
Mike Pompeo Said the US Is Considering Banning TikTok - pseudolus
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/us-considering-banning-tiktok-according-to-mike-pompeo
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dang
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23755863](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23755863)

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jeffreyrogers
If you thought Russian influence and fake news were worth getting upset over
then it seems that TikTok and CCP disinformation are of equal importance.

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elliekelly
I don’t use TikTok so please excuse my ignorance. Is the platform (allegedly)
a national security threat because it’s a major vector for foreign state
disinformation (similar to Facebook, Twitter and Reddit) or because it’s a
vector of foreign state information gathering/spying?

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sdinsn
A vector of foreign state information gathering/spying

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wand3r
This probably has broad political support. Not only is their a strong anti-
China sentiment but this can be justified by saying they are equaling the
playing field because China doesn’t let our apps compete. I also think big
tech companies privately would like this especially Facebook and likely
others. I personally wouldn’t have a problem with it even in the face of this
specific app but I’m against it because it is a very dangerous precedent.

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mc32
I think the precedent this would set is the most concerning. Is it done via
“trade” sanctions, there is no other way that I can think of...?

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bawolff
Can the executive branch just unilaterally ban tiktok or do they need
congress? If they dont need congress that's a surprising amount of power in
the hands of the executive.

What does banning even mean here? Forbidden to be distributed on the app
store? Or is it more than that?

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mulmen
What does it mean for the US to "ban" an app? Does that mean the app is pulled
from app stores? What mechanism can the government use to make that demand?

Have other apps been banned?

