Trump says he'll ban Tik Tok

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/08/01/trump-says-hell-ban-tik-tok.html

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Getting it pulled off of Google’s store is unlikely to do all that much. Heck, Epic Games was able to get around Fortnite not being available on Google’s store by making it downloadable directly to Android. If an 9 year old was able to download Fortnite like that, a twenty something could easily do the same thing for TikTok.

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Kpop fans must have really pissed him off.

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People are gonna be out rioting when they miss their bibbity bobbity boo…

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And how many lives did those horrible “tik tok kids” save by doing that?

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If only they could have prevented Herman Cain’s reservation.

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I’m sure that kind of move will gather all kind of support from the younger demographics which may have been ambivalent about voting.

Won’t backfire at all with all that supreme political foresight he has…<\s>

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The real reason his is banning TikTok: https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1286675192585093126

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“Well, I have that authority. I can do it with an executive order or that,” Trump said.

“Or that”? WTF? Was he pointing at a wet noodle?

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Certainly another point on the list for shutting it down, for sure.

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putting TikTok on the list would be extreme, unusual, and legally dubious

So, a day that ends in Y for the Trump Administration.

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I concur; I think that awesome lady pisses 45 off way more than the KPop Stans… but still, it’s not like “banning” TikTok will somehow make her stop, as if no other platforms exist.

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That will fix EVERYTHING!
Look over here kiddo’s sure Rome is on fire but look at these sparkly balls

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An one hand, I don’t want the government telling people what apps they can use.

On the other hand Tik Tok has ties to the Chinese Government and there have been security concerns about it. Probably pretty harmless for the average person, but I wouldn’t think someone with security clearance should use it.

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When do we get the tik tok lip syncing of how he’s going to ban tik tok?

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Think about how big data works, though. You can glean a lot of information from the people adjacent to the people you want to spy on. Watch their movements and you get a good idea of the movements of the target.

Are they easily buying a new expensive car or desperately getting a second mortgage? Are they vacationing this particular week or will the government employee/military spouse be “away.” Is the spouse cheating on the target? Maybe they can be recruited. The wives and husbands and parents and kids, in terms of espionage you’re always looking for an “in”, and often that comes from those adjacent people.

And I think it is as much about corporate espionage anyway, if not moreso. Gleaning information about the companies themselves, what they are working on, insider trading info, finding out about products before they are public, etc., etc. The way people use passwords, just seeing the password to TikTok might get you into places that lead to other more interesting places.

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Epic Games did that on purpose because they didn’t want to share revenue with Google. They also reversed course because sideloading was a barrier to entry for their target audience.

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I just want to pipe up once more and declare my complete adoration for the gif used in the main article. Effin awesome.

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But, this is like half the apps in any app store. The “flashlight” one that needs all the permissions? Same deal. I’m sure the Chinese government is smart enough to buy hacked info on the darkweb, too.
This is totally Fanta Fuhrer deciding he can blame tik tok for his awful rallies. And probably a heap of “server in her own basement” syndrome, cuz it totally matters where a hard drive is kept, ya know.

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My understanding of TikTok’s use -base is that it is primarily young and unlikely to be adjacent to those with classified information. It seems more likely that TikTok could be used as a vessel for pro-China propaganda down the road. Then again, LinkedIn has been used by China to turn people and gather classified intel.

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