TikTok ban: "It's a spy balloon into your phone."
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CrystalRaindrops — 3 years ago(March 01, 2023 02:32 AM)
Will TikTok Be Banned From The U.S.? Here's Where It Stands.
Pressure is mounting from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress to pass a national ban on TikTok, the social video app owned by Chinese company ByteDance which has already been banned on federal devices and some college campuses over privacy concerns.
KEY FACTS
TikTok has faced calls for bans from critics who fear China may use the platform to access the data of American users.
Criticisms of the social platform intensified in the fall after reports revealed ByteDance repeatedly accessed U.S. user data and planned to use TikTok to track the location of specific American citizens (including Forbes journalists).
ByteDance previously denied it had used TikTok to “target” journalists or public figures, but after an internal investigation revealed employees tracked journalists covering the company, it fired its chief internal auditor who led the team orchestrating the surveillance.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who sponsored the ban on TikTok on federal devices which was signed into law in December, also introduced broader legislation on January 25 which would ban TikTok on all devices inside the U.S.
Republicans have long called for a ban, claiming TikTok would allow the Chinese government to spy on American citizens — but they’re now joined by a small number of Democrats, including Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who urged Apple and Google last week to remove the app from their respective stores.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said TikTok poses "national security concerns" at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in November.
President Joe Biden approved a ban on TikTok on devices owned by government agencies in December, following a wave of primarily Republican-led states who had passed similar measures.
Since December, a number of schools and university systems have banned TikTok on school-owned devices and on school wifi and have discouraged the use of TikTok on students’ personal devices.
Some lawmakers are trying to go a step further and pass a nationwide ban on TikTok — Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced such a bill in January.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/02/07/will-tiktok-be-banned-from-the-us-heres-where-it-stands/ -
CrystalRaindrops — 3 years ago(March 01, 2023 09:55 AM)
The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said on Tuesday he opposed a Republican bill that would give President Joe Biden the power to ban Chinese-owned social media app TikTok and other apps.
The committee opened debate on Tuesday on the measure, which Republican committee chair Michael McCaul sponsored to grant the administration new powers to ban the ByteDance-owned app that is used by more than 100 million Americans. The committee delayed a vote on the measure until Wednesday.
"Many Americans do not realize one of the greatest surveillance efforts from (China) has been silently gathering personal data in their pockets," McCaul said, referring to TikTok. "TikTok is a national security threat … It is time to act."
Representative Gregory Meeks said he strongly opposed the legislation, saying it would "damage our allegiances across the globe, bring more companies into China's sphere, destroy jobs here in the United States and undercut core American values of free speech and free enterprise." -
WarrenPeace — 3 years ago(March 01, 2023 03:45 PM)
If it is true that it is used to spy, how exactly does it work?
Is there some Chinese person sitting there watching someone watching their video or are they able to tap into their phones once they start watching TT or download their app?
Our Govt. is already telling it's workers to stop watching it on their phones and it seems taking steps like that would be enough to prevent it.
I mean, watching a common person's movements like going grocery shopping, gassing up the car, doing chores, watching Three's Company etc is meaningless.
I think it is more rumor than anything else.
Otherwise how did we find out about it?
Someone spying on them?
LOL
And our own govt. can spy on you if you have a cell phone.
That is how they catch criminals.
By tapping into it since it gives off signals letting Big Bro. know where you are when you have it with you.
Criminals need to learn by now to leave it at home or somewhere else and not on them if they are going to commit a crime.
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall -
CrystalRaindrops — 3 years ago(March 02, 2023 09:08 AM)
I don't know. It doesn't make much sense, since there are tons of products in the US from China that could get people's data and/or monitor them if they wanted to.
Some smart TVs have cameras in them (facing the people watching TV). Some people don't even know their TVs have cameras in them. Even if they do know, it's probably recording them when they don't realize it. -
WarrenPeace — 3 years ago(March 02, 2023 04:03 PM)
I did put a piece of tape over the camera on my computer.
I dunno how watching any of us common folk can be that exciting for them.
"He is masturbating? Again???"
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall -
WarrenPeace — 3 years ago(March 02, 2023 04:05 PM)
And good point of how we have products from China they could use to spy on.
Like Apple electronics.
How come clowngress is not suspecting and going ape over that instead?
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall