Chinese TikTok alternative RedNote could pose greater security risks, experts say - eviltoast

Summary

Many Americans are migrating to RedNote, a Chinese-owned app based in China, raising significant privacy and security concerns.

Experts warn that RedNote, based in China, is subject to Chinese laws, including the Personal Information Protection Law and Data Security Law, which grant the government rights to request data and cooperation with intelligence operations.

Enforcement of these laws is often opaque. Analysts highlight risks of data collection, algorithm manipulation, and censorship on RedNote.

Critics argue the U.S. lacks comprehensive privacy laws, driving users to platforms like RedNote that may pose even greater risks than TikTok.

  • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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    1 day ago

    people would rather have their personal data stolen by the chinese government than the US who poses much more of an immediate threat.

    detractors describe this as astroturfing but that’s BS. congress brought this on themselves by making such a clearly self-serving gesture.

    • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      people would rather have their personal data stolen by the chinese government than the US who poses much more of an immediate threat.

      Oh sure. Chinese living in the US telecom network for years isn’t a threat. China compromising critical US infrastructure isn’t an immediate threat.

      And the issue is less about stealing your data (although that is an issue), it’s about being shown pro-CCP and anti-American content by a Chinese app. It’s about direct foreign influence by an adversarial county (the government, not the people, apparently that distinction needs to be pointed out to people here).

      • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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        6 hours ago

        I see more pro China anti American content in one day on Lemmy than I have in my entire existence on TikTok and RedNote combined.

        You are running off imagination, assumptions and vibes.

        • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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          3 hours ago

          I see more pro China anti American content in one day on Lemmy than I have in my entire existence on TikTok and RedNote combined.

          I don’t have a reason to doubt this, although I don’t see this (any I’ve never used TikTok). Lemmy being an open platform means that it’s rife for propagandists to spread their views. No one said pro-CCP and anti-American content was exclusive to TikTok or RedNote. But Lemmy is far more neutral than most other platforms, which means both pro and anti anything content has an equal chance. It just comes down to the userbase.

          And with that openness comes the possibility for people employed to promote pro-CCP content also.

          You are running off imagination, assumptions and vibes.

          You dropped a comma there.

          But no, I’m not running off of imagination or assumptions.

      • dx1@lemmy.world
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        18 hours ago

        Oh no, hypothetical biased information. How will our brains process it in the event that it appears.

          • dx1@lemmy.world
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            9 hours ago

            Not sure what you mean. We see the problem with FOX viewers. You look at the people using TikTok for news (myself included), there’s actually strong media literacy because they’re learning about what deceit looks like.

            • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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              8 hours ago

              We see the problem with FOX viewers

              Only a subset of Americans see Fox as trustworthy, and everyone outside the US (myself included) sees Fox as pure propaganda.

              people using TikTok for news (myself included), there’s actually strong media literacy because they’re learning about what deceit looks like.

              This hurts my soul so much. I think this just says a lot more about American education than anything else.

              • dx1@lemmy.world
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                8 hours ago

                Frankly, if you were on TikTok at all, I don’t think you were following who I was following. It’s like YouTube. You can post stupid meme dance videos, you can post lectures by historians. I don’t appreciate the condescension. When you are seeing things on there - primary source evidence, not any kind of propaganda - that directly contradict what you hear from conventional media, you’re forced to develop skills to account for the disparity. Otherwise, without that info, you just stay in a bubble - which was precisely the intention of the ban.

                • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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                  6 hours ago

                  Otherwise, without that info, you just stay in a bubble - which was precisely the intention of the ban.

                  Maybe this is an American-centric thing, but then the rest of the world does see the US as a strange place with strange ideas

                  The funny thing though, is that China is an even bigger bubble with thicker walls.

                  TikTok is a Chinese owned product, it’s developed by people who live in China, and the Chinese government has a direct influence on the content and how it’s presented to users. This isn’t hearsay or an opinion. It’s a fact.

                  Another fact, that people seem to always gloss over or ignore, is that TikTok isn’t even allowed in the country that develops it. They have their own internal version called Douyin, which is the same as TikTok, and people outside of China aren’t allowed to use it.

                  If China had one platform for everyone, this discussion wouldn’t even be happening.