Have those journalists attempted to discuss human rights violations against the Uyghurs or Tibetans?
Those topics used to be a very big deal for leftists. They aren't anymore. It should worry us all that our empathy is being redirected based on who owns what platforms we use. Which... You are here on Lemmy instead of reddit, so you already to an extent agree, just not in the case of one specific state controlled corporation.
#uyghur on TikTok. The very first video at the top is about how we promised after the Holocaust it would never happen again and now it's happening Uyghurs. There are videos about "save Uyghurs" and so on. You don't seem evil or stupid or any other insult, but please consider looking.
Edit: Found a great video on TikTok from an account with 1.5 million followers about testing censorship by China regarding all their dirty laundry including Uyghurs, also among the top results. It's been up for many weeks now.
It's not about your participation. I never use TikTok. It's about the fact that you make assertions that I then disprove with specific evidence within minutes of looking. Yet you still seem to believe everything you did at the start of the conversation when you began with "Except tik tok isn’t a news source. It’s a short form video app." and then went through multiple changes of argument. That's why I said you and I have different approaches to changing our minds based on evidence, because as near as I can tell that's true. You haven't changed any of your posts for instance - the one about not being news is still unaltered in spite of proof to the contrary.
You informed me that they now allow discussion of the Uyghur genocide and I thanked you for that information.
I also essentially stated that while it may be a source for many, it doesn't give the depth of knowledge that those journalists' actual work gives, and that you are bound to an algorithm telling you what is important.
They should publish the code so you can verify your trust in them.
Not one of your posts is modified to reflect a change on stance. There are many points you haven't conceded even in the face of evidence. You still appear to criticize TikTok for the same things you did previously - primarily suspicion of direct Chinese manipulation in spite of no proof of said direct manipulation.
Now the bar to bypass your suspicion is them to publishing code, which is a demand NO other major companies are asked to meet. Here's "11 Decentralized, P2P and Open Source Alternatives to Mainstream Social Media Platforms Like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Reddit". Not a single of the largest companies are on that list. Similarly the major search engines aren't open-source. For your position about wanting people to stay away from TikTok for code reasons to be consistent you'd have to be refusing to go on YouTube, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or to use almost any search engine because none of them are open-source.
You've moved the goalposts multiple times until now they're out of reach and you've finally found the excuse that justifies the same position (TikTok is dangerous/inadequate/harmful) you've held the whole time. From it's not news -> it's not serious news -> it's not unbiased news -> it's censored by China -> it's not open source.
I've shown you that there is no evidence of tampering! I've even proven to you that China being a totalitarian regime does not = censorship on TikTok! It's the ONLY point you actually caved on! Do you hate things just because they're Chinese? Because your argument now is no longer a fault on merit, just on nationality. To quote an article I linked to you before: "The US government’s desire to ban TikTok instead of taking industry-wide action is a good indication that its campaign isn’t really about national security or data protection,” Marx points out, “but something much deeper: namely the preservation of American economic and geopolitical hegemony.” Your latest argument falls in with that last line.
Do you hate Chinese cars, electronics, and other consumer goods? You may argue that media is different, but I proved TikTok isn't censored for being Chinese and there's no evidence that it's skewed because of China.
Congrats. You've found the goalpost that can't be reached. A goalpost that no policymaker seriously demands of any of the major companies, including, I'm positive, many of the corporations creating products and services you use all the time. You gave no indication that it was your basis for condemning literally every major platform (something you only began once all other arguments were dismissed), but it's your endpoint. For all that you say it's completely necessary, you certainly didn't start with it, or say it should apply to domestic companies until I pointed out the hypocrisy of demanding it from just TikTok.
This floor of "required to be open-source" we've hit after your different demands and assertions is why I say you give every indication of concluding something and working backwards to justify it as opposed to changing based on evidence. I am pretty sure if I could somehow satisfy this latest condition you'd find yet another reason to hold onto your original belief, and I say that based on the proof of having done so several times today.