TikTok reportedly plans ‘immediate’ Sunday shutdown in the US if it’s banned
Users could see a pop-up directing them to info about the ban.
Any social media that you isn't open and self hostable (Lemmy, Mastodon, etc) should not be used. That includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, and more.
Most social media has, IMHO, been a net-negative for society and I am in the generation that grew up with it in its infancy.
My one wish for Fediverse would be federated identities. So I don't have to have baronvonj@
<platform>
for ever single one of them.On the plus side, it's nice that you don't need a new ID for every Lemmy instance.
@baronvonj
What do you mean? I'm posting from a #Friendica account to #mastodon, #lemmy and #pixelfed - One account. no worries
@chronicledmonocle @technology
You're describing what Tim Berners-Lee is tryna build with Solid.
I second this opinion. The federated applications and communities aren't perfect, but it's less toxic and better to use in general due to the lack of an all-encompassing algorithm that guides your usage to increase views for ad revenue.
Reminder: TikTok is not actually important. Everyone can live their lives without TikTok, YouTube, etc. There's an infinite amount of ways to entertain ourselves and there's a lot of competing apps.
This isn't the government abusing its power to shut down some small business/upstart. It's shutting down a serious national security threat and a monopoly. TikTok has abused their position many times in many ways, refused to cooperate, and has reached the, "find out" phase.
There is a false dichotomy on Lemmy, that the government should shut down Meta due to security threats too because of this. They can both be bad.
I don’t entirely agree. TikTok isn’t just silly dances, thirst traps, and trends—it has played a significant role in community organizing and coalition-building across social movements. Consider the university Pro-Palestine encampments or mainstream news reporting on social media reaction to the United Healthcare CEO’s killing. Neither is solely attributable to TikTok, but the scale and nature of discussion on the platform have demonstrably influenced real-world conversation and activism. Another example is Keith Lee’s viral restaurant reviews transforming the viability of small mom and pop businesses overnight.
What sets TikTok apart isn’t just its massive reach (150 million monthly active users, nearly half the US population) but also its algorithm and features that enable collaborative, asynchronous discussion. Unlike YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels, where content is mostly one-off entertainment with fleeting comment sections, TikTok fosters actual conversations. Features like stitching allow users to directly respond to others, creating an evolving discourse where users can trace context. At times, entire feeds become dominated by discussion of a single topic—sometimes celebrity gossip, but often major events like October 7 or the United Healthcare CEO killing. This level of organic, large-scale discourse doesn’t happen the same way on other platforms. A great example of this dynamic was when TikTok users collectively decided to migrate to the actually Chinese app XiaoHongShu specifically to spite the US government. That didn’t just happen—it was discussed and coordinated.
In my view, TikTok is a national security threat not because of unproven claims about data leaks or state-authored propaganda, but because it provides an already restless and dissatisfied population with a real platform to discuss issues and organize. If a decentralized, open-source alternative existed at scale, TikTok itself wouldn’t be necessary. I acknowledge that TikTok—like any centralized platform—has real issues, particularly around privacy and censorship. But until such a decentralized alternative gains traction, TikTok remains important. And even then, I doubt the US government would be any more comfortable with a decentralized version, since it still wouldn’t give them control over what discussions take place.
Reminder: there’s an ongoing trade war between US and China and this is likely just a part of it.
This is absurd. Facebook was literally used to sow division and help elect a fascist who constantly says he wants to rule for life and wants to imprison his enemies. Facebook and instagram is wayyyyy more of a national security threat.
A congressman explicitly stated tiktok videos are swaying the opinion of people against israel and america’s genocide in palestine and now its being shut down. This is an abuse of power and its laughable you dont care because “china bad”
If its not censorship because theres alternative ways to communicate than nothing is censorship other than being killed
Everyone can live their lives without TikTok, YouTube...
I was an adult before YT and I don't want to go back to a time before it existed. It's just too damn useful as a self education tool. Need to learn how to DIY a plumbing problem? Youtube. Need to learn how to subnet a network? Youtube. Interested in the History of Moldova? Youtube.
