
Calls for TikTok to be banned in Australia over Chinese spying fears - oars
https://7news.com.au/sunrise/on-the-show/fresh-calls-for-australian-government-to-ban-tik-tok-app--c-1146435
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rangibaby
It's time to do what China has been doing to "us" for years and make western
knock off versions of Tik Tok and Zoom

~~~
sadhen
Actually, Zoom is not available in China for personal use.

The CEO of Zoom is from China and is an America citizen.

~~~
unicornporn
Semantics. TikTok _is_ available in China, but with a different name (Douyin
抖音).

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cthalupa
GP is talking about Zoom. You're talking about TikTok/Douyin

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Leary
What authority does the Australian government have to ban an app? And would
this authority also apply to apps built by Australians or only foreign apps?

~~~
dleslie
Australia is unique amongst its peers in that it has no bill of rights, and
instead largely relies upon common law to determine what can and cannot be
done; making rights subject to legislative authority.

Kind of similar, kind of, Canada has a notwithstanding clause that allows the
Government to temporarily override protected rights with legislation.

~~~
claudiawerner
>Australia is unique amongst its peers in that it has no bill of rights, and
instead largely relies upon common law to determine what can and cannot be
done; making rights subject to legislative authority.

Is this really unique among British Commonwealth countries? Besides this, it's
a rather interesting situation, in which scholars on free speech and the US 1A
use America as an extreme example - even questioning why there should be an
explicit constitutional right to freedom of speech. I think the arguments are
pretty interesting.

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wilt
I would be all for a ban. The app is a ccp spyware trashfire.

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est31
Australia banning it might only be the start. It might extend to other FVEY
countries. Think of the other intelligence related laws they passed over the
years in a coordinated fashion. There are plenty of influential people in the
US who are very critical of TikTok, e.g. Josh Hawley.

~~~
caymanjim
There's no legal mechanism in the US by which TikTok could be outright banned.
Apple and Google could drop it from their app stores if pressured enough, but
even that wouldn't be a government action.

~~~
TeeMassive
The government can block payments and government employees can be blocked from
installing it on their phone.

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
It's an American company that hasn't done anything wrong and that other
American companies are also doing. We're in this situation because American
businesses have lobbied to kill privacy legislation and Congress let them have
their way.

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catalogia
Does the Herald Sun (which seems to be the source of this sparse article, but
which I cannot read because their website is trash) give more details than
this?

> _There are calls for popular video app TikTok to be banned in Australia._

The passive voice here is obnoxious, who is calling for it?

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enjeyw
The Herald Sun is a Rupert Murdoch publication, which means that it has a
comparable relationship to the conservative political party in Australia as
Fox New has with the Republicans.

I would recommend viewing all its content from this frame of reference.

~~~
quicklime
The Herald Sun is Melbourne’s leading trash tabloid newspaper. With headlines
like “Chinese Virus Panda-monium”, they were stoking racist sentiment long
before Trump did.

Another example of how openly racist they are is when they published and
defended this cartoon of Serena Williams:
[https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/e062f6c7325e5b96b12c306e...](https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/e062f6c7325e5b96b12c306e91e1e25e?width=1024)

And just today, the Daily Telegraph (the Sydney paper with the same owner)
reported the closing of the Victorian border with the headline “Mexicans Shut
Out” (Victoria sits on the southern border of New South Wales):
[https://twitter.com/echewy/status/1280285466521034752](https://twitter.com/echewy/status/1280285466521034752)

Definitely view their content from this frame of reference.

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hnick
The papers are trash but complaints against the last one seem misguided. The
phrase itself is just a reference to 'south of the border', and I've heard
people in both states use it as a light-hearted joke to refer to Victorians.
It has been used for many years in a non-racist context as a play on words.

Though it does straddle the line a bit, I think it was worth clearing up that
it's not just a reference to shutting borders.

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bJGVygG7MQVF8c
Possibly the US too:

> POMPEO LOOKING AT TIKTOK BAN IN U.S - FOX NEWS INTERVIEW

[https://twitter.com/Fxhedgers/status/1280329630918930432](https://twitter.com/Fxhedgers/status/1280329630918930432)

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peacefulhat
Sucks to see so many engineers on board with locking down the internet. “Made
in China” should not be a magical phrase that subverts your normal instincts.

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amriksohata
India made up 40%+ of their user base, when they banned it, China are taking
it to court in India. The monetary impact must be big for their advertising
revenue.

