Bonum Certa Men Certa

ByteDance is a National and International Threat, TikTok is Just a 'Command and Control' Front End

You would not let kids try narcotics, would you?

Fentanylware: Who's there?



Summary: TikTok, a weapon manufactured and managed by ByteDance, does much harm; we remind readers what ByteDance is really up to and cite a dozen news links about it

THERE is not enough recognition that TikTok is a dangerous weapon which deserves banning. For over a decade all the media scrutiny was directed at Twitter and GAFAM (or MAGMA, which includes LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook after the "Meta" rebrand).



"For ByteDance, there's no need for a business model."We don't typically condone banning or "censoring" things, but in this case it's like saying that issuing a call to ban nuclear weapons is a censorious action. We intend to keep reminding readers, at least once a week, what TikTok truly is. TikTok is not social control media but a tentacle of a spying operation, ByteDance. It's controlled by China, contrary to what ByteDance tried to say some days ago [1-2] (face-saving lies), and it is doing real harm to Western societies [3] while sporting so-called "Influencers" [4-5] (euphemism for shills, which it now bankrolls to lobby for ByteDance).

For ByteDance, there's no need for a business model. It's just spying on billions of people. The Communist Party can cover the expenses. In fact, there are no sign of a commercial success (things get shut down again [6-8]), but the data stays forever. Moreover, the harm done to one's surroundings is irreversible.

TikTok divides society (see the examples published in Daily Links earlier today [9, 10]. It's by design. It also encourages the so-called "users" to vandalise and harm their surroundings... unless they are in China or in close Chinese allies (see the documentary what ByteDance internally calls "spinach" vs "opium" TikTok). It controls behaviour. It can seed discord. The "app" makes an army of "zombies". They are remotely conrrolled, in very large numbers (at scale). Consider our ongoing series about the 'Cancel Culture' Industry [1, 2, 3, 4].

"Even if the government does not ban TikTok, you really need to get TikTok out of your life and, if possible, out of the hands of loves ones."There's growing recognition in the West that TikTok harms kids' minds. It also harms their bodies (incidentally, the famous Facebook whistleblower speaks about it again; Facebook too does both). A week ago, responding to this perception criris, TikTok decided to "give parents even more control over what their teens see", but it's actually ByteDance controlling what they see.

While it's nice to see YouTube and Twitter circling down the drain (among other social control networks), let's not forget the threat which is ByteDance. Even if the government does not ban TikTok, you really need to get TikTok out of your life and, if possible, out of the hands of loves ones.

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. 2023-06-30TikTok tries to convince users it’s keeping their data safe
  2. 2023-06-30TikTok-owner ByteDance debuts Ripple music creation app
  3. 2023-06-28 [Older] Desperation for a Viral Moment Is Driving Concerts Off the Rails
  4. 2023-06-26 [Older] Influencers Gas Up Shein After Sketchy Factory Tour: No Slave Labor Here!
  5. 2023-06-28 [Older] TikTok Bankrolls Influencers' Lawsuit Against Montana Ban
  6. 2023-06-27 [Older] TikTok Discontinues BeReal Clone, Adds Parental Filters
  7. 2023-06-27 [Older] TikTok Is Axing an In-App Feature Called TikTok Now That Mirrored BeReal
  8. 2023-06-27 [Older] TikTok is jumping off the BeReal bandwagon by killing TikTok Now

Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 17/04/2025: Calling Whistleblowers at Microsoft, Slop Doing More Harm Everywhere
Links for the day
Trump Authority (CA) With a Trump NSA is All About Security, But Whose?
A "turnkey tyranny", as the NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake loved to call it
You Should Probably Self-Host Your E-mail and Never Use a Web Browser for Mail
Does anyone still believe Gmail is "free"?
StatCounter Shows the Market Share of Vista 11 is Decreasing in Ukraine This Year
Microsoft abandoning Vista 10 users would be a victory for Vladimir Putin
 
