Fogbow

sugar magnolia wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 7:38 pm I've found my new boyfriend!

Alan Rappeport @arappeport wrote: Trump blames Biden for a potential TikTok ban and calls it "election in interference."

In 2020, Trump signed an executive order to ban TikTok from app stores, warning: "The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security."

John Thomas8 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 10:30 pm Banned in the US:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... r-AA1nxMj6

The Senate just passed a TikTok "ban" as part of a larger foreign aid bill.
Once Biden signs it into law, ByteDance will have 270 days to sell TikTok.

TikTok is getting closer to launching an Instagram rival
/ TikTok is notifying users about a new app called TikTok Notes.

By Emma Roth
Apr 8, 2024, 11:48 PM GMT+2

TikTok is planning to release a new photo-sharing app that could take on Instagram. In a notification sent to users, TikTok says it’s launching “a new app for photo posts” called TikTok Notes, as reported earlier by TechCrunch.

The notification says it will share “existing and future public TikTok photo posts” to TikTok Notes while also giving users the ability to opt out. A new photo.tiktok.com URL (archived version) spotted by TechCrunch also briefly appeared online with a prompt to open a post in the TikTok Notes app. Judging by the image included on the site, it looks like you’ll be able to write a caption alongside your photo, too.


In a statement to TechCrunch, TikTok says it’s “exploring ways to empower our community to create and share their creativity with photos and text in a dedicated space for those formats” but didn’t say when it plans to release the app. The Verge reached out to TikTok with a request for more information but didn’t immediately hear back.

We first heard about the possibility of a TikTok photo-sharing app last month, when TheSpAndroid dug up code within the app that suggested it was working on an app called TikTok Photos.

But now, it looks like that app is getting closer to an official launch — and it could be a serious competitor to Instagram. TikTok Notes will likely come prepopulated with all of the photos TikTok users have already shared (given that most users opt in), which will save it from having to draw in an initial user base.

northland10 wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 3:58 pm If Biden signs a bill forcing the TikTok sale, then Trump can't campaign on banning TikTok. That's election interference (in Trump's, um, mind).

TikTok Fights Back Against Ban
TikTok's legal challenge asserts that the new law not only threatens its existence but may also set a dangerous precedent for free speech online.

Dan Frieth
May 7, 2024

On Tuesday, TikTok, together with its parent company ByteDance, took legal action in the US federal court to challenge a new law endorsed by President Joe Biden.

This legislation mandates that ByteDance either sell TikTok by January 19 or cease its operations in the US. The suit, filed in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, claims that the law infringes on several constitutional grounds, particularly violating the First Amendment’s free speech protections.

We obtained a copy of the lawsuit for you here.

TikTok, immensely popular among 170 million Americans, faces an existential threat under this law, enacted on April 24. The filing emphatically states that divestiture is unfeasible — “not commercially, not technologically, not legally.” It warns of an inevitable shutdown, which would “silence the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.”

Here are the key points you should know about TikTok’s argument:

Unprecedented and Discriminatory Legislation: TikTok claims that the Act is the first of its kind to single out and ban a specific online platform, infringing upon the rights of 170 million American users to participate in a global community of over a billion users.

Violation of First Amendment Rights: TikTok argues that the Act violates the First Amendment by imposing a ban on a major platform for speech and expression. They contend that the legislation infringes on free speech rights by selectively targeting TikTok based on its ownership and content.

Impractical Divestiture Requirements: The Act provides TikTok the option to divest its US operations as an alternative to a ban. TikTok contends this divestiture is commercially, technologically, and legally infeasible, especially within the mandated timeline, making it a non-viable option.

Lack of Substantive Justification: TikTok criticizes the Act for lacking concrete legislative findings or evidence that TikTok poses a national security threat. They argue the legislation is based on speculative risks rather than substantiated threats.

Existence of Less Restrictive Alternatives: TikTok points out that they have proposed and negotiated comprehensive security measures with the US government, referred to as “Project Texas”, which were disregarded in favor of the more extreme measure of banning the platform.

