>

It’s not just TikTok. Facebook, instagram, YouTube, etc., are all in the same boat.
Because so much happens after they testify in Congress….s/. I am starting to think they just invite these CEO’s for a dog and pony show and then extort them for “campaign contributions” once they get there. >

Tipper Gore got Congress to put stickers on CDs and record labels. I hear she knew someone though. >

"Thank you for coming Mr Chew, first question what is a TikTok, and follow-up to that is that like an AOL" >

As a tech professional: I know you're snarking, but... Also a little? The data collection aspect of it is new, comparatively, but the way they do it is by actively making their services portals to the Internet at large. Google has used its ad network to make itself synonymous with "search," uses it to actively replace other services (flight booking platforms, for instance) and distributes entire OSes for the sake of connecting you to their services in particular. Facebook has built out shopping platforms across multiple social platforms, and "pioneered" feeding users trending and targeted information proactively -- in some parts of the world, they actually are synonymous with "the Internet". Meanwhile Twitter has a narcissist trying to rebuild it as an "everything app," an idea he's also specifically modeled after WeChat.
That's... what AOL did. Major websites in the 90s would routinely advertise their "AOL Keyword" so that you don't have to type a URL. They built in email. They built in messaging, that went on to last longer than the service itself. We all had enough AOL trial CDs to make coasters, and even if they were charging for the dial-up itself a lot of their market dominance pre-Google (and AIM's continued traction thereafter) can arguably be linked to packaging up the Internet as a platform and not just a scattering of disconnected services -- while also introducing them to a bunch of new users through the coaster disks.
Social media adds further layers on top of this -- and it requires different sources of funding since there's a whole different infrastructure problem now to building out Internet as a paid service in itself -- but it actually hits a lot of the same notes, conceptually. >

Better get AOC and Maxwell Frost there. They're probably the only ones who know how TikTok works. >

And Ted Lieu. He's a CS guy. >

First of all fuck the NYPost and the white list that allows its posts.
Second, let's put aside for a moment whether this is a good idea or bad, feasible or not. I really wonder how kids would react if they woke up one day and there was no TikTok. Not because of a parent-provided password they can hack, but because it's just...gone. I think that would be a bad scene with actual withdrawal symptoms of some kind. >

If their parents take something away from their kids, it’s tough but they know they’ll survive; however, if their Big Brother takes something away, there’ll be hell to pay. >

Tiktok is extremely dangerous to our democracy. Hopefully some good will come from this.