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: In Conclusion and Enforcement Action Proceeds Against OSI at the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA)
There's too much to cover in one single part
When You Fail to Filter Your Clients You End Up SLAPPing Reporters on Behalf of Bad People From Microsoft in Another Continent
“American Psycho”
Links 17/04/2025: LayoffBot and Tesla Cheats Buyers
Links for the day
Gemnini Links 17/04/2025: Role of Language and Back to Mutt for E-mail
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 16, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Confirming IBM Shutdowns and Layoffs Today
It's not over yet
Gemini Links 16/04/2025: The 2010s Are Calling and Why "Tools Will Not Liberate Us"
Links for the day
Links 16/04/2025: Cliff Lynch RIP, More Attacks on Science (NASA)
Links for the day
Google Promotes Fake Articles (LLM Slop) Instead of Originals, Relaying Microsoft's Linux FUD Emanating From Microsoft LLMs
Shame on Google for participating in the slopfest
In Some Countries the Largest OEMs Already Dump Microsoft Windows
Windows at 18.9%, Android 60.2%
The "Gold" Rule: Taking Money for Reputation Laundering and Openwashing Under the "Linux" Banner
Seller of expensive toilet paper, Jim Zemlin
LLM Slop Says Slop is "coming for white-collar jobs. Microsoft’s layoffs are just the start"
Look what the Web has become
Microsoft Down From 100% to 10% in Myanmar/Burma
only about 4% of Web requests in Myanmar/Burma come from Vista 11, soon to be the only "supported" version of Windows
Reporting Facts About Violence Against Women Deserves Awards, Not Frivolous Lawsuits and Threats
What is Microsoft's stance on women's safety?
Linux.com as Spamfarm of the Linux Foundation, Partner of the Gates Foundation
They no longer publish articles
When Fedora Said It Was Looking to Integrate "AI" It Meant Promoting Microsoft's Proprietary Spyware and GPL-Violating Slop
When they say "AI" they mean Microsoft
Slopwatch: The Typical Slopfarms and the 'Brian Fagioli Dilemma'
To the Web and to society (exposed to the Web) LLMs are a net negative
It Used to be IBM, Now It's Microsoft (Why You Need to Fire Microsofters or CIOs Working for Microsoft)
Typically the only effective solution is to identity and remove Microsofters from one's project/organisation (before they can bring more Microsofters in)
IBM Closes Offices and Labs in the United States to Open New Ones in India
It's not layoffs per se; they're substituting/swapping veteran employees for lesser-paid ones
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 15, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Gemini Links 16/04/2025: IndieWeb Carnival, Tinylog RFC, "Focus, the Web and Gemini"
Links for the day
Links 15/04/2025: Touchable Volumetric Display and Resistance to American Spying Firms
Links for the day
Links 15/04/2025: Some People Cannot Read and Re-discovering of 'Web 1.0'
Links for the day
Links 15/04/2025: China Admits Targetting Critical Infrastructure Using CALEA Back Doors, NASCAR Cracked by Windows Usage
Links for the day
Why We Support Carole Cadwalladr (Even If We Don't Agree With Everything She Said)
I first became aware of Cadwalladr's work a long time ago
Microsoft's Serial Strangler Chose to Attack Techrights With SLAPP When Over 400 Victims of Mohamed Al Fayed Complained About Media's Role in Enabling Him
There is a strong element of "free press" here
A Coalition or a Coup of Sexism
In the Free software community it's hard to avoid this issue
statCounter Sees GNU/Linux at New High of 6% in Bosnia and Herzegovina
GNU/Linux is measured at all-time high
To Celebrate Git Turning 20 Linus Torvalds is 'Selling Out' to Microsoft and Proprietary Software Which Attacks Git (E.E.E.)
He makes it seem like he's endorsing his attackers
Gemini Protocol Milestone (3,000 Active Capsules)
and a total of nearly 4,500
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 14, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, April 14, 2025