It sounds like those same “spying features” — e.g. examining server logs — would also be useful as *counter-*spying features, to verify that TikTok is not being used as a weapon by the genocidal regime currently in power in China.
Given that the genocidal regime has engaged in illegal harassment, assault, and espionage against people of Chinese ethnicity residing in the US, Canada, and other nations, that seems like a pretty good idea, really! The US government has a legitimate interest in protecting its citizens of Chinese descent from lawless abuse by a foreign power.
Oh fuck off. They wanted it to spy on their own citizens and those of its allied nations. They wanted the same backdoor google, Facebook, Microsoft and all our telecom companies give them.
I’ve seen a lot of bad takes but this takes the cake. There isn’t anything virtuous about mass spy programs and no way was any actual chinese data even on the table.
They wanted the same backdoor google, Facebook, Microsoft and all our telecom companies give them.
None of those companies give “backdoor access”. All information has to be obtained legally via a warrant. Why do you think they’re all throwing E2E encryption in their apps? Nobody wants to work with the government here, it’s bad for business.
I suggest you read all about FISA courts.
They issue court orders which companies cannot divulge they’re under and those things are often not limited to surveillance of specific individuals in the course of investigating a crime but are often mass surveillance orders.
This is how the NSA had servers directly in some US phone providers feeding directly from their core systems.
All this was brought out as part of the Snowden revelations, so you should know better than parrot the description of what has been a fantasy version of how the Law works in the US since 9/11 and the Patriot Act.
Still today it’s a core rule for companies anywhere in the World which have trade secrets that might be of benefit to US companies to not use any systems hosted or owned by US companies (or, in fact, UK ones, were such laws are even worse) exactly because said US companies can silently be complied BY LAW to give the local spy agencies access to that data.
Given that the genocidal regime has engaged in illegal harassment, assault, and espionage
Yes, but enough about the US regime.
While I admire your optimism, the fact that US intelligence agencies have been caught -repeatedly- violating citizens’ privacy under cover of covert programs… I can only asssume this was more of the same.
and Iraq had WMDs, right? right?
It amazes me how you keep believing the lies of the US government.
Are you denying the Uighur genocide?
Are you denying that 30 years of invasions and bombings in the Middle East is anything less?
Genocide denial is illegal in many countries, just so ya know.
Maybe one day it will be illegal to deny the crimes comitted by American murderers.
If you’re looking for an American genocide, the Middle East is the wrong place to look. You want the Native Americans.
“Genocide” means something, and “stupid fucking idiotic war” isn’t it.
It’s not illegal to discuss the crimes of the US government in the US. It is illegal to discuss the crimes of the China government in China, by the way.
“It’s not that bad because it wasn’t an actual genocide. we already have genocide under our belt.”
geez. how many war criminals were put to justice during that “stupid fucking idiotic war”?
It’s not illegal to discuss the crimes of the US government in the US
discussing does fuck all when you have laws to prevent any justice being served for the crimes you commit abroad and sanctions the people investigating it.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/08/03/us-hague-invasion-act-becomes-law
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/14/us-sanctions-international-criminal-court
and Fuck China too. There aren’t just tankies and yankies on the internet. We can be critical of both of you.
And what has that discussion produced? Has the American murderers stopped killing people? They let you discuss, because nothing will come out of it. You have no influence to change policy.
I mean, you certainly don’t have any control of the China government, which is still actively murdering and raping people in Xinjiang in an ongoing concerted effort to eradicate a whole ethnic group. Why do you bother denying the ongoing genocide?
So… the US government, the one we actually know with hard evidence uses every local company to collect massive amounts of user data and spy on them - from Facebook to Microsoft to Intel to basically any tech company, with backdoors engineered in under threat, is now being caught trying to do the same with TikTok and you blame… China? Somehow China is the one spying and this is all the US defending itself?
Jesus, I couldn’t write a more ridiculous parody of a patriot if I tried to.
Oh yeah. Let’s completely surrender our right to privacy because China bad. Surely the American government only has the well-being of its citizens in mind.
When has sacrificing our rights to privacy because of fear of an enemy been a problem? No way the government would use that to gain new powers and spy on everyone
See also: Patriot Act