First Amendment Concerns: The First Amendment argument is particularly strong. US courts generally apply strict scrutiny to laws that target specific speech platforms or types of speech. Under strict scrutiny, the government must prove that the law is narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling governmental interest. TikTok’s claim that the Act fails to meet this standard because it is overbroad and not the least restrictive means to address the alleged security concerns could resonate with the courts.

Selective Targeting and Discrimination: TikTok’s argument that the Act discriminates against it by specifically targeting its platform while offering other companies potential exemptions or less severe restrictions could be seen as a violation of the equal protection principles implicit in the Fifth Amendment. This argument about selective targeting could strengthen TikTok’s case if they can convincingly argue that similar platforms are treated differently without a reasonable basis.



https://reclaimthenet.org/tiktok-fights ... gainst-ban

‘Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult’ Director Explains Wild Netflix Doc and Nearly Interviewing Leader Robert Shinn

By Lexi Carson
May 29, 2024 2:21pm PT

Netflix‘s docuseries exposes a sexually abusive church pastor and a cult in perhaps the most unexpected place — TikTok.

“Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult” follows a group of TikTok dancers who believe they are in a talent management company called 7M. The doc focuses on Miranda Wilking, a member who’s estranged from her family that’s desperately trying to get her out.

The 7M leader is Robert Shinn, a self-proclaimed “man of God” who is a pastor at an invite-only church called Shekinah. However, he uses his power to prey upon his members and abuses them verbally, emotionally and psychically. Members who escaped 7M shared their stories of heartbreak and grief under the leader in the doc. One former member, Priscylla Lee, currently has a lawsuit against Shinn and other Shekinah members.

Executive producer Jessica Acevedo says she first heard about 7M in February 2022 from Tim Milgram, who owns dance studio TMilly TV in North Hollywood, Calif.

“[Milgram] was telling me about 7M and how it’s created a lot of buzz in the dance community, and that one of the families, the Wilkings, had gone live [on Instagram] doing a cry for help, and a call to action if there’s anyone else that was affected by it,” Acevedo told Variety. “Like everyone else, I watched the live and was like ‘What the heck is going on here?’ and then got on the phone with the Wilkings later that evening, and we ended up talking for quite a few hours.”



https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/dancin ... 236018463/

Hello,

New research by Mozilla and AI Forensics exposes how the app “Tiktok Lite - ‘Save Data’”, a stripped-down version of TikTok downloaded 1 billion times, is missing critical safety features.

Big tech companies routinely introduce ‘lite’ versions of their products that are designed for regions with slow internet connections, primarily in Global Majority countries. But our new research has revealed that TikTok Lite - “Save Data” doesn’t just reduce the required bandwidth – it is also missing basic safety features like labels for videos containing graphic images, dangerous stunts and AI-generated content, as well as the options to filter unwanted or harmful content. By failing to include these critical user protections, TikTok Lite - “Save Data” is potentially dangerous in the context of elections, public health and in its dissemination of harmful disinformation.

Many technology platforms have a history of neglecting users outside of the EU and US, where there is currently less strict regulation and enforcement.

TikTok hit with U.S. lawsuit alleging illegal collection of children’s data

By Haleluya Hadero The Associated Press
Posted August 2, 2024 6:41 pm

The U.S. Justice Department sued TikTok on Friday, accusing the company of violating children’s online privacy law and running afoul of a settlement it had reached with another federal agency.


The complaint, filed together with the Federal Trade Commission in a California federal court, comes as the U.S. and the prominent social media company are embroiled in yet another legal battle that will determine if – or how – TikTok will continue to operate in the country.

The latest lawsuit focuses on allegations that TikTok, a trend-setting platform popular among young users, and its China-based parent company ByteDance violated a federal law that requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13. It also says the companies failed to honor requests from parents who wanted their children’s accounts deleted, and chose not to delete accounts even when the firms knew they belonged to kids under 13.

“This action is necessary to prevent the defendants, who are repeat offenders and operate on a massive scale, from collecting and using young children’s private information without any parental consent or control,” Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement.

TikTok said it disagreed with the allegations, “many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed.”

“We offer age-appropriate experiences with stringent safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users and have voluntarily launched features such as default screentime limits, Family Pairing, and additional privacy protections for minors,” the company said in a statement.



https://globalnews.ca/news/10678672/tik ... n-data-us/