Bonum Certa Men Certa

TikTok Still Encouraging and Rewarding Deadly Behaviour, But Beware the Straw Men



FACT FOCUS: A Story About a Deadly TikTok Boat-Jumping Challenge Went Viral. Then It Fell Apart
Just because it's false doesn't mean TikTok never promotes harming oneself and one's surroundings.



Summary: The media continues to shill or promote TikTok; the problem is, some of the criticisms are phony and this serves to distract from what TikTok truly is

THE weekly articles about TikTok focus on some of the things that aren't in Daily Links but still merit a mention. Social control media is, in general, a bad thing. Linus Torvalds called it a "disease" about a decade ago and his remarked aged fairly well (albeit he too had used Google+ until the platform died).

There are already reports that the "FOMO" effect at Facebook's 'Twitter killer' is dying down. Facebook's founder said it best; don't be his "dumb fucks"...

"More than enough harm has been done already; those platforms aren't tools for activism but for "herding" populations in a top-down fashion."But what about TikTok? This platform is exceptionally bad for reasons that we covered before. Its more political aspects are explored in [1-2], the "useful idiots" are noted in [3-4] (guess who funds this lawsuit), TikTok still promotes harm [5-7] and worse are the straw men (misinformation [8-9]), which 'addicts' are still in denial about [10], with some attempting to copy/replicate [11] this "success".

The problem isn't misinformation about TikTok but misinformation being promoted and spread widely by TikTok. And sure, TikTok isn't alone in doing that. But what makes TikTok unique isn't its nationality but the controlling entity, ByteDance.

Society ought to collectively reject such platforms (bans and boycotts can become obsolete if people just choose anything else). More than enough harm has been done already; those platforms aren't tools for activism but for "herding" populations in a top-down fashion. They lessen society's ability to think freely and organise.

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. 2023-07-14 From TikTok to Taking on the CIA: The Resurgence of Cutting Political Comedy with James Rehwald


  2. 2023-07-13 Influencer Arrested Over TikTok Video Satirizing Wealthy Emiratis in Dubai Shows Limits on Freedoms


  3. 2023-07-13 New Lawsuit Claims Texas TikTok Ban Violates First Amendment
  4. 2023-07-13 University professors in Texas are suing the state over ‘unconstitutional’ TikTok ban


  5. 2023-07-13 Doctor Who Livestreamed Surgeries on TikTok Has License Yanked, Thank God


  6. 2023-07-12 Plastic Surgeon Who Livestreamed Procedures on TikTok Banned From Practicing Medicine in Ohio
  7. 2023-07-13 Soldiers torture shepherds in Diyarbakır, share video on TikTok


  8. 2023-07-12 FACT FOCUS: A Story About a Deadly TikTok Boat-Jumping Challenge Went Viral. Then It Fell Apart
  9. 2023-07-11 Fans roast Kylie Jenner for using TikTok’s viral aging filter: ‘You can afford to fix it’


  10. 2023-07-10 People who don't use TikTok think it's a national security threat
  11. 2023-07-10 Tumblr's building a TikTok inspired feed in bid to grow its user base


Recent Techrights' Posts

Brittany Day Can Rest and Let Microsoft/Chatbots Write Fake 'Articles' About "Linux" This Christmas
Who said people don't work on Christmas? Chatbots or plagiarism-as-a-service work 24/7, every day of the year except during Microsoft downtimes
 
[Meme] Time to Also Investigate Bill Gaetz
Investigation overdue
Microsoft Openwashing Stunts Initiative (OSI) is A Vulture in "Open" Clothing
it's quite telling that the OSI isn't protecting the Open Source Definition
IBM Has Almost Obliterated or Killed the Entire Fedora Community (Not IBM Staff)
Remaining Fedora insiders are well aware of this, but bringing this up (an "accusation" against IBM) might be a CoC violation
Links 25/12/2024: Fentanylware (TikTok) Scams and "Zelle Scams Lead to $870M Loss"
Links for the day
Links 25/12/2024: Windows TCO Brought to SSH, Terence Eden 'Retires'
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/12/2024: Reality Bites and Gopher Thanks
Links for the day
Links 25/12/2024: Latest Report Front Microsoft Splinter Group, War Updates
Links for the day
Links 25/12/2024: Hong Kong Attacks Activists During Holidays, Xerox to Buy Lexmark
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, December 24, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Gemini Links 25/12/2024: Open Source Social and No Search
Links for the day
Brittany Day Connects Windows Ransomware to "Linux" Using Microsoft LLMs (FUD Galore, Zero Effort, No Accountability)
FUD and misinformation made by Microsoft LLMs again?
Links 24/12/2024: Labour Strikes and TikTok Scrambling to Prop Up Radical Politicians That Would Protect TikTok
Links for the day
Where the Population is Controlled by Skinnerboxes Inside People's Pockets (or Purses)
A very small fraction of mobile users practise or exercise freedom/control over the skinnerbox
[Meme] Coin-Operated Publishers (Gaming the Message, Buying the Narrative)
Advertise (sponsor) to 'play'
Advertisers and Their Covert Impact on Publications' Output (or Writers' Topics of Choice, as Assigned or Approved by Editors)
It cannot be trivially denied that sponsorship in the form of "advertising" impacts where publishers go (or don't go, won't go)
Terrible Year for Microsoft Windows in Cyprus
down from 86% to 72% since January
[Meme] How to Kill Unions (Staff on Shoestring Budget Cannot Afford Lawyers)
What next for the EPO? "Gig economy"?
The EPO's Staff Union (SUEPO) Takes Legal Action to Rectify the Decrease in Wages (Lessening of Purchasing Power)
here is what the union published
Gemini Links 24/12/2024: Deedum Gemini Client Gets Colour Support, Advent of Code 2024
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows Slides to New Lows in Colombia
Now Windows is at an all-time low
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, December 23, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, December 23, 2024
A Strong and Positive Closing for the Year's Last Week
In a lot of ways this year was a good one for Free software
Feels Too Warm for Christmas
Christmas is here, no snow in sight
Links 23/12/2024: 'Negative Time' and US Arms Taiwan Again
Links for the day
Links 23/12/2024: The Book of Uncommon Beings, Squirrels, and Slop Ruining Workplaces
Links for the day
Links 23/12/2024: North Korean Death Toll in Russia at ~1,100, Oligarch Who Illegally Migrated/Stayed (Musk) Shuts Down US Government
Links for the day
The World's 'Richest Country' Chooses GNU/Linux
This has gone on for quite some time
Richard Stallman on Love
Richard Stallman's personal website includes a section that lists three essays on the subject of love
Apple's LLM Slop Told Us Luigi Mangione Had Shot Himself, BetaNews Used LLMs to Talk About a Dead Linus Torvalds
They can blame it on some bot
Microsoft, Give Me LLM Slop About "Linux" and "Santa", I Need Some Fake Article...
BetaNews is basically an LLM slop site
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, December 22, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, December 22, 2024