America - The Official Thread

[Fezzik]

TikTok users in the US will reportedly have to move to a new app with new American owners when Trump deal takes effect

President Trump says his administration and major tech investors have reached a deal to take over TikTok's US operations.

www.pcgamer.com

According to WSJ's sources, Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz will be the new majority owners of TikTok in the US. Oracle is a Silicon Valley database and cloud computing company—which is already TikTok's cloud provider—that was co-founded by conservative billionaire Larry Ellison. Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz are Silicon Valley investment firms run by more billionaires (who else runs Silicon Valley investment firms?), including Trump adviser Marc Andreessen.


The new company will have "an American-dominated board with one member designated by the US government," WSJ reports, and will require users to move to a new app. The US version of TikTok will reportedly run its own content recommendation algorithm with tech licensed from ByteDance.

I wonder what type of content would get pushed by the algorithm with those people in charge

For the rest of the world it will be great. Tiktok was a much nicer & more interesting place for the 48 hours of the US ban a few months back.

 

[EngieDiesel]

TikTok users in the US will reportedly have to move to a new app with new American owners when Trump deal takes effect

President Trump says his administration and major tech investors have reached a deal to take over TikTok's US operations.

www.pcgamer.com

I wonder what type of content would get pushed by the algorithm with those people in charge

For the rest of the world it will be great. Tiktok was a much nicer & more interesting place for the 48 hours of the US ban a few months back.

I expect this is just going to cause another surge in VPN subscriptions so people can keep using the proper service, and Ameri-tok will end up being another wasteland of extremist garbage. Which is, of course, exactly what Lord Drumpf wants.

 

[Zero2Oblivion]

What kind of a world do we live in when people think this is OK? I don't get it.

One with amusing similarities to history. Previously if you thought your neighbor wasn't devoted to God, or was showing signs of the Devil, you could report it to the authorities and they'd be tried for being tainted/possessed/a witch/a heretic.

Back then religion ruled above rational thought and science... and yeah, it feels like we're heading that way, doesn't it?

 

[Childe Roland]

What kind of a world do we live in when people think this is OK? I don't get it.

US right now sounds like an Orwellian Dystopia.

• Cult leadership
• Supression of thought
• Mass surveilance
• Manipulation of truth
• Propaganda

And the list goes on

 

[Blitz24]

I expect this is just going to cause another surge in VPN subscriptions so people can keep using the proper service, and Ameri-tok will end up being another wasteland of extremist garbage. Which is, of course, exactly what Lord Drumpf wants.

Essentially Truth-tok

 

[Danoff]

One with amusing similarities to history. Previously if you thought your neighbor wasn't devoted to God, or was showing signs of the Devil, you could report it to the authorities and they'd be tried for being tainted/possessed/a witch.

Back then religion ruled above rational thought and science... and yeah, it feels like we're heading that way, doesn't it?

A little closer to modern US history, it reminds me of turning someone in to the authorities for being communist.

 

[TexRex]

A little closer to modern US history, it reminds me of turning someone in to the authorities for being communist.

 

[Joey D]

What kind of a world do we live in when people think this is OK? I don't get it.

Wait until you learn about McCarthyism.

Honestly, the US has a long history of making a group the boogie man and then having people out them because of it. What's going on right now isn't new; it's just easier to police it now thanks to social media. Once this dies down, something else will take its place.

It's likely not even a US problem either, but I don't know enough about other countries to make a reasonable statement on that.

 

[Zero2Oblivion]

A little closer to modern US history, it reminds me of turning someone in to the authorities for being communist.

It's almost as if you could compare the Trump Administration to the lowest points in human history and find similarities...

It really is a pity that world leaders lack the ability to look at human history, examine the highs and the lows, and come to the conclusion that we're at our worst when they sow division, and at our best when they encourage unity.

 

[GranTurNismo]

That's awful. I hope such a tragedy doesn't happen again.

I’m so here for Tornado’s Dark Brandon arc.

 

[Liquid]

I'd also like to reiterate that what is considered "the left" in the US is so skewed compared to a lot of other countries. The needle is so far over in the US. Maybe I'm wrong on that or haven't expressed it succinctly but it's a feeling I get as an outsider looking in and I know I'm not alone in this.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Love how climate change is treated like a subjective issue.

 

[Joey D]

Ya, climate change really shouldn't be a decisive issue. It's happening, it's making severe weather events more common, and it's going to create a crisis in the near future. However, the Democrat probably should drop the whole "do you part" thing. There's an idea in the liberal circles where I don't care about the environment because I don't drive an EV or use alternative energy. I mean sure, doing those things are good and all but they don't really do anything to address climate change. Until corporations and other countries get on board, it's a lost cause. The best we can hope for is education on what's happening and why it's happening.