I finished my basement by watching youtube videos and learning how to do everything from framing to electrical to drywall to finishing work. There isn't anywhere else you can freely get the same breadth of knowledge on-demand.
National security threat?
So how come Twitter ain't shut down then?
I've never even looked at it. Vine was pretty cool but then it died, Periscope was neat, but I dunno, something about Tiktok feels predatory, how addictive it is (from what I've seen of others using it).
Plus while they're all as bad as each other, I still trust China less than Microsoft with my stuff, so yeah. I'm just not interested in it and don't really see the appeal for myself. But I see why it's popular and it's not like, terrible, as a concept.
Ok.
(I bet tiktok doesn’t shut down, but if it does I can’t wait for my kids to tell me about all the meltdowns at middle school over tiktok shutting down. Too many parents let their kids have unfettered internet access. No, mine don’t have tiktok.)
No, mine don't have tiktok
Bet they do
No. They don’t.
I installed the home LAN, set site restrictions, app restrictions, use parental controls on all their devices, use OpenDNS family shield, PiHole, and app installation controls on their devices.
Even of they did find a way to see it I would see the IP address flagged.
Sounds draconian, but social media is fucked up for kids. They can have access at 16. They have a shitload of other internet freedom, though. They’re good kids.
Stop. Don't. Come back.
That would go beyond the ban’s requirement for app stores to stop offering downloads of the app, but not immediately halt use of it.
Before the tankies get mad about the "censorship" of the US while failing to mention the LONG list of things you can get straight up arrested for in China
Or have a "tea drinking" session:
When I was able to speak to Ms. Wu about the "tea drinking" session (euphemism for police harassment), she sharply conveyed her sense of vulnerability due to the lack of interest in her stepping away from her popular Twitter account, stating,
Literally the only thing that was keeping me online for the past few years was they were worried it would make China look bad if they cracked down on me. Now that they know that I could be dead in a ditch tomorrow and no one would give a shit or say a word I’m 1000x less safe here.
[...]
Wu added,
After years of doing this without anyone saying anything, on June 30th, out of the blue, they send plainclothes thugs to my house. Surprise! They were real cops.
Why? because she's LGBTQ+, has a Uyghur partner, and has some friends in Western nations.
reference: https://www.hackingbutlegal.com/p/naomi-wu-and-the-silence-that-speaks-volumes
I know the technicality is that it will be voluntarily stopping service rather than just ending new downloads like the ban says.
But "app will shut down when banned" is almost comically anti-news.
Just fucking get it over with already! I'm tired of hearing about this shit every single day.
I see ZERO discussion about how this is obvious theatre. We are so incapable of standing up to basic manipulation tactics from the right.
trump first started using tiktok as another xenophobic boogeyman, in what was a fairly nuanced situation - trump's position being completely wrong, but ultimately some truth to the fact that companies run in China inherently have involvement of the Chinese government and thule should be reached, monitored and if abused, access should be removed.
This actual push was always meant to be something to hang on Biden admin either way (because again, some valid points to a potential ban) but in reality trump will now "save" this artificial shutdown to "restore tiktok" and millions of low information voters and non voters alike will think he did something. And in the meantime, whatever the fuck this lemon8 and red whatever apps are will likely be a huge privacy monitoring home as midst will leave things dormant in background as well after tiktok is "restored".
Again, we are just so I'll equipped for anything to do with technology.
I agree with you.
