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In today's #vatniksoup, I'll talk about TikTok (@tiktok_us), why some of the US legislators want to ban it, what are the app's connections to the Chinese Communist Party, and how the app has changed the social media landscape, especially among young people.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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The app tends to appeal to younger users – 41% of the app's users are aged between 16 and 24. By Jul 2023, TikTok had become the primary news source for British teens and in Finland, around half of 13-18 year-olds get their news from TikTok.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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TikTok has also been accused of censorship. The app's policies ban content related to a specific list of foreign leaders, including Vladimir Putin and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Its moderators were also told to suppress content from creators who were "too ugly".
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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Many conspiracy theories, including Pizzagate and QAnon, are extremely popular on the platform. In Dec 2023, @O_Rob1nson and @Shayan86 BBC reported that they had discovered nearly 800 fake accounts on Tiktok promoting Russian propaganda and disinformation.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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TikTok is also one of the few social media platforms still available in Russia, because TikTok has caved to the Russian government's influence and banned content from foreign creators. Most Russian TikTok creators spread pro-invasion and pro-Kremlin views.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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ByteDance replied by showing their US-based users a pop-up message, urging people to call their representatives and tell them to vote "No" on the legislation. The company also claimed that it's a violation against their First Amendment rights.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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TikTok's parent company ByteDance's employees in the US and China also accessed the app's user data in an attempt to track down Buzzfeed News and Financial Times journalists who exposed information about the company's eavesdropping activities.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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Why are some countries trying to ban TikTok? First of all, TikTok is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance. According to National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China,the CCP can demand ByteDance to give up any data for intelligence-gathering operations.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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The app is especially popular among children and teenagers, a target group much more vulnerable to manipulation and addictive use. In the Western version of the app, TikTok's safeguards in protecting children are generally considered to be insufficient.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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There's no doubt that TikTok could play an important role in the upcoming 2024 US presidential election. Because of this, the potential ban has probably been opposed by Trump and his henchmen like @VivekGRamaswamy and @KellyannePolls.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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In my view, the dangers of TikTok stem from three issues: 1) ByteDance not being transparent about the app's connections to the CCP (and them lying about it previously), 2) the aggressive collection of massive amounts of data, and 3) the lack of safeguards for young users.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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Most of the creator data,including tax forms, social security numbers & other information from creators & outside vendors are actually stored in datacenters in China. But I guess giving up your personal information is the price you have to pay in order to be paid by TikTok.
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) March 11, 2024
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weehingthong 