China could use TikTok to influence US elections, spy chief says ( www.theguardian.com )

The US House of Representatives is due to vote on a bill giving Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to sell that part of its business

China could use social media app TikTok to influence the 2024 US elections, the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, has told a House of Representatives intelligence committee hearing.

Asked by Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi if China’s ruling Communist party (CCP) would use TikTok to influence the elections, Haines said “we cannot rule out that the CCP would use it”.

Lawmakers have long voiced concerns that the Chinese government could access user data or influence what people see on the app, including pushing content to stoke US political divisions.

fustigation769curtain ,

Oh no. Only wealthy americans are allowed to control their elections.

turkishdelight ,

Is America not doing the same globally with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others?

gAlienLifeform ,
@gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world avatar

Hell, we already know China used Facebook to do this during the last American midterms (and has purchased all sorts of data from FB), but since they have an older user base that lawmakers figure is more likely to vote than TikTok-ers it's not getting singled out for this special treatment

e; specified which midterms I was talking about

turkishdelight ,

I'm more worried about American propaganda. America is known for supporting coups in my country.

RvTV95XBeo ,

So instead we force them to sell so that some American billionaires can use it to influence elections?

fustigation769curtain ,

That is the end goal, yes.

_number8_ ,

so rather than running someone that could organically capture more of the gen z vote, they're banning their most popular form of communication because the old man wanted another term. awesome

Coach ,

Why only TikTok? Every social media company does the exact same thing.

Stovetop ,

This is true. Cambridge Analytica wasn't that long ago, either.

Coach ,

Right? The algorithms are all designed to stoke outrage. Why don't we do something like the EU and pass legislation that applies to all social media companies, not just demonize certain ones. What am I missing here?

Stovetop ,

I can only think that TikTok's status as a state-affiliated company might have something to do with it being singled out.

In practice, however, other social media platforms are controlled by capital and state actors have a lot of capital to leverage, so there's effectively no difference other than China can do for free via TikTok what Russia and the US have to pay for on any other social media platform.

Viking_Hippie ,

What am I missing here?

Mountains of hypocrisy and xenophobia.

They want to be able to tell voters on the right that they "stood up to China and big tech" and voters on the left that they "stood up to social media companies perverting democracy" without going after the American companies that do the same things but pay them a lot more in legal bribes (and probably illegal ones too).

MicroWave OP ,
@MicroWave@lemmy.world avatar

While other companies also have issues, TikTok goes further by having strong connection to the PRC:

Lawmakers have long voiced concerns that the Chinese government could access user data or influence what people see on the app, including pushing content to stoke US political divisions.

Coach ,

Oh...so it's ok if a US company pushes political division, but if it's a foreign company then it's an issue?

MicroWave OP , (edited )
@MicroWave@lemmy.world avatar

It's more of an issue because it's a foreign company. For example, companies like Facebook (Meta) and Cambridge Analytica can be investigated and regulated by US agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But they have no sway over TikTok's developer ByteDance because it's located outside of the US.

That's what this bill is trying to do: force ByteDance to divest.

Viking_Hippie ,

companies like Facebook (Meta) and Cambridge Analytica can be investigated and regulated by US agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

They aren't, though. Because they keep legally bribing Congress to give them more or less free rein.

Jaysyn ,
@Jaysyn@kbin.social avatar

Yes. Literally.

That's why the title of the law begins with the word "Foreign".

nomous ,

All things being equal, yes it's worse if it's a foreign company.

Viking_Hippie ,

Facebook, Twitter and Google are at least as obedient to the whims of the fascist Netanyahu and Modi governments (not to mention the parts of the US government that routinely violates the rights of its own citizens and people from all other countries) as Tiktok is to the Faux-Socialist totalitarian regime of China.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I don't know why anyone downvoted you, you're absolutely right. All of those companies are completely beholden to foreign powers. On top of that, lawmakers are saying that as long as Bytedance officially severs itself from the PRC, they can continue existing. As if that somehow means that the PRC couldn't still use it to influence elections.

bdonvr ,

Oh lmao you weren't just posting this to make fun of the headline???

turkishdelight ,

America does not want non-Americans to be successful.

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