And, well, I assume everything coming from the US is theater entertainment from the get-go. That's why I don't even bother discussing it anymore although I have recently pointed that out about Trump is trying to divert with the Greenland fiasco and the media is being complicit. This is just another one of the pile. I think he's purposely flooding the media and pushing for Americans' mental exhaustion.
ultimately some truth to the fact that companies run in China inherently have involvement of the Chinese government
I'd say that's an understatement. The Chinese government is greatly involved in many aspects of their social media because they don't have speech protections for individuals nor the press. Xi wants absolute control, so the Chinese government is also involved in other questionable news this week about sponsoring hackers who were primarily targeting the US for gathering intelligence: Millions of Americans caught up in Chinese hacking plot - US. They had state-sponsored malware on 10,000 computers targeting civil rights activists. It doesn't seem in their interest to play fair, I wonder what their strategy would be if Trump steps in to stroke hes ego.
Also, part of me thinks one of his aides overheard someone talking about banning TikTok for this reason and thought to himself, "Sounds good but it's too leftist for us to peddle. This would be great to pin on the old geezer!." and pitched it to Trump as a win-win. It's absurd, don't listen to me.
Fantastic cant wait!
Cool.
Cool cool cool.
You shut down one app, ten other apps get more popular
Yes but diversity is good 👍
Why let the Chinese get all the eyeballs for propaganda? Surely we should give other nations a chance?
IMHO they should shut down every app that is both popular and has an exceedingly difficult to penetrate monopoly. Let the competitors rush in and do a it again when the same situation occurs!
Good! Hopefully one of those other apps is federated and free from any hostile interests.
I have my doubts that any app will collect the user base back together ever again. I may be wrong, but once TikTok is gone, people will splinter to different apps that are nowhere near as popular.
If you have $50 Billion, you can buy Tiktok.
I read that Elon Musk might buy it. But the CEO of Tiktok stated that, it isn't true.
Why would he even need another social media? Besides, dictating what he wants on that site...and make it worse?
I like when Jack Dorsey ran Twitter. It is a crap hole now on there.
As for Tiktok, it won't matter to me since I am not on there.
you can buy TikTok
Not if they're not selling
The theory is the tiktok "ban" was an attempt to force a sale on favourable terms , but tiktok has called the bluff.
“Utilities threatened to shut off my power so… I will turn off all the lights in protest!”
That’ll show ‘em.
Not the same. If all the users lose access in one go and a prompt allows them to easily send a mail to their representatives then they can put pressure.
If they allow content to flow it could be 12+ months before some users start receiving errors when the ban is out of their mind. They might associate the less US content with the app not being good anymore.
Is Loops ready for wide scale adoption and federation yet? We kinda need a replacement for tiktok, otherwise the addicts will jump to yet another Chinese platform.
Doesn't look like it to me. I tried to sign up yesterday and haven't received the validation email.
Edit: and the UI was very barren and minimal on the video I watched.
There's a ton of domestic TikTok clones already, like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
otherwise the addicts will jump to yet another Chinese platform.
People are already moving to rednote.
Is Loops ready for wide scale adoption and federation yet
Nowhere near imo. Download the app and see for yourself. It needs WORK.
Link to download? I checked the Play store and there's a billion apps called Loops
Edit: I found it
Sadly it needs a lot of work, I went on it the other day and the app itself crashed at least seven times in the 15 minutes that I was using it
Instagram reels about to get a whole lot worse
/c/upliftingnews
Get this Reddit shit out of here
Bye bye.
"you can't fire me, i quit" well, alright, that was always and option, lol
Great!
I'm honestly surprised more content creators on TikTok haven't raised a stink about this from what I've seen. Agree with it or not, for some people this is their livelihood.
IIRC TikTok is rather top heavy in terms of income and this highest tier of influencers is diversified across all media channels anyway.
Regular folk have better luck making money on YouTube and Instagram so TikTok creators are unusual bunch. In my experience (which is very likely shaped by the algorithm) they are a mix of talent show performers, odd personalities and no longer relevant one hit wonders that got lucky. They’re mostly sad about losing that space because it’s so different to alternatives. I don’t think anyone that doesn’t have much money feels in power anymore so what are they going to do?
Yeah, but those affiliate links made people bank, especially during the holidays.
I actually got like half my ideas and my daughters from the tiktok shop. (Then went and bought it on Aliexpress)
Most content creators that I know have either openly stated that they prefer it shutting down because it's such a royal pain in the ass to use TikTok since it's audience is so different than their other platforms, or have said they stopped using it without showing a position, the only reason they used it in the first place is because that's where the audience is but they would much prefer other alternatives
Do it. Let the US be a closed censored state like it desperately wants to be.
They'll even put the hashtag #freespeach when they deliver their ban.
Free speech means the government will let citizens criticise them or communicate other political opinions without sanctions. It does not mean they can't ban one channel of communication when they are worried foreign actors use it to take advantage of the citizens. There are plenty other channels through which the citizens can communicate their opinions.
It's a .ml tankie, they only care because it's a Chinese company, guaranteed if it was like a UK company or something they wouldn't say a word about it lmao
“Worried foreign actors use it to take advantage if the citizens” you mean like Cambridge analytica and facebook? Yet all the government did to them is go after their competitors and give them more power. How strange.
Yall are so thirsty for the boot because its currently stepping on the evil boogeyman our government has trained us to hate
Especially now that trumps coming into power its shocking so much people on here are excited for the government to shut down an app. What makes yall think they wont target lemmy/mastadon/etc once theyre the apps being used show people the genocides being commited by the US and israel
🧊 🍑
Do it. Let the hate flow through you.
How many western apps are banned in west Taiwan, anyway?
noooo not the cringe app!! everything but the cringe app
Should Facebook be banned in China?
It already is, and yes.
Cannot wait to stop receiving these fuckin links
TikTok might start being not shit after this, but I'm not risking exposure until I have confirmation
There will just be a new (US based) TikTok copycat that springs up, or many. Banning one social media cancer doesn't stop the others
This is all about pressuring Bytedance to sell to any of the large US companies dying to get that user base. Remember that one party is currently loaded with tech bros with no ethics.
Bytedance seems willing to play chicken and hit the wall as a gamble about coming out of this less hurt than anyone else.
If that was the case people would be using Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts but they are just bad copies that don’t understand what features made TT popular. „The Algorithm” will be impossible to copy and that’s what kept people there.
I wonder if they'll sell or go down in flames.
If they sell, it'll just become overly moderated like Facebook.
If they go down in flames, a bunch of overnight competitors will compete to succeed.
Did you see the post made by Zucker? They're going to stop moderating posts, especially those made from, Right wing motherfuckers
They can moderate by boosting certain opinions and downranking others. It doesn’t need fact checkers because it’s platform owner interests and not facts that matter.
They’re going to stop moderating posts
That just means they'll favor the right wing content since it currently benefits them. They will continue to moderate and shadow hide whatever they don't agree with or are paid to censor.
A lot of people are saying that the US government banned TikTok, but from what I'm understanding, that's not really what happened and what's happening. Or have I misinterpreted things? From what I understand, they were told they had to divest and sell, but they fought that and now are opting to shutdown rather than comply. Is that not the case?
Either way, I'm gonna go all "I walked to school uphill both ways barefoot in a meter of snow" on this and say that my very little experience with TikTok users seems to suggest that its not much more than pure, unadulterated brain rot. So regardless of the fact(s) (i.e. shutdown / banned / etc), there's maybe the tiniest sliver of a net positive here. Or not. It doesn't affect me one way or the other and given where this country is politically (as well as where it is headed), I don't give a rat poopoo.
brain rot
It's a superior algorithm. You get what you engage with.
I'm going to miss the largest community of left leaning American creators, educators, and activists. I've learned so much about politics, social engagement, and community building.
But that's just my feed. I'm sure there's a lot of crap too.
I'm posting the same comment in two replies here now, terrible behaviour, but yes exactly this was an attempt to force a sale and get tiktok into American ownership.
It feels very neat that America would think tiktok would ultimately choose the option where it gets more money, but that the Chinese instead choose control.
It weirds me out that I can easily see a post is in lemmy.world by the comments
nobody told me federated social media would be federated boofuckinghoo
Lol