Should TikTok be banned?

[noname223]

The US discussion is far more advanced than the one in my country. In many instances the development in the US often shows the future for debates in Germany.

I don't use TikTok. I think it is mainly used by the younger generation. I kind of understand their anger. I would be pretty pissed and frustrated when the government wanted to ban Youtube. My favorite platform. Personally I dislike TikTok and see the damaging potential. But I probably sound like an old grandpa to the younger generation when I say something like that. I am not that old and I hope there are not many people who are way younger than me on this forum. The last time I mentioned TikTok I think only one person said they were using TikTok.

I think TikTok is potentially harmful because the attention span is already way too short because of the internet ect. I think in such short clips there can be no nuanced stances, news, information etc. Many videos I saw were pretty superficial and shortterm entertainment. Things you regret to have wasted hours of your daytime when you go to bed- Though some of my friends also say this about youtube. I think I am extremely disciplined and don't really know that problem.

I think the potential of espionage is quite high. But I think this also applies to many US platforms though maybe in a smaller scope and magnitude. (we can at least pray for it). Moreover China is kind of an enemy when we consider their world views and aspirations. We are not allied with them.

I am kind of ambivalent. I am sceptical of platform censorship. In the EU many Russian propaganda outlets are prohibted now. Just for the sake of understanding the propaganda I would have liked to watch some Russia today like in the past.

I am too concerned about data and privacy issues for downloading TikTok. The Chinese government has enough information on the guy who spams a whole suicide forum with his threads. Moreover I think many videos are just a waste of time. I think I tend to be in favor of banning it because we should not be too
naive towards China.

What do you think? Are you angry because it probably will be banned in the US. My favorite scenario would be they have to sell it but I think that won't happen.

 

[YourAverageLurker]

Never used it, didn't want my attention span to decrease into short-form content. Although from what I've seen it's more loved then hated, dunno what the general population would believe in.

 

[honkpilleddoomer]

Nothing should ever be banned, its infringing on freedom.

 

[ivzxkou]

no. i never use tiktok and hate it but allowing tiktok to be banned is a slippery slope to more censorship of media. i can't imagine anyone on this forum agrees censorship is a good thing lol.

 

[bubo]

I mean, realistically i know it shouldn't be "banned", there's already enough censorship on social media anyways. Though, you could also make the argument that it's not censorship at all. I think Tik Tok is indeed hurting the young's minds and is probably making them more idiotic, i think the entire thing is just idiosyncrasy but also maybe they'll grow out of it? The platform is mostly younger people, correct? I think the young should enjoy their youth! They won't be young forever after all. So the real question is: is it damaging 'enough' i feel like.

but also, i may just be an idiot and spewing nonsense. Nonetheless, i think it's an interesting question.

 

[WonderfulWeatherDIE]

Never used it. Its garbage. Yes it should be banned without a doubt. Chinese spyware + rots the next generation of children and turns them into zombies with ultra short attention span. Most of the content on there is garbage too.

The US discussion is far more advanced than the one in my country. In many instances the development in the US often shows the future for debates in Germany.

I don't use TikTok. I think it is mainly used by the younger generation. I kind of understand their anger. I would be pretty pissed and frustrated when the government wanted to ban Youtube. My favorite platform. Personally I dislike TikTok and see the damaging potential. But I probably sound like an old grandpa to the younger generation when I say something like that. I am not that old and I hope there are not many people who are way younger than me on this forum. The last time I mentioned TikTok I think only one person said they were using TikTok.

I think TikTok is potentially harmful because the attention span is already way too short because of the internet ect. I think in such short clips there can be no nuanced stances, news, information etc. Many videos I saw were pretty superficial and shortterm entertainment. Things you regret to have wasted hours of your daytime when you go to bed- Though some of my friends also say this about youtube. I think I am extremely disciplined and don't really know that problem.

I think the potential of espionage is quite high. But I think this also applies to many US platforms though maybe in a smaller scope and magnitude. (we can at least pray for it). Moreover China is kind of an enemy when we consider their world views and aspirations. We are not allied with them.

I am kind of ambivalent. I am sceptical of platform censorship. In the EU many Russian propaganda outlets are prohibted now. Just for the sake of understanding the propaganda I would have liked to watch some Russia today like in the past.

I am too concerned about data and privacy issues for downloading TikTok. The Chinese government has enough information on the guy who spams a whole suicide forum with his threads. Moreover I think many videos are just a waste of time. I think I tend to be in favor of banning it because we should not be too
naive towards China.

