Thank you for such a thought provoking article, Chris!
Taking the thought "Chinese government creates a fanbase among Americans and other Westerners such that they oppose their own government’s attempts curtail the influence of the Chinese Communist Party" further, I've pondered a similar statement after watching the very entertaining videos from Xiaomanyc on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@xiaomanyc).
Could it be that this born-Jew is taking on a Chinese name and marrying a Chinese woman with this intent? I pray not! The overwhelming experience I receive from his videos are "wow - I would love to learn more languages and converse with other cultures." I guess it's not out of the realm of possibilities for China to be strategizing in such a way, though.
Oh for sure. But unlike with YouTube, China theoretically has much more accessible means to put their finger on the scale for creators on apps whose owners they have the ability to directly influence (like a TikTok).
First, I'm in full agreement with you that praise for the CCP is very troubling. I don't think "theoretical" warrants such strong government action, especially when it comes to speech. Your proposal to ban an app based on user generated comments and content (at least some are generated by CCP no doubt) would set a bad precedent for speech online and likely be in violation of the First Amendment. A private user can praise the CCP to high heaven via most means, digital or analog, and that would be protected by the First Amendment. Of course the government or the platform could identify them as a state actor, if that's the case. At the very least a ban based on UGC would open a Pandora's box of speech violations. The way to deal with praise of the CCP is to tell others about how bad of a political system it is and via other cultural means. But maybe I'm misreading your argument and perhaps you could elaborate more on what the limiting principle would be?
My argument for banning TikTok is separate from the deeper concern for praise of the CCP. I think banning TikTok and considering a ban on Chinese software companies in general should be considered because of the very real threat that China can seize US user data from those apps and their owners at any time.
But beyond that, I think a deeper concern we should all be aware of is the praise of China/the CCP over the US. I don't, however, think that is justification for banning the apps. I just think it's more concerning in the long-run than even data being harvested. Because it makes us not care about our data being harvested.
Thank you for such a thought provoking article, Chris!
Taking the thought "Chinese government creates a fanbase among Americans and other Westerners such that they oppose their own government’s attempts curtail the influence of the Chinese Communist Party" further, I've pondered a similar statement after watching the very entertaining videos from Xiaomanyc on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@xiaomanyc).
Could it be that this born-Jew is taking on a Chinese name and marrying a Chinese woman with this intent? I pray not! The overwhelming experience I receive from his videos are "wow - I would love to learn more languages and converse with other cultures." I guess it's not out of the realm of possibilities for China to be strategizing in such a way, though.
I don't this argument is unique to TikTok. Any internet platform could be host to pro-CCP content. See: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/13/technology/china-propaganda-youtube-influencers.html
Oh for sure. But unlike with YouTube, China theoretically has much more accessible means to put their finger on the scale for creators on apps whose owners they have the ability to directly influence (like a TikTok).
First, I'm in full agreement with you that praise for the CCP is very troubling. I don't think "theoretical" warrants such strong government action, especially when it comes to speech. Your proposal to ban an app based on user generated comments and content (at least some are generated by CCP no doubt) would set a bad precedent for speech online and likely be in violation of the First Amendment. A private user can praise the CCP to high heaven via most means, digital or analog, and that would be protected by the First Amendment. Of course the government or the platform could identify them as a state actor, if that's the case. At the very least a ban based on UGC would open a Pandora's box of speech violations. The way to deal with praise of the CCP is to tell others about how bad of a political system it is and via other cultural means. But maybe I'm misreading your argument and perhaps you could elaborate more on what the limiting principle would be?
My argument for banning TikTok is separate from the deeper concern for praise of the CCP. I think banning TikTok and considering a ban on Chinese software companies in general should be considered because of the very real threat that China can seize US user data from those apps and their owners at any time.
But beyond that, I think a deeper concern we should all be aware of is the praise of China/the CCP over the US. I don't, however, think that is justification for banning the apps. I just think it's more concerning in the long-run than even data being harvested. Because it makes us not care about our data being harvested.
Gotcha. Those are indeed two separate arguments. Thanks for the discussion!