than TikTok videos. Also just not as addictive (yes I know there are many people addicted to television but it’s not the same).

Anything with likes and followers is probably going to have the same impact on people making them desperate for it, TikTok is just one of many.

Sorry, but anyone that says things like this just does not get the crux of the TikTok issue.

I was referring to more of zwackerm and Barrabis comments about its negative impact on people (besides the possible China spying)

OK. Fair enough. Though I would say that even limiting the issue to its addictiveness, TikTok is far more addictive than Facebook, Twitter, etc. The algorithm is quite unique, and not even western platforms have something as lucrative in gaining addicts as TikTok does, which makes TikTok far more damaging from that perspective, but exponentially so when twinned with its spread of Chinese influence and propaganda, not to mention all the other safety concerns that the app does not address. All of the security concerns regarding TikTok are intertwined.

Algren said it better than me.

Before Tiktok my Instagram would only show me pictures that my friends posted. Now its "hey I noticed you spent more than two seconds watching a video of a panda eating a carrot. Now your entire feed is gonna be pandas for the next two days. Never stop watching pandas."

Yes, the Insta-Facebook algorithms are quite basic. Not to say that I could write it - far from it - but to "get" it and "get" what triggers it, it's nothing like TikTok, and therefore it's far less addictive, because people get bored quickly with a regurgitation of panda videos, for example. This is also the case with YouTube. But, I don't know about you, I like the simplicity with those platforms because I can control what I'm shown just by being selecting with what I watch.

“Free world”. You’re an idiot.

I’d say TV is generally shit even compared to Tik Tok.

What, like politics? At least social media offers more options and alternatives, more diverse content, and recommendations more specific to a user’s interests, while not trying to force the majority on everyone else.