Tick Tock on TikTok...or Not?

The Coming Ban on TikTok May Not Last--God Help Us.

Before I get too far into this, let me just say, I think TikTok is dumb. Watching people make fools of themselves doing stupid dances, asking/answering inane trivia questions, and reiterating unnoteworthy events and news is a waste of time. Doing it in uber-small clips is utterly mind-numbing and a complete time suck. The lazy way people post signs and images of riddles, and prefabricated “reality” scenes is worse than being bombarded by years of 20 years of Kardashian highlights crammed into a 4 minute clip streamed right into your cerebral cortex. I can’t scroll it for more than a couple minutes without feeling considerably dumber than when I first started. The amount of incorrect “factual” information on there is rampant.

Oh, and some people use it to peer to peer market making it akin to modern Amway. That people make a living creating TikTok content (and can be extremely successful in doing so) remains one of the great mysteries of the modern world. Add to that much of it is like softcore OnlyFans and it’s no wonder more and more addicted young women today have depression and self-confidence issues. It’s format is so ubiquitous now, that commercials on mainstream media now mimic the style and cheesiness in selling their products, or outright repurpose the same commercials.

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, which in itself the majority owner of is the Chinese Communist Party. This does not sit well with many in our national security environment, particularly after we figured out how easy it was to mislead the American public through social media in the 2016 and 2020 elections. To get a good demonstration why, consider that in China, TikTok is largely informative, productive, and positive and reiterates that positive messaging that the Chinese government wants to push out. In America, it’s id-fodder, and escalates content that is unhelpful, even disruptive and discordant for a society. It’s one of the reasons vaccine misinformation is so widespread, and the fringes get so riled up over minor items in their media silos.

There are also severe security lapses within the software intended to exploit computers and information technology. If you download it to your phone, it has access to EVERYTHING on your phone. Is your phone included to your Microsoft OneDrive network? It now has access to all of that. Ever bring your phone into work? If there is a roaming wi-fi you may have exposed your work environment now. You opt into that when you blindly sign the Terms of Service. Ever read one? Exactly.

It was with this in mind, particularly in relation to our military, that many of the heads inside Washington felt extremely uncomfortable with the fastest growing social app on the market being owned by an global adversary. First proposed during the later years of the Trump Administration (when COVID was endemic and people were pointing the fingers at Wuhan and the Chinese Government for covering it up), the Biden Administration took legal action to force the Chinese Government to either divest from ByteDance or sell the American version outright. They refused to do so and now a “ban” is set to take effect this week. What does that mean? App stores in the US will be forced to remove it from their stores. It won’t be removed from your phones, but security updates won’t occur making your phone even more susceptible to hackers exploiting weaknesses.

Lower courts have upheld the ban on National Security concerns and this past week the Supreme Court refused to overturn the lower court ruling. The ban is set to take place just before Trump is inaugurated as President.

If there’s one thing we really know about Trump, it’s that he doesn’t care about much about anything (other than golf, stature and having an aura of success). If it’s popular, he’ll go along with it regardless of consequences, which is basically his political M.O.. He wants to be liked. By everybody. Even our enemies. TikTok is extremely popular, particularly with younger people who saw a big swing toward the orange one this last election. Quite often, people don’t understand why things should be done and how those benefits accrue to them; in this case, they just don’t see or feel any tangible impacts from TikTok that a ban to most seems kind of stupid. It doesn’t matter that Silicon Valley can replace it with the exact same thing with a different logo in minutes, TikTok is Coke already on the market, while a substitute would be like an off brand cola that your mom bought for a quarter; there is a lot of brand loyalty in social media. Don’t believe me? Elon Musk killed Twitter years ago and there’s still not a great alternative that feels the same, even though there are plenty of similar (almost exactly so) products out there like Threads, BlueSky, Mastadon and even Truth Social.

China doesn’t want to sell TikTok. Trump wants to be liked by Xi and is persuaded by his flattery. Trump wants to be liked by Americans, and Americans want their TikTok, no matter how dumb it makes them. Who doesn’t like TikTok? Military generals. Who doesn’t Trump like? People who tell him ‘No’ like Military Generals. This to me seems like a pretty easy political calculation if you tend to think the way Trump always thinks.

I would not be shocked if after taking office Trump announces he will either unilaterally lift the ban calling it counterproductive, or that he has negotiated with the Chinese to fix whatever problems there are and that there is no longer any need for it. It’s the easiest political win a pol can get— Biden basically gift wrapped it for him, despite how well intentioned (and correct) it was. We will all get to witness the coming generations get a little less intelligent and a lot more focused on stupid dances, bad trivia and faux reality. That Facebook and X and other social media platforms this last week kowtowed to the incoming administration and said they will no longer do factchecking on their platforms only underscores that informational crap is going to float to the top. I once likened “Godwin’s Law” (“Bad money forces out good money”) to the information age as “Bad Information forces out Good Information.” (Call it “PurpleAmerica’s Law”) and over the coming years, our media distribution is going to get filled more and more with mindsludge.

Welcome to the marketplace of ideas of the 2020s.

PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day

The first #1 song of the 2010s was “TikTok” by Kesha.

PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject

I googled the top quotes on TikTok, and I suspect this makes for a good way to go out:

"Loving how I look and how I feel"

"Dance like nobody's watching"

"Simplicity is the key to brilliance"

"The party doesn't start until I walk in"

"Don't let life get the best of you! Keep being YOU and remember that it's okay to feel overwhelmed at times"

"Struggles in life build our character and patience is key on this journey"

"Embrace the challenges, trust the process, and find pure happiness in your growth"

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