I get dropping the LGBT rhetoric, too. A vast majority of people don't care and sort of want LGBT people to just kind of exist without being seen in any way. There also needs to be some kind of distinction between people who say "I don't agree with LGBT lifestyles" and "we need to make a law against LGBT lifestyles". Not liking it is fine and is a valid opinion, but that's not what a lot of people are doing; they want to actively make it illegal, and that is a problem. The Democrats need to take the libertarian approach and keep the government's hands off, limiting it to maintaining rights.

While it might not be the best way to go about it, it's certainly trying something because what the Democrats are doing right now isn't working.

 

[McLaren]

I expect this is just going to cause another surge in VPN subscriptions so people can keep using the proper service, and Ameri-tok will end up being another wasteland of extremist garbage. Which is, of course, exactly what Lord Drumpf wants.

Naturally. Parler, The Right Stuff, Truth Social (which only survives due to Dear Leader), even Twitter to some degree; people have no desire to move to these platforms b/c they're nothing but propaganda filled safe spaces that end up scaring off users because extremists feel confident enough to start spouting their bigotry.

American Tiktok will be no different. New app you have to move to with content likely to be curated by conservatives means nothing will be organic & the algorithm will probably end up like Twitter's. Guarantee if someone like John McEntee becomes a prominent figure on it, it'll be absolute dog ****.

 

[huskeR32]

Honestly, the US has a long history of making a group the boogie man and then having people out them because of it.

This latest manifestation, in all its vacuous spitefulness, was written about masterfully just today, over at Defector.

A taste:

So this is it: the old national crises of meaninglessness and arbitrary violence and anomie and elite impunity, reshaped by the soft hands of the elites who authored and command all those crises into an opportunity for regular Americans to meet the moment and fulfill their duty as citizens by trying to get the lib wife of the guy who manages the Buca Di Beppo near the mall into some kind of trouble.

 

[Joey D]

Weirdly, the most shocking thing in the entire article is that Buca Di Beppo still exists.

 

[Danoff]

Seems like the former CDC director knows something about RFK's plans to change the childhood vaccine schedule. That is, for sure, something that every American (and possibly non-Americans because these things spread), should be concerned about.

 

[Liquid]

Hope Americans that enjoy travelling abroad enjoy it whilst they still can.

 

[McLaren]

Hope Americans that enjoy travelling abroad enjoy it whilst they still can.

A bunch of us are having trouble just affording Vegas, lol.

Once the rich can no longer travel abroad freely, something might change.

 

[Famine]

Hope Americans that enjoy travelling abroad enjoy it whilst they still can.

And vice versa - I've got doubts that the GTWS round for Los Angeles in November will happen, not least because half the competitors would be deported to Burkina Faso on entry.

 

[Joey D]

Seems like the former CDC director knows something about RFK's plans to change the childhood vaccine schedule. That is, for sure, something that every American (and possibly non-Americans because these things spread), should be concerned about.

I think you'll see states trump the CDC. Gov. Whitmer signed a decree today that largely disregards the CDC's recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines and instructs the state to work on making the vaccines available.

Whitmer issues directive encouraging COVID vaccination, insurance coverage

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a directive calling for encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations and for insurance plans to cover the vaccinations.

www.cbsnews.com

I think you see more things like that if the CDC starts doing dumb(er) things. It would be an interesting court case about state's rights too because it would almost certainly go to the Supreme Court.

 

[Danoff]

I think you'll see states trump the CDC. Gov. Whitmer signed a decree today that largely disregards the CDC's recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines and instructs the state to work on making the vaccines available.

Whitmer issues directive encouraging COVID vaccination, insurance coverage

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a directive calling for encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations and for insurance plans to cover the vaccinations.

www.cbsnews.com

I think you see more things like that if the CDC starts doing dumb(er) things. It would be an interesting court case about state's rights too because it would almost certainly go to the Supreme Court.

Well I hope so, but that won't stop us from getting Measles outbreaks from travelers from Texas and Louisiana. There's only so much we can do, if the supremes even allow us to do it. I doubt we can quarantine states.

 

[Blitz24]

Seems like the former CDC director knows something about RFK's plans to change the childhood vaccine schedule. That is, for sure, something that every American (and possibly non-Americans because these things spread), should be concerned about.

You mean RFK lied during his confirmation?! Too bad nobody in Congress can do anything about it. A shame nobody has the power to impeach anyone these days.

 

[CodeRedR51]

And vice versa - I've got doubts that the GTWS round for Los Angeles in November will happen, not least because half the competitors would be deported to Burkina Faso on entry.

Bought my ticket and was planning on going, but I would be shocked if it doesn't get canceled.