I think the easier framework is this: China has banned her citizens from using most United States-based social networks. This prevents American companies from accruing profit from Chinese citizens and advertisers, and shrinks their potential pool of user data for refining algorithms or selling. As such, it's effectively a trade policy for us to in turn ban her social networks. Unless and until we are equally able to harvest Chinese data and suck yen out of China, she will not be allowed to harvest American data and suck dollars out of here.
China is classified as a foreign adversary, so this goes beyond trade policy. Foreign adversaries show a pattern of conduct that threaten national security. People are not comfortable with foreign adversaries having a direct line to our youth's attention and having their finger on the dial.
It’s overly simplistic. It doesn’t take into account the ideals the USA was founded on (including free speech as an inalienable right), nor does it take into account the large shift in US government policy.
That’s asinine. Every nation responds to things such as tariffs with a proportional response.
We have plenty of evidence that the U.S. has been harmed with our open approach to unfettered access to our electronic systems. Meanwhile our geopolitical adversaries have no qualms about fire walling their citizens from accessing foreign networks at all.
This is a clear case where the U.S. should treat them as they treat us. IMO any 1st amendment arguments are made in bad faith because there are no shortages of non-hostile channels for Americans to speak freely and openly.
Does anyone else remember “free speech zones” from the Iraq War era? Where was this argument then?
Wait, so your position is that the US is harmed by being the global master of the internet (through companies like Meta that are synonymous with the internet in some places in the world) and that we should build the great American firewall to keep our internet in and other's out?
Well, it does offer an avenue for inacting some form of ban. And not so sure it's all that morally low.
Because what China's ban of US social media might say is that China recognizes social-media's power to influence the populace (think Russia's use of Twitter and FB in the 2016 election). Yeah, am actually in favor of some form of restrictions, because we as a country need to realize that social media is a tool that can be used against us.
Yeah, if it was an outside country owning a major US newspaper, it'd be more clearcut.
If social media is so bad let's regulate ALL of it, US firms included.
Personally I fear US-controlled social media more than Sino-controlled ones. It's not like the CCP can come and arrest me here in the US, or really use my data against me in any way. Both have plenty of reasons to throw propaganda at me, or censor certain viewpoints.
At least when it's a foreign country I have a chance of seeing through it, compared to so many domestic media sources currently licking Trump's feet. I'm supposed to feel secure that they'll be telling me the truth over the next 4 years? Acting in my interest?
I understand the sentiment, and in the short term I agree with you (what can a foreign-controlled tik-tok going to do to us?). But think giving influence to our online behavior directly over to an adversarial foreign-power doesn't sound like a good idea. To me, it reminds me of WWII and the codebreakers in England who broke the German codes. They didn't use it to decode messages all time, because they didn't want to alert the Germans, only during significant events. Yeah, control over a major social media outlet could be a tool to use selectively during important events to influence the masses.
Not in a good idea in my opinion, but am no expert in this.
That's fair. I do think China would probably just omit viewpoints rather than outright lie and it'd be hard to detect.
I guess I don't personally fear China as much as Congress does, I view them more as a rival than an enemy. I wish them well, and hope they make more cool apps and games for me to enjoy. And they'd probably love nothing more than for us to overthrow our oligarchs (just like we want to see the fall of the CCP), and that's not necessarily against my interests as a regular Joe.
I can understand why Congress is concerned, I just wish they'd try to address the root of the problem (enforce common safety and transparency standards for all social media) rather than the targeted approach they've taken.
meta also cannot arrest you here in the US. we should maintain tighter controls on the state's use of data and access thereto because it's the entity we've given a monopoly on violence. that is the appropriate point for controls to be applied.