~~~
mytailorisrich
The issue is that India banned ~60 apps by Chinese companies with one fell
swoop.

This makes the argument that these were banned for being by Chinese companies
simpler, and that is banned under WTO rules.

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bobbydreamer
Is there anything like virtual machine for mobile apps like you can install
apps in that. To bored without tiktok.

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suizi
I'm more concerned about the U.S. spying on me.

I don't like China spying on me either but people take that one seriously.

~~~
rdsubhas
On the US, you have data to make money for business. In China, you have the
same to regulate thought crime, reduce financial scores and make people
disappear.

While you are right about "data is data" and nobody can predict the future,
there is no question right now about which one you should be _more concerned_
about.

~~~
bromuro
I don’t think “making money for business” is such an innocent activity.
Actually “making money” it is the reason and justification behind most the US
abuses around the world.

Also, we may not see it, but marketing, commerce, and media are also
brainwashing people with the consequences we see today.

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sebazzz
If we need to be worried about TikTok, what about cheap Chinese phones like
Xaomi and OnePlus?

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nix23
Or expensive phones like iPhones?

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vmception
I wonder if Gen-Z understands why yet, and that its not just adults trying to
mess up their fun.

~~~
Polylactic_acid
I'm right on the older limit of zoomer. I understand perfectly and think it
would be a good idea to ban it. But I also think every privacy destroying
social media app should be shut down.

~~~
FillardMillmore
Would you be more in favor of the government shutting down privacy-averse
social media companies or simply regulating them? In either case, why?

~~~
Polylactic_acid
I think the Australian government should bring in a GDPR set of laws. To me it
seems that the GDPR has improved the internet globally. So many sites added in
automated data export tools and ways to opt out of tracking.

Companies not following these laws should be fined or if the fine is
unenforceable they should be banned from doing business in the country.

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bassman9000
Response: [https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/tiktok-
aust...](https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/tiktok-australia-
responds-to-not-credible-ban-reports/news-
story/45e14af49e0abc29236e6d0a89f31ab4)

 _“We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity.”_

Sensible chuckle.

 _Mr Hunter said the concerns over user data getting into the hands of the CCP
are overblown and the data isn’t stored on Chinese servers. “TikTok Australia
user data is stored in Singapore,” he said._

Is this credible?

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est
> Is this credible?

Have you tried access Chinese servers in Australia? It's awfully slow.

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m00x
This doesn't mean it's not duplicated on remote servers.

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est
If a Chinese IP requests a public static video file on Singapore AWS S3 (Or
whatever the CDN tiktok use) and stored it on a Chinese server, does this mean
duplication?

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esahione
TikTok steals kids attention and is completely useless for society. Sorry, but
fuck it. We don't need more useless apps that steal peoples' attention span.

~~~
xxpor
Why do you believe you are in a position to decide what people are allowed to
do with their free time?

There's a lot of good arguments against tiktok but this ain't it.

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dabbernaught420
He didn't say he should be the one to decide.

Anyway, there are lots of things that people can get addicted to which aren't
healthy. Banning things for that reason is an option.

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filleduchaos
Patiently awaiting the ban on alcoholic drinks.

~~~
FillardMillmore
You're about 100 years too late.

Yes, I realize you're being sarcastic (at least I think you are), illustrating
the point.

A government which bans things because they aren't deemed "healthy" (by said
government) is not the right course of action (in my humble opinion). When it
comes to something like alcohol, it's only "unhealthy" when its consumption is
not moderated. Not to mention, what nutritionists recommend (and subsequently,
what governments adopt) as health guidelines for food consumption is widely
subject to change. The food pyramid that some of us were taught in the '90s is
greatly recognized as being largely incorrect and is no longer taught.

Of course, the question becomes, where do we draw the line? Is it better for
society for something like cocaine to be outright banned by the government or
is it better for society that the government legally allows its distribution
but regulates it similar to the way that it does tobacco and alcohol
(effectively cutting out the market share and profits of the black market and
cartels)? I don't have the answer to this question.

~~~
filleduchaos
My point was that society/people by and large don't care about unhealthiness
and/or the negative effects of addition, they simply want things that they
dislike or disagree with (usually from a weird moral or intellectual high
horse) to be banned. Else Americans would all be on the streets protesting the
continued legality of alcohol consumption or the ridiculous amount of sugars
pumped into so much of their food and drink; why the pearl-clutching over
teenagers being teenagers and fooling around on a frivolous app compared to
the monumental damage to society those two things inflict?

