Bonum Certa Men Certa

Boycott TikTok

...and convince others to do the same

Fentanylware: Who's there?



Summary: Bytedance's TikTok (some spell it ByteDance) comes in two "flavours", which are known as spinach and opium. The former is for the local (Chinese) market and makes people obedient, whereas the latter makes people destructive (to themselves and to others) overseas; why can't the mainstream media properly convey such a simple message?

THE threat remains potent and the evidence keeps piling up. The US Surgeon General's investigations into health damage, both physical and mental, caused by social control media is relevant. Then there's also the CBS 60-Minutes segment from last autumn, even though it is not viewable outside the US. It's the "opium TikTok" vs "spinach TikTok" segment.



So why are people still being "Zuckers" of Facebook? Why are people flocking from one poison to another poison? Why are so many people in the West still "using" (being used by) Bytedance's TikTok? Do they not understand what Bytedance is? The name sounds benign. It's misleading. Those are all poisons, but both methods and dosages vary, depending on geography and geopolitics.

We're hoping that the media will be predisposed to criticise Bytedance's TikTok. We can only hope.

"We're hoping that the media will be predisposed to criticise Bytedance's TikTok. We can only hope."Even though the pertinent facts are widely and openly available, the media thinks it can gain audiences by sucking up to Bytedance's masters. Sometimes it gets paid to do this! To give an example, a tabloid that kept promoting TikTok almost every day (even several times per day in recent months) decided to publish an article entitled "Dangerous TikTok trends claim 4 lives in 6 months in Alabama: officials". This was published this past Saturday. As someone explained today, Bytedance's TikTok is at its heart a weapon. But with the multiple, daily mass shootings there, people have become inured to not just threats and danger but to actual damage even.

Sadly, the criticism we saw about 3 months ago is almost never/nowhere to be found anymore.

The spamfarm CNET (yes, CNET is SEO-optimised word spew, not journalism) has just published some spam for TikTok. Someone has told me all the mainstream media is pushing Bytedance's TikTok as if they were hired to advertise for it and advocate for its universal usage.

"The White House is not benign either; we should reject them all."We're seeing the same from Gizmodo in recent days [2-3], whereas some talk about banning the darn thing [4], some neglect to say [5] that the court challenge is in fact sponsored by Bytedance's TikTok (some reports correctly say that it's Bytedance's TikTok making the case [6], not "5 Content Creators"), some demonstrate the real harm of TikTok [7], and the real harms are highlighted again [8-9], albeit at the same time they promote TikTok as a gateway (or gatekeeper) for recipes.

Our assessment of this has been consistent; all social control media is bad and one that's controlled by the dictators in Beijing is even worse because it's the reflection of the regime (China is objectively more repressive than Europe and North America). The White House is not benign either; we should reject them all.

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. 2023-07-08 [Older] The Best Viral TikTok Products That Are Worth Your Money - CNET
  2. 2023-07-07 [Older] BookTok Might Have Been a Mistake, But Sometimes It's Still Good
  3. 2023-07-07 [Older] Shazam Expands iOS Integration to YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok
  4. 2023-07-06 [Older] "Securing our digital infrastructure': Delta, Southwest airlines move to ban TikTok for employees
  5. 2023-07-06 [Older] TikTok and 5 Content Creators Ask Federal Judge to Block Montana From Banning App
  6. 2023-07-06 [Older] TikTok Asks US Judge to Block Montana Ban Before Jan. 1 Effective Date
  7. 2023-07-05 [Older] New Jersey Judge Investigated for Posting 'Racist' And 'Explicit' Lip-Syncing Videos on TikTok
  8. 2023-07-05 [Older] TikTok is confusing by design
  9. 2023-07-04 [Older] No, AI can’t tell the future
  10. 2023-07-03 [Older] It’s pasta salad summer


Recent Techrights' Posts

Why We Publish Information About the SLAPPs (But Not About the Legal Process), an Abuse of Process by Americans Trying to Silence Critics of Their Employer, Microsoft
It doesn't take thousands of pages to explain something simple
 
The Register MS Says "AI Web Crawlers Are Destroying Websites", So Why Does The Register MS Help 'AI' Companies? (Spoiler: Money)
People need to call out The Register MS on its hypocrisy
Slopfarms Already Peaked, They Will Die When Slop Companies Run Out of Money to Borrow
slopfarms will lack an actual "engine"
Links 02/09/2025: Attacks on Unions, Microsoft TCO, and DDoSing a Growing Problem
Links for the day
Internet Relay Chat Didn't Fall Off a Cliff
IRC will turn 40 in less than 3 years from now
The UEFI 9/11 - Part V - This is Not a Drill (Disable "SecureBoot" Now)
A "9/11" Coming
There's No Obligation to Speak to Anybody
The very fact that "bkuhn" is till spending time in social control media says a lot about his poor judgment
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 01, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 01, 2025
Microsoft Trying to Force People to Resign (Amid Mass Layoffs) a Strategy That Takes Its Toll
Microsoft seems to be circling down the drain and the "final flush" will be the moment the "hey hi" (AI) bubble implodes completely
Google Simply Cannot Be Trusted
Only fools would trust GAFAM
Admission That a Third Party (or Parties) Funds the SLAPPs Against Techrights
This can end up costing them over a million dollars
Modifying and Writing One's Own Computer Programs is Not a Crime (or: Google Proves That Stallman Was Right)
We're generally gratified to see so many positive mentions of him
Why We Stopped Publishing Videos (for Now)
We'll probably get back to videos one day, but it's hard to say when or to what extent
What Animal Rights Activism Teaches Us About Sympathy and Focus
It's possible to believe that the planet is warming, that we must do something about it, and still eat eggs and butter
When You Turn Web Sites About Tech Into Political Sites
A lot of people fall into the trap of catering only for particular groups
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: ROOPHLOCH 2025 and Lagrange 1.19 Released
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: News Corp. WSJ and A Month With NixOS
Links for the day
“Sideloading” Never Killed Anybody
There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
Slopwatch: Google News as FUD Vector Against Linux and Plagiarism Enhancer, Serial Slopper (SS) Uses LLMs to Googlebomb "Linux"
Slop destroys the Web not just by screwing with search engines and helping plagiarists. It's also responsible for de facto DDoS attacks...
Links 01/09/2025: "Attacks on Science" and China's "Soft Power" Grows
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Fresh Backlash Against Slop and "Norway’s Electricity Crisis is About to Hit Britain"
Links for the day
Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
Links 01/09/2025: Catching Up (Mostly via Deutsche Welle), "Windows TCO" Effect in UK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: Linguistic Barriers and "Web 1.0 Hosting"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users
Links 31/08/2025: Baggage Claim Scams, an Insurrectionist’s War on Culture, and a Sudden Robotics Hype
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/08/2025: Reviewing Netsurf and Slightly Less Historic Ada Design
Links for the day
IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago