news U.S TikTok partially back after Trump's 90-day extension but ByteDance won't divest

[Jay L]

Yikes the Trump agenda is so transparent. I fear for the people who will fall for it and actually thank Trump for this

[khalyan]

I still don’t understand the focus on just TikTok? There are tons of Pro Palestine content on Reddit and X specifically, why are those escaping all criticism and only TikTok is what people are concerned with?

[Virgos Groove]

2 minutes ago, Relampago. said:

All of this makes sense until we get to the present where these people are now panicking to keep it.

 

What happened?

Trump dropped a grenade in a crowded room by rejecting to ban it, and now Dems are playing catch up. Plus, I think neither expected for the ban to be so unpopular or for people to switch to another Chinese app. Everyone is scrambling, but Trump is winning.

[Hexchromatica]

that took all of four seconds. Stunt

[Relampago.]

3 minutes ago, Virgos Groove said:

And they did hold hands... to ban TikTo, or at least force its sale. By supporting this ban, you're on Congress's side.

I do want Tiktok banned, but for opposite reasons that they do

 

I'm not pro-Israel, and I don't think that's what you're insinuating here, but it's actually very apt to my original point that people seem to be making this a x side vs y side thing, when I feel like this is the clearest instance of big tech and government holding hands to continue to put their best interests in mind at our expense and we're all too busy pointing fingers rather than just eliminating one evil

 

I could be wrong, but for these politicians to flip flop to suddenly supporting Tiktok staying, I can't imagine it's coming back as the same pro-Palestine, fun little app that rots brains, but something far worse. And even if it comes back the exact same and nothing changes, I still don't even think it would have been worth the risk based on, what I perceive, as warning signs. 

[Hexchromatica]

his efforts being applying his orange makeup in the morning, getting a Diet Coke and ranting on truth social 

[JustHoran]

On 1/18/2025 at 1:19 PM, Onyxmage said:

Yet Biden signed the bill banning it. Dumbass.

He really just can't do a single thing right  Good riddance old man. 

[Virgos Groove]

Just now, Relampago. said:

I do want Tiktok banned, but for opposite reasons that they do

 

I'm not pro-Israel, and I don't think that's what you're insinuating here, but it's actually very apt to my original point that people seem to be making this a x side vs y side thing, when I feel like this is the clearest instance of big tech and government holding hands to continue to put their best interests in mind at our expense and we're all too busy pointing fingers rather than just eliminating one evil

 

I could be wrong, but for these politicians to flip flop to suddenly supporting Tiktok staying, I can't imagine it's coming back as the same pro-Palestine, fun little app that rots brains, but something far worse. And even if it comes back the exact same and nothing changes, I still don't even think it would have been worth the risk based on, what I perceive, as warning signs. 

That's fair. I still disagree (I don't want the app banned), but I can understand your concerns.

[JustHoran]

I am so sick of Trump already and he isn't even President yet  The ass kissing from Tiktok is also getting on my last nerve 

[bjorn]

30 minutes ago, Fleahive said:

Have yall dragged J*mes Charles yet for headlining the "go trump" narrative?

Ugh HATE his content. Him, Hayle Bailey and Chris Olsen. 

[Vermillion]

12 minutes ago, Relampago. said:

All of this makes sense until we get to the present where these people are now panicking to keep it.

 

What happened?

Great point of contention and discussion.

 

I'll start.

 

Very little of the GOP is willing to stand up against Trump, who again, based on his multiple flip-flops on this issue, only cared about winning the presidential race to stay out of prison, and his money, in that order. (see: Jeff Yass who donated $46M to re-election)

 

There's a base of the GOP that's betting longer term that sticking to their normal agenda points against their perception of Chinese encroachment will reward them later with GOP post-MAGA, such as Tom Cotton. But they are the exception, not the rule.

 

With the Dems, in weighing their pros and cons of their future as party with abysmal youth turnout in the election and this supposed "intelligence about how horrible the app is that they can't share with anyone", they picked the former. But not all of them.

 

 

[Relampago.]

24 minutes ago, Vermillion said:

@Relampago. Why is AIPAC and the ADL bothering to lobby senators to get rid of TikTok and not the other social media sites that you mentioned?

 

Why else would they do that?

Obviously it's because TikTok has pro-Palestine content on the surface, and there's no point in lobbying to US senators about US-based companies— at least that's my guess.

 

But I also very much am in agreement that Tiktok's ban was originally for 2 reasons:

 

1.) AIPAC and ADL lobbying for pro-Israel purposes

 

2.) Stuffing out Chinese competition

 

Those two things are now at odds with that's currently happening, which I guess can just be chalked up to them not expecting backlash (I honestly don't believe they didn't know it would have backlash, I really don't.) and also wanting to be popular (since when does our government care about doing unpopular things??)

 

I don't think anyone in this thread can answer my questions, we can't be in these secret discussions obviously so I don't want to give the burden of proof to anyone, it's more like I don't agree with people being blindly pro-Tiktok in whatever form it returns to us in/whatever changes they're making to pacify the US government. Maybe they'll make none, I just.. highly doubt that. 

Edited 6 hours ago by Relampago.

[Vermillion]

@Relampago. Both parties kicking the can down the road 90 days and wishcasting that ByteDance will divest even 50% is to avoid discussion on the intelligence that they can't share in the first place as to why they banned it in the first place, because it would reveal the lobbying efforts behind the scenes to get it done, both against it and in support of it subsequently.

[Communion]

1 minute ago, khalyan said:

I still don't understand the focus on just TikTok? There are tons of Pro Palestine content on Reddit and X specifically, why are those escaping all criticism and only TikTok is what people are concerned with?

Because American platforms are owned by companies subject to American censorship laws while ByteDance already rebuked calls by Jewish-American tech leaders to change its algorithms at the suggestion that the prominence of videos on Palestine were fueling antisemitic (anti-Israeli) views.

 

I mean, we literally have the Republican head of the House just hours ago saying TikTok must be banned because "the Chinese want to spread antisemitism".

 

 

[Vermillion]

@Relampago. I'm not blindly pro or against TikTok, but the original point of contention in this thread that caused all those problems is that "Democrats need to get out there to market what they did prior and what they're doing now to try and save the app", which I kept stressing here is complete bull**** that no one is buying, and the timeline bears that out.

 

If the worry is that Trump is getting undue credit, that's an indictment of our entire political system and numerous other issues much bigger than this.

[Communion]

The head of the ADL last month in Israel talking about how vital it is for Israel to find a way to control TikTok:

 

Democrats in Congress at the time were calling for banning TikTok as a means to "address Gen Z's antisemitism problem":

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Communion

[Relampago.]

Thank you @Vermillion for painting that picture for me, it does make sense, although I do believe they'll continue to push for changes in Tiktok that won't necessarily bode well for what it was. Or maybe we'll just end up right back here in 90 days. 

 

It does seem to be a combination of government incompetence (shocking!) and opportunistic beliefs. But knowing Trump, he'll have his cake and eat it too, then I'll start seeing ads for trips to Tel-Aviv as soon as I scroll through the 2 posts selling signed Trump's assassination attempt posters and 3 other influencers praising Trump for the saving the app and reminding me he's the best president we ever had.

 

Spoiler

/s

Spoiler

sorta..

 

 

[bjorn]

 

 

 

 

[Devin]

this "ban" and trump tryna to be viewed likeable is one of the most obnoxious things to happen this year. 

[Novacaine]

How embarrassing. For everyone. And shame on TikTok and all of the narcissistic influencers for stroking Trump's butt cheeks. Their MAGA colors have shown. 

Edited 6 hours ago by Novacaine

[GiselleBeyince]

52 minutes ago, Relampago. said:

I don't even get this argument either. I see a sh*t ton of anti-Israel content on X, Reddit and IG. 

 

Why is Tiktok the only problem? Why does this matter after Israel basically already accomplished its goals and the ceasefire is going through? Why are we not asking ourselves these questions instead of forming narratives to support our own beliefs?

The new TikTok ban bill started in 2023 and signed into law in 2024. The Pro- Palestinian support had hundreds of billions of engagement on there, all being led by young people. It was the greatest shift in political narrative on Israel in history. Many Americans did not know the history of Zionist, the stronghold it has on Western governments, AIPAC owning elected officials, etc. The TikTok content creators and Palestinians on the platform blew up legacy media's propaganda on Israel and the inner workings of Western governments compliance on mass slaughter along political lines. 

 

TikTok skews younger, much younger. The youth demographic are the most sought after bloc in elections. It sets a precedent for a party's longterm grip on national power and influence. Reddit, Twitter, and IG does not have the pull TikTok does with young people. It's literally Gen Z/Gen Alpha/Young Millenial search engine and information database. 

 

People see the dancing and comedic videos, and brand it as brainrot and superficial. In actuality, it has wide intellectual reach for his users. It has high discourse ratios between content creators and their followers. Coupled that with It's algorithm - no other platform comes close. TikTok is a threat not because of China spreading misinformation or stealing data, it's a threat because the algorithm and the app framework is highly efficient for creators to spread their message and discourse there is super agile. They are able to make political/intellectual/historical discussions digestible for young people. I genuinely do not know what's so hard to understand when the facts of this case is widely known. What exactly are you having trouble figuring out? 

Edited 6 hours ago by GiselleBeyince

[Vermillion]

5 minutes ago, Communion said:

The head of the ADL last month in Israel talking about how vital it is for Israel to find a way to control TikTok:

 

Democrats in Congress at the time were calling for banning TikTok as a means to "address Gen Z's antisemitism problem":

 

@khalyan  

[Kayseri Mantisi]

18 minutes ago, Hexchromatica said:

his efforts being applying his orange makeup in the morning, getting a Diet Coke and ranting on truth social 

i don't think he would prefer the diet version

[Broadcastthatboom13]

Something about this is so shady and scummy, if I see these Zoomers 'stan Trump' going into his administration I STG 

[Devin]

Just now, Broadcastthatboom13 said:

Something about this is so shady and scummy, if I see these Zoomers 'stan Trump' going into his administration I STG 

i wouldn't be surprised. the whole ban was a shady hoax.