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Showing Original Post only (View all)The TikTok Problem Is Not What You Think [View all]
Matt Stoller at BIG writes
There are many reasons members agreed to support this legislation, and there are open questions about what will happen in the Senate, and then what happens in the marketplace if this bill gets signed into law. There are also many objections, such as the claim that this legislation is an abridgment of free speech, that its xenophobic, that it will jeopardize the hard work of creators or businesses who depend on TikTok, or that addressing TikTok ownership shouldnt happen because we havent passed basic privacy protections or regulated social media in any significant way.
While I support the bill, and find most of these objections lacking in credibility, there is some legitimacy to the skepticism, which Ill get into. But what I want to offer is some basic framing, which is that this legislation has to be understood not as a substitute to a broader movement for reform of social media and privacy, but as part of it. And there are two basic points here. The first is while its true that Congress hasnt passed a comprehensive Federal privacy law, its also true the Biden administration is orchestrating a remarkable revolution in privacy protections by resurrecting old legal tools. There are reasons you havent heard of this revolution that have to do with the incentives of privacy scholars, but the litigation here is fierce and deeply bitter. The second is those who say we cant even regulate social media and now you want to divest TikToks ownership! have it 180 degrees backwards. Being able to address Chinese ownership of one video sharing platform is part of the movement to reform all platforms.
Ok, lets dive in.
Biden Rewrites the Rules of the Internet
Two months ago, the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), an advertising trade association composed of data brokers and tech giants like Google and Adobe, announced it was developing new industry standards for corporations who collect and process sensitive consumer location data. It might have seemed like a one off, except that major law firms were also sending out alerts and information to clients telling them to just stop using certain location data to target individuals. It turns out, people really dont like it when corporations, or employers, abusers, etc know when they go to the doctor, church, a political rally, a gay bar, and so forth. And the industry of data brokers was listening.
Why? Well its because of a little noticed but pivotal legal change in enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission in a series of privacy cases. Traditionally, brokers could do anything they wanted with your data (with a few exceptions), as long as they disclosed they were doing it. So usually there was some long web form that youd click on, and thats it, your data is now their data. Thats the notice and consent framework. The FTC brought cases, but these were under the framework of deception, not using your sensitive data but lying to you about it. Brokers could also fix this situation with another impenetrable click-through screen you wouldnt notice. But in August of 2022, the commission brought a different kind of case, against a data broker called Kochava, arguing that collecting and using certain kinds of data, whether that was disclosed or not, was unfair. It was a novel legal claim, and it wasnt clear if a judge would ratify it.
While I support the bill, and find most of these objections lacking in credibility, there is some legitimacy to the skepticism, which Ill get into. But what I want to offer is some basic framing, which is that this legislation has to be understood not as a substitute to a broader movement for reform of social media and privacy, but as part of it. And there are two basic points here. The first is while its true that Congress hasnt passed a comprehensive Federal privacy law, its also true the Biden administration is orchestrating a remarkable revolution in privacy protections by resurrecting old legal tools. There are reasons you havent heard of this revolution that have to do with the incentives of privacy scholars, but the litigation here is fierce and deeply bitter. The second is those who say we cant even regulate social media and now you want to divest TikToks ownership! have it 180 degrees backwards. Being able to address Chinese ownership of one video sharing platform is part of the movement to reform all platforms.
Ok, lets dive in.
Biden Rewrites the Rules of the Internet
Two months ago, the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), an advertising trade association composed of data brokers and tech giants like Google and Adobe, announced it was developing new industry standards for corporations who collect and process sensitive consumer location data. It might have seemed like a one off, except that major law firms were also sending out alerts and information to clients telling them to just stop using certain location data to target individuals. It turns out, people really dont like it when corporations, or employers, abusers, etc know when they go to the doctor, church, a political rally, a gay bar, and so forth. And the industry of data brokers was listening.
Why? Well its because of a little noticed but pivotal legal change in enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission in a series of privacy cases. Traditionally, brokers could do anything they wanted with your data (with a few exceptions), as long as they disclosed they were doing it. So usually there was some long web form that youd click on, and thats it, your data is now their data. Thats the notice and consent framework. The FTC brought cases, but these were under the framework of deception, not using your sensitive data but lying to you about it. Brokers could also fix this situation with another impenetrable click-through screen you wouldnt notice. But in August of 2022, the commission brought a different kind of case, against a data broker called Kochava, arguing that collecting and using certain kinds of data, whether that was disclosed or not, was unfair. It was a novel legal claim, and it wasnt clear if a judge would ratify it.
Continued
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I believe it's just part of *rumps' reelection campaign which he started in 2020
Uncle Joe
Mar 16
#72
I'm under the impression that Tic or Tix Tok will not fall into the...................
Lovie777
Mar 15
#5
Steve Mnuchin is putting together a group to buy it. So there is every possibility that it will.
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#7
Where are the links related to all this part about Mnuchin? No one's posting them.
ancianita
Mar 15
#38
They aren't going to use this as a "domestic distraction." This is a right wing attempt to take over social media.
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#15
Maybe not. Who knows the mind of the billionaire class but through their actions both seen and reported.
ancianita
Mar 15
#28
He has sent you checks for stealth uses of facial recognition gathering and sales. He sent you checks for that.
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#32
I hear you. But you need to hear that it COST Zuckerberg. The government you fault will
ancianita
Mar 15
#37
About this... Neither do you know that they do. Why do you think the Biden FTC's tackling this at all. So we DO know.
ancianita
Mar 15
#41
An excellent analysis that underscores just how brilliant Joe Biden's administration is, and how media
ancianita
Mar 15
#8
I think, while you don't have a fully cooperative legislative branch, you can ONLY do it piecemeal.
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#16
I disagree with that. Getting any control over this, if that's even possible, will take years if not decades.
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#49
I never said I was for banning tiktok, and I'm not for it. Not sure where you got that.
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#52
Making the perfect the enemy of the good? First things first: build legal precedent. That's not a piecemeal
ancianita
Mar 15
#20
I thought the elections machines' viability had been tested in the courts? Do you have links to back up what you
ancianita
Mar 15
#36
And the Cambridge Analytica crap happened because Zuckerberg made it happen in his fully US owned company
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#22
Lots of folks here were quite sneery when concerns were raised. They insisted there was nothing wrong
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#29
And installed a team in Trump Tower to help Cambridge Analytica identify likely targets to apply psy ops to to get them
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#34
And Musk controls the X algorithms, and Zuckerberg, who gave Facebook over to Jared to use as his
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#26
That just means they have identified you as a non-productive target for the right wing.
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#56
I wouldn't care. I hate social media, for all these reasons, and don't use any but DU. But I don't think anyone
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#45
I used to say if you use social media, you have to be aware that is happening and that you are agreeing
Scrivener7
Mar 15
#55
there is no evidence that the chinese government 'controls the algorithm' of tik tok.
Voltaire2
Mar 15
#65
I am disgusted that this issue is being treated seriously while our election system is still vulnerable
redqueen
Mar 15
#24
What makes you think the election system security isn't being dealt with?
SouthernDem4ever
Mar 15
#40
I don't use Tik-Toc, X, Facebook, but I am interested in what happens with DU.
OAITW r.2.0
Mar 15
#59