Is TikTok breaking young voters’ brains? - eviltoast
  • WhatIsThePointAnyway@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    An authoritarian government as evil as China’s having power over that platform compromises it. Tiktok escalates content that hurts western governments but downplays content critical of China. How many times have you heard about the ongoing Uyghur genocide and the over 1 million Uyghurs still imprisoned in China on Tiktok? Israel’s genocide of Palestinians is boosted everywhere because it makes America look bad. While all attention brought to work against genocide is good, it’s important to note China has their finger on the scale pushing down content against their interests. China does things just as worthy of Tiktok activism and it is ignored by the algorithm on purpose.

    Decentralized social media is really the best option for public discourse in the long run.

    • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      5 months ago

      Maybe people are just less interested in accusations against a state on the other side of the planet and much more interested in the open, horrifying and costly crimes committed by their “own”.

      edit: Also nobody in the USA is advocating for the oppression of the uyghurs so there’s not much to protest here. The situation is almost completely reversed with respect to palestine.

    • 0x0@programming.dev
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      5 months ago

      So TikTok bad 'cos it allows criticism of the US… and Facebook, Youtube et al good? Seriously?

      • WhatIsThePointAnyway@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        No, but any bias in what content gets boosted is bad for public discourse. Too many people think Tiktok is fine, but it being so heavily influenced by an authoritarian dictatorship makes it a bad platform. We need platforms that aren’t controlled by these opaque powers. I wasn’t saying Facebook or the like was the answer at all if you read my post.

        • 0x0@programming.dev
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          5 months ago

          All of these platforms are controlled by opaque powers, be it shady board rooms or political cabinets, and all of them entice engagement in any way necessary at any cost. But one isn’t American.

          The whole point of their algorithms is boosting specific content, but some specific content doesn’t appease some Americans, and a lot of people think facebook et al are just fine.

          I dislike all of those platforms.