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Whataboutism
It would be whataboutism if the argument would be one is okay because of the other. It isn't whataboutism if the argument is that both are unacceptable.
Thank you. I’m so sick of people equating whataboutism with pointing out hypocrisy. Do they want societal acceptance of hypocrisy? Or do they just like to use the new words they learned, like calling every jerk a narcissist?
Or the argument is to distract or derail the conversation. If it is the conversation going in though...
I disagree on the basis that it normalizes TikTok by even comparing it to something far less harmful. They are both bad but one of them is a military op for the world's largest hostile dictatorship.
Thats like saying drinking cola and unfiltered piss are both bad for you.
To be honest as a European, I wouldn't say one is worse than the other. I don't want to have a race out of it, because it can be argued over in a lot of ways. There is no "not as bad" one, both should be reined in.
Actually, I think what whataboutism is about really is arguments like this. Tiktok is not "normal" and will never be "normal". But comparing Google to Tiktok and saying Tiktok is worse since it is owned by a dictatorship as opposed to a plutocracy, while overlooking that I can quit or never use Tiktok. In fact, I never did, so I'm reasonably sure they don't have too much data on me. Google on the other hand is very hard to avoid, as though using Google Analytics to collect my data is illegal, Google is doing all the crime it can do to keep pushing it, along with the rest of its data collection methods.
Neither should be ignored because there are "worse" actors. Both should be held accountable for breaking the law, severely. IMO neither of them is.