TikTok is in the news these days.
The United States is closing in on a ban of the social media application. Unless something changes, there is a ban that will go into effect on January 19th. This means that the application will be removed from the app stores and users (in the US) will no longer be able to get updates.
At the core of this dispute is the fact that, many believe, that Tik Tok is a Chinese company. It is not.
TikTok is not even available in mainland China as their version is heavily censored. TikTok is a subsidiary of ByteDance, a private company that is not owned by the Chinese government. About 60% of the company is owned by institutional investors, 20% is owned by the founder, and the other 20% is owned by employees. ByteDance has five board members and three of them are American. Their headquarters are in Singapore and Los Angeles, and they have 7,000 employees in the US.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is Singaporean and not a member of the Chinese Communist Party or even Chinese.
So what is behind this? We will get to that in a few moments.
In reponse to the move, many users are flocking to another app.
Government 101: The Alternative To Chinese TikTok Is A Chinese App
Many are upset at the threat of losing TikTok. There are roughly 170 million users from the United States. This is not only individuals but also small businesses.
The government doesn't want to ban TikTok. Instead, it wants to force a sale. Of course, Bytedance is under no obligation to do that.
By the way, TikTok contributed $24 billion to the United States economy, not a small chunk of change.
Frustracted users decided to head to th Chinese counterpart. This is an application called Xiaohongshu, aka RedNote. Many opened up accounts there only to find out that they were entering different world.
Some reported that it was scammer central. In reading some of the experiences, many posted something only to have their inbox and DMs filled with pretty women wanting to meet American men. It was mentioned that, upon investigating, many has Nigerian IP addresses.
Then there were those who managed to get their accounts banned, almost instntly. It seems they overlooekd that the Chinese are not open to LGBTQ types of posts. Those were instantly censored with the accounts being zapped.
Others posted videos from their TikTok accounts, which still has the logo. That is definately frowned upon, with the same action taken.
It will be interesting to see how the response is by many and if Rednote gaines any traction with American users.
Government Foolishnessness
If Bytedance isn't a Chinese company, why is the narrateive out there that it is. What is the misleading information coming from the mainstream.
It appears this is convenient for the US government. Bytedance is not even headquartered in China. So what gives?
When it comes to government, specifically politicians, it is about power. We know the establishment is seeking to maintain control over what is shared online. Zuckerberg made waves with his admission that members of the Biden Administration were pressuring Meta to remove information about the Biden laptop and vaccines.
While this is probably the case, it is unlikely they have to push too hard. Contrary to how Zuck is trying to frame it, odds are he went along willingly.
If the government was truly concerned about tracking of Americans and the taking of data by Chinese companies, why would it allow Rednote. This truly is a Chinese application, one that operates within China.
TikTok is a thorn in the side of the establishment because it cannot be bullied by the US Government. Those in power want to control the narrative, as evidenced by how the mainstream media operates.
The mindset is something not controlled must be brought into the fold. If cooperation is not given, force is utilized.
It appears to be the case with TikTok.