"TikTok is stealing your data."

Government: We don't like competition.

"TikTok is influencing you politically"

So you'll shut down Fox News, right?

Facebook too. Don't forget Cambridge Analytica

US government couldn’t give two shits if TikTok steals your data. They just don’t want a foreign adversary to.

Also, they don't care about the data. They care about the influence.

"Actually, I want to own it"

This is the most literate take on the issue that I've seen.

I don't like or use TikTok, but when I see US politicians and TV "Security experts" spiting nonsense arguments to justify banning it shows to me that this is a frivolous case to benefit META and Alphabet rather than a genuine concern in data collection and privacy.

No one gives a shit if your data is collected. I (and presumably you) are not worthwhile targets. The issue is the Chinese government using social media apps based in China to feed anti-US/pro-Chinese propaganda. I'd bet $100 that if (mostly likely when) China invades Taiwan all Chinese owned social media outlets will instantly feature lots of anti-Taiwan content in every country that they may turn for help to try and turn the US population's opinion more favorable to China's side.
- This has already happened in douyin, Chinese version of tiktok.

We can’t afford bread and they’re trying to ban the circus

This was the obvious progression

The real kick in the nuts is that we get to see that the average Chinese can afford groceries and has disposable income for entertainment, and just in general doesn’t have the insane monetary burdens we have here.

Are you high or sth? The chinese are getting as much extorted as you do, the system of it just differs. Chona got a huge homelessness problem they try to hide from their own people (because officially homelessness was "eradicated" years ago according to propaganda). The worker extortion is brutal and child labour a big problem as well. However, you won't see anything outspokenly crticial about those systemic problems im China on RedNote or sth., their deletion and suppression algorithms are extremely well tuned. Also they got stuff like neighborhood watch and other means of systemic social suppression who'll be alerted of "problematic people" if you post (too much) criticism. Or of course police, in case you really annoy them or happen to be the wrong ethnicity.
- You can both be right. The parent post is about perception and propaganda.
- Not high. Upvoted nonetheless because what you point out is a very important counterbalance in the conversation. It would be naive to believe there’s not some price paid for what looks like a more secure life.
  Yes, china is doing horrible things behind the scenes. Uyghur genocide is beyond reprehensible, aggressive imperialist expansion posturing in the South China Sea, the Taiwan mess, wildly extreme censorship, the great firewall, crackdowns on dissent, intimidation and coercion of Chinese abroad under threat of harming their families in mainland china, corporate espionage, the list goes on.
  But here’s the rub.
  The cost of just existing here in the states is becoming simply unbelievable, literally. Chinese folks are asking us Americans on this new app if it’s true we need to pay thousands for an ambulance or work 2 jobs to simply afford to live. It’s so outlandish that these Chinese people thought it was their own government telling them made-up ‘America bad’ stories.
  As you point out we pay a price for our lifestyle too, and the laundry list is just as long. Despite the evil things our government does, I’m wondering why we ended up with a system where you could become homeless from the financial shock of one ambulance ride, whereas the average Chinese doesn’t have to go live on a sidewalk in the same scenario.
  So despite the roughly similar evil governments, why the disparity in daily affordable life?
  If you’re at all open to critiquing new information and updating your worldview to accommodate, then you would probably be wondering similar questions as I am now.
The average Chinese citizen doesn't have much access to the internet.
- According to this statista article at least 80% of their population has mobile phones with internet access as of 2023. So I'm not sure exactly what you're talking about here.

There are laws, TikTok is almost certainly breaking them.

Source?
There needs to be at least some evidence that the American subsidiary of tiktok broke data privacy laws
If they did, they'd be tried under those laws, not some new legislation that allows carte blanche banning without a trial. That should tell you everything you need to know about whether there's any proof of them breaking data privacy laws.
So are Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and pretty much any big US corporation out there. But protectionism tends to ignore that. They should all (including) either be banned or hit with monumental fines.
None that are comprehensive and strong like all the rest of the G7

"Hey! We can't let them steal that. I wanted to steal that!"

Meanwhile there's https://loops.video/ and you should share that like I'm doing with your friends that are hooked on tiktok.

Cuz, fuck, this banning our voice thing is getting old.

Pretty sure they're getting the internet hug of death atm.
- Lol. Very true. And on a weekend! Lol. With great pow...app comes a bunch of users.

Haha NO!? We're gonna ban it, and whatever platforms you move to, in a game of whackamole until you pick the "right one", like facebook!

Good luck everybodyyyyyy (starts swinging mallet) /S but also that seems to be their mindset

I’m really not able to keep up with the hive on this. One minute- they hate TikTok, A day later, they defend TikTok?

They aren't defending TikTok so much as calling the bluff. The US govt doesn't actually give a rats ass about privacy or data collection. Some relics in Congress were convinced its a national security threat and needs to be banned OR SOLD TO A US BASED BUYER (I'm personally thinking this is the Muskrat's doing, but that's all conspiracy) to preserve national security.
A massive, comprehensive data privacy law would've covered the TikTok base and any software by any other threat. Home run, Grand slam, easy win and easy points.
Of course it's not going that way because it was never about national security.
- OR SOLD TO A US BASED BUYER (I'm personally thinking this is the Muskrat's doing, but that's all conspiracy)
  If true, Musk may have bought shares in companies that deal with data and wants to simply profit. I have had a work colleague who got rich buying stocks and is bit of a fan of Elon Musk. He admits that private data is basically the new gold but the masses is all too unaware or uncaring for it. So you might be on to something with this.
- A massive, comprehensive data privacy law would've covered the TikTok base and any software by any other threat
  That's assuming the ban is motivated by privacy reasons, but i don't think it is. It's far more likely that it's because the US has no control over the platform's algorithm, which they fear is feeding Americans media and perspectives that are antithetical to their foreign policy objectives (Blinken and Romney have both stated as much).
  A US buyer would be more friendly/responsive to US regulatory influence. That's the only reason this isn't a privacy bill instead of a ban or forced sale.
The hive is (or at least was) a bit split. Many users seem to hate TikTok because they just dislike it for whatever reason (e.g., addictive short form videos), but others view this as a fascist move by the US or anti-China.
I think Trump is going to try to work out a deal where TickTok gets to stay the way it is if the company publicly blames Democrats for all the noise.

YOUR data doesn't matter. Information gained from mass analysis of data that is tied to govt workers and military personnel is a security concern and it is treated as such. Nobody cares about your particular data, on either side (well, maybe ad companies, but if you are a tiktoker, you are already fully compromised there).

On the up side for tiktok kids. The CCP will likely order trump to unblock it.

If our data didn't matter, they wouldn't be harvesting it, never mind making obscene amounts of money with it. If our data didn't matter, there would not be a multibillion dollar industry based entirely upon it.
YOUR data DOES matter, if it didn't, why would they go to such lengths to gather it in the first place?
- Yeah ... I said that. Your data can be used and sold, it just doesn't have anything to do with a tiktok ban. They already have your ad data, especially if you are a tiktoker/social media user. The van stems from security concerns, it has nothing to do with the average user, no one cares about them.

If the catered ads weren’t so obvious that pretty much most social platforms are stealing your data, not sure what is.

Nothing is free. Especially a ‘free’ account. You are the product at that point.