Business & Finance TikTok Thread

[Husky_Khan]

An unnecessary update at this juncture because I guess it's obvious... but the TikTok Ban Executive Order was rescinded by President Biden last June along with the Chinese social media app 'WeCHat' at the same time.

So TikTok operates under its original ownership as opposed to the intended Oracle/Wal-Mart buyout.

Donald Trump-era ban on TikTok dropped by Joe Biden

The delayed ban on TikTok and WeChat will now not happen - instead apps from China will face reviews.

www.bbc.com

 

[S'task]

An unnecessary update at this juncture because I guess it's obvious... but the TikTok Ban Executive Order was rescinded by President Biden last June along with the Chinese social media app 'WeCHat' at the same time.

So TikTok operates under its original ownership as opposed to the intended Oracle/Wal-Mart buyout.

Donald Trump-era ban on TikTok dropped by Joe Biden

The delayed ban on TikTok and WeChat will now not happen - instead apps from China will face reviews.

www.bbc.com

Because of course he did...

FFS...

 

[Arch Dornan]

Secret military aircraft possibly exposed on TikTok

An OPSEC violation has once again made a case for why using TikTok should be a punishable offense in the military, this time after someone revealed some US stealth technology testing going on and posted it to the Chinese government-affiliated platform. The stealthy object -possibly a component...

warisboring.com

Never post your workplace secrets on social media.

 

[Captain X]

Looks like that Boeing ACAV they've been working on for years, which I really wished they wouldn't.

 

[Zachowon]

This is why we arnt allowed phone in TS areas.
Because people are horrible with OPSEC

 

[Arch Dornan]

This is why we arnt allowed phone in TS areas.
Because people are horrible with OPSEC

I'd take a photo but I wouldn't release it online unless it's been drummed in my head not to take photos because of the consequences of being caught I wouldn't take one on reflex.

 

[Zachowon]

I'd take a photo but I wouldn't release it online unless it's been drummed in my head not to take photos because of the consequences of being caught I wouldn't take one on reflex.

Yeah it is.. .stupid that this happend

 

[Arch Dornan]

Yeah it is.. .stupid that this happend

I accept people can't help but take pictures where they go but to post anything from a restricted area is a big no no.

 

[Arch Dornan]

Who is Yandere Freak? TikTok cosplayer ‘Snow’ charged with manslaughter - Dexerto

TikToker and cosplayer Yandere Freak, also known as Snow, has come under scrutiny after a manslaughter charge was discovered.

www.dexerto.com

Don't try this at home kids.

 

[bintananth]

Who is Yandere Freak? TikTok cosplayer ‘Snow’ charged with manslaughter - Dexerto

TikToker and cosplayer Yandere Freak, also known as Snow, has come under scrutiny after a manslaughter charge was discovered.

www.dexerto.com

Don't try this at home kids.

Firearms are not toys.

Came across a YouTube video recorded somewhere in the former USSR of a wedding reception that was quickly taken down.

tl;dw version: drunk wedding guest does the Russian Roulette routine with a semi-automatic pistol and nothing happens. He racked the slide, handed it to the groom, and I leave it as an exercise for the reader to guess what happened a few seconds later.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Retitled the Thread since the Biden Administration Rescued TikTok from Being Banned. It's now a TikTok News Megathread!

An unnecessary update at this juncture because I guess it's obvious... but the TikTok Ban Executive Order was rescinded by President Biden last June along with the Chinese social media app 'WeCHat' at the same time.

So TikTok operates under its original ownership as opposed to the intended Oracle/Wal-Mart buyout.

Donald Trump-era ban on TikTok dropped by Joe Biden

The delayed ban on TikTok and WeChat will now not happen - instead apps from China will face reviews.

www.bbc.com

And in a surprise to no one...

TikTok User Data has been accessed repeatedly by Chinese employees and agents despite assurances from the Company (revealed in leaked audio meetings) including towards Congress.

TikTok has responded to data privacy concerns by promising that information gathered about users in the United States is stored in the United States, rather than China, where ByteDance, the video platform's parent company, is located. But according to leaked audio from more than 80 internal TikTok meetings, China-based employees of ByteDance have repeatedly accessed nonpublic data about US TikTok users — exactly the type of behavior that inspired former president Donald Trump to threaten to ban the app in the United States.

The recordings, which were reviewed by BuzzFeed News, contain 14 statements from nine different TikTok employees indicating that engineers in China had access to US data between September 2021 and January 2022, at the very least. Despite a TikTok executive’s sworn testimony in an October 2021 Senate hearing that a “world-renowned, US-based security team” decides who gets access to this data, nine statements by eight different employees describe situations where US employees had to turn to their colleagues in China to determine how US user data was flowing. US staff did not have permission or knowledge of how to access the data on their own, according to the tapes.

“Everything is seen in China,” said a member of TikTok’s Trust and Safety department in a September 2021 meeting. In another September meeting, a director referred to one Beijing-based engineer as a “Master Admin” who “has access to everything.”

Leaked Audio From 80 Internal TikTok Meetings Shows That US User Data Has Been Repeatedly Accessed From China

“I feel like with these tools, there’s some backdoor to access user data in almost all of them,” said an external auditor hired to help TikTok close off Chinese access to sensitive information, like Americans’ birthdays and phone numbers.

www.buzzfeednews.com

 

[Husky_Khan]

The Biden Administration is Apparently Letting TikTok and its Chinese owners ByteDance, evade lobbying regulations and foreign lobbying disclosures.

But ByteDance has so far dodged extensive federal regulations and is in talks with the Biden administration on how to continue operating TikTok in the United States. In addition to a cavalry of in-house lobbyists, ByteDance has three Washington firms on retainer to lobby Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. ByteDance has spent more than $4,360,000 so far this year on lobbying.

Details of that lobbying campaign are largely kept under wraps because the U.S. government does not require ByteDance to disclose its lobbying activities under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law that requires lobbyists for foreign governments or political parties to disclose their lobbying contracts and outreach to American policymakers and media organizations. The disclosures can provide a roadmap of how foreign organizations try to influence policy in Washington.

Instead, ByteDance’s lobbyists disclose their influence activities under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, a far less transparent regulation that only requires lobbyists to disclose their revenues and issues on which they lobby. Lobbyists for foreign companies often exploit the loophole by registering under the Lobbying Disclosure Act instead of the Foreign Agents Registration Act by claiming they are not working for foreign governments.

This comes in the wake of reports of TikTok being used by ByteDance to monitor the physical locations of American citizens who use the app.

TikTok Parent ByteDance Planned To Use TikTok To Monitor The Physical Location Of Specific American Citizens

The project, assigned to a Beijing-led team, would have involved accessing location data from some U.S. users’ devices without their knowledge or consent.

www.forbes.com

Here's How the Biden Admin Lets TikTok's Chinese Parent Company Skirt Foreign Lobbying Disclosures

As evidence mounts that TikTok’s Chinese parent company spies on American citizens, the Biden administration has let the social media giant avoid disclosing its extensive lobbying and public relations activities to the American public.

freebeacon.com

 

[Husky_Khan]

Stop being Xenophobic America!!!

 

[Cherico]

Stop being Xenophobic America!!!

To be fair if you can abuse leftists to secure both money and intelligence for your nation of origin why not?

I'm not angry at him by the way he's simply serving his counties interests. The game is the game and it's useless to get angry at the players

 

[Husky_Khan]

To be fair if you can abuse leftists to secure both money and intelligence for your nation of origin why not?

I'm not angry at him by the way he's simply serving his counties interests. The game is the game and it's useless to get angry at the players

Technically his nationality is Singaporean.

I thought the Five Hour Hearings with the TikTok CEO merited discussion and I didn't see anyone posting about it, but if "the game is the game" and this is all useless, I'll refrain lol.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Nepal Banned TikTok.

Nepal bans TikTok over threats to ‘social cohesion’

Nepal, with a population of over 30 million people, has banned TikTok, effective immediately, due to its threat to social order.

nypost.com

The country with the decades long Maoist insurgency has banned TikTok over threats to the social order. Based Mountain People.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Republican Representatives along with some Democratic colleagues have introduced legislation to compel TikTok to divest from Chinese State ownership, ByteDance or have their app be blocked in US Markets through the app stores.

The bill prevents app store availability or web hosting services in the U.S. for ByteDance-controlled applications, including TikTok, unless the application severs ties to entities like ByteDance that are subject to the control of a foreign adversary, as defined by Congress in Title 10.

In addition, the bill creates a process for the President to designate certain, specifically defined social media applications that are subject to the control of a foreign adversary—per Title 10—and pose a national security risk. Designated applications will face a prohibition on app store availability and web hosting services in the U.S. unless they sever ties to entities subject to the control of a foreign adversary through divestment.

Gallagher, Bipartisan Coalition Introduce Legislation to Protect Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications, Including TikTok

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, today introduced the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary...

selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov

Trump meanwhile has come out against the TikTok ban, stating it will empower Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook.

TikTok ban bill poised for vote in Congress opposed by Trump

Florida man would rather have app stay so as not to give gift to 'true enemy of the people' ... Zuckerberg

www.theregister.com

Soonafter other Republicans such as Vivek Ramaswamy also support Trump in this endeavor, allegedly a reverse of their earlier remarks regarding TikTok.

 

[Zachowon]

So...a Chinese spy app is fine for millions to have.
Gotcha.

 

[Abhorsen]

So...a Chinese spy app is fine for millions to have.
Gotcha.

That's not why it's being banned. They want the authority to ban Rumble. They are starting with TikTok the same way the Patriot act began targeting muslims: to get buy in.

 

[Zachowon]

That's not why it's being banned. They want the authority to ban Rumble. They are starting with TikTok the same way the Patriot act began targeting muslims: to get buy in.

How?
From what I understand this is separate from the attempt last year.
Rumble is solely owned by a US person.