> Well, presumably the US government's argument would be that China can influence content to harm the United States, whereas the US government would only influence content to help the United States (pinky swear!).
Correct.
But that's from the view point of the US only.
The US isn't going against Tiktok only locally, it wants to remove it world wide because of Chinese influence.
The US can influence local content how it likes, they have their own rules and its totally fine IMO.
The issue is controlling global content, which is what they are accusing China of, and what they really want to do if not already have been doing.
> I do agree with you that the ability of a government to censor at a large scale is likely to be bad for the people under that government's jurisdiction and the people of the world, even if that government is acting competently in its own self-interest.
I think this is obvious.
My point is that the US is mad at Tiktok because the CCP can do it, yet now the US wants to also control all content on its platforms and wants the world to see it as something totally different to what China can do.
Its basically, "it's OK for us, we are good, but not for them, they are the Baddies!!!"
> My point is that the US is mad at Tiktok because the CCP can do it, yet now the US wants to also control all content on its platforms and wants the world to see it as something totally different to what China can do.
> Its basically, "it's OK for us, we are good, but not for them, they are the Baddies!!!"
Yeah, it seems like we agree, except that I just wouldn't call it a double standard, because the US government is pretty clear that it does claim that it's "the good guys" and that China (or insert other historical nation state with a less-than-great relationship with the US) is "the bad guys." The US government isn't trying to make some principled claim about liberalism and the appropriate role of nation states domestically and on the global stage. It's just literally saying that it's the best nation state and that it should be responsible for and in control of a lot of global affairs. I don't agree, but I just don't characterize the problem as a double standard.
Correct.
But that's from the view point of the US only.
The US isn't going against Tiktok only locally, it wants to remove it world wide because of Chinese influence.
The US can influence local content how it likes, they have their own rules and its totally fine IMO.
The issue is controlling global content, which is what they are accusing China of, and what they really want to do if not already have been doing.
> I do agree with you that the ability of a government to censor at a large scale is likely to be bad for the people under that government's jurisdiction and the people of the world, even if that government is acting competently in its own self-interest.
I think this is obvious.
My point is that the US is mad at Tiktok because the CCP can do it, yet now the US wants to also control all content on its platforms and wants the world to see it as something totally different to what China can do.
Its basically, "it's OK for us, we are good, but not for them, they are the Baddies!!!"