What do you think? Are you angry because it probably will be banned in the US. My favorite scenario would be they have to sell it but I think that won't happen.

 

[not-2-b-the-answer]

I would have to say no. Not because I use it. I don't. People should understand the risks by now.
Everyone knows it's a Chinese app. I don't think government employees should have it on their phones.
If I was a government employee I wouldn't even have it on my personal phone.
We're all being tracked anyway. Every time we use google or other search engines. Even duckduckgo still knows your search history. Even if they don't do anything with it. Most sites or all use cookies. Which is why I clear my history.
Even if you do it's not gone forever. I'm sure someone smarter than me could figure it out.
I'm not logged in to You tube but they know what I like.

 

[epic]

TikToks privacy policy has a clause which allows them to share user data (including biometric data) to affiliate corporate groups which includes ByteDance ,Tiktoks parent CHINESE company. In the recent senate hearing the CEO was asked about this by 2 senators at least, he kept dodging . That was a big red flag .

Watch from 4:00

 

[itsallpointless]

maybe, just like how facebook is banned in China

 

[Aesthetic guy]

I live in Iran. almost every single famous website is banned here. no social media (even messenger apps), and obviously +every single adult website. due to that, people knowledge drastically goes down. lots of electronic devices wont work properly (updates and stuff).
99% of VPN software's are blocked too. so people spending significant amount of their time finding a free VPN which have its dangers and some people pay for very private VPN servers that gov don't know about it.
so if banning a website become a norm in a country, it keep goes on and probably will end up like it here.

so no.

 

[borderline-feline]

I use tiktok, but I wouldn't really care if it was banned. The part of that legislation that makes it horrible is that it would criminalize VPN usage.

 

[leloyon]

The legislation that bans TikTok does a whole lot more than just that and infringes on people's rights. Even if you hate it, letting TikTok remain is a small price to pay to keep all of the other freedoms they plan on destroying along with it.

 

[LunaXCBN]

For young people yes, absolutely. ALL social media should be taken away from children/teens younger than 15-16.
I don't think you need scientific research to deduct that it's not good for them and their development. Everything is so easy to access, porn, gore, alt-right forums, alt-left forums. The internet makes grooming minors easier than ever, putting them in a not so obviously real danger.

I'm not advocating for the blocking of all internet access from children, but social media only. I understand that the internet is at this point a necessity for a lot of things in the world, but social media is not.

As a whole tho? I don't think so.

 

[Illidan77]

i don't think it should be banned at least not from the trials i saw which i found silly and it basically about politics and competition (facebook lobbying) using xenophobia.
it's on google play store, i mean google isn't that stupid right and i heard the ceo is giving its source code.
i never use tiktok before, just saw compilations from youtube which is kinda horrible, but i installed it few days ago, i found funny video and useful trick.
my sister use it mostly about cute animals, my friends also use it.
and there are small business that actually helped using the app (it's on the news i saw on youtube)
so kinda depends on how you use it.
it has potential to spread propaganda but still unproven.
but i just found out from my friend that it's algorithm are promoting certain beauty standard. and it is kinda addictive and there are trends that's kinda cringe.
so idk.. something must be done with that..

 

[Unhumanly.]

I never used TikTok because I just don't see any reason to download it

and I agree with the point people made here about how it makes people have a short attention span, this also goes for app with similar feature like Instagram reels

 

[borderline-feline]

For young people yes, absolutely. ALL social media should be taken away from children/teens younger than 15-16.
I don't think you need scientific research to deduct that it's not good for them and their development. Everything is so easy to access, porn, gore, alt-right forums, alt-left forums. The internet makes grooming minors easier than ever, putting them in a not so obviously real danger.

I'm not advocating for the blocking of all internet access from children, but social media only. I understand that the internet is at this point a necessity for a lot of things in the world, but social media is not.

As a whole tho? I don't think so.

Personally, I think people should have to be 18 to use social media. I also don't think that anyone under 16 should have unsupervised internet usage, but those things are mainly because I'm tired of seeing viral tweets made by really stupid children.

 

[canyouseeme]

Meh don't care for it don't go on it either let people do what they want I guess... though it makes me physically sick to my stomach when I see talentless hacks getting popular for no reason other than superficial shit like looks, status etc. Also idiots that spread misinfo and pass it as fact to the point where its an echochamber of edgelord zoomers thinking they all have adhd, tourettes, ptsd, did and other bullshit because of what the tiktok girl/boy said.