TikTok loses US Appeal

[Graybeard]

A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S.

Federal appeals court upholds law requiring sale or ban of TikTok in the US

A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S.

apnews.com

On a global basis, TikTok is only going to lose a certain percentage of users in the US--about 120~ million users.

TikTok's advertising revenue in the United States has seen significant growth in recent years. In 2023, the platform's U.S. ad revenue was projected to reach approximately $6 billion. This upward trend is expected to continue, with forecasts estimating U.S. ad revenues of $7.7 billion in 2024 and now -0- billion in 2025.

Make plans now ... Any compliance with this law appears to either be an long shot or a mud on the face event for Xi & China.
Long shot: Congress repeals the law and Trump signs off on the change

 

[T J Tutor]

It's all up in the air. My guess is we'll see an executive order after Jan 20 to squash the ban.

 

[Graybeard]

It's all up in the air. My guess is we'll see an executive order after Jan 20 to squash the ban.

Doesn't work that way. That is an enrolled law --Congress has to repeal it. I don't see that happening. Maybe, some delay while a sale to US investors is being negotiated --that's very much a long-shot considering China's "Official Position."

 

[T J Tutor]

Yeah, that's true, but the Financial Times said that yesterday:

"Trump could press his new attorney-general not to enforce it, while reassuring Apple and Google that they will not be punished if they continue to support the app on their app stores. Rozenshtein noted the law allows TikTok to continue if the president determines that the app is no longer under Chinese control — arguing Trump could simply declare this is the case."

 

[Graybeard]

We will have to see ...
Trump ain't no Napoleon --regardless of what he or "they" may think.

China bans US based companies or severely places limits on their activities --so what is their excuse?
That is why:
The House of Representatives approved the bill with a bipartisan vote of 352-65,
while the Senate passed it with a 79-18 vote.
President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on April 24, 2024.

Plan on a done deal

 

[Graybeard]

https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-consider-tiktok-bid-halt-ban-2024-12-18/

This is very time-sensitive and interesting.
We'll have to see what happens.

 

[azgold]

https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-consider-tiktok-bid-halt-ban-2024-12-18/

This is very time-sensitive and interesting.
We'll have to see what happens.

Kinda feels like everything about everything is up in the air right now. 2025 should be pretty interesting.

 

[Graybeard]

Hopefully, this second Trump administration will be only a three-ring circus.
Last time around, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration's inaction caused the excess deaths of over 150,000 US Americans.
Prepare for the worst and hope for the best is the way I am approaching the next few years.

 

[T J Tutor]

Kinda feels like everything about everything is up in the air right now. 2025 should be pretty interesting.

Interesting, yeah, but scary too!

 

[Graybeard]

Interesting, yeah, but scary too!

Never bring a chainsaw to a gun fight

 

[azgold]

I shake my head daily at the horrific mess that North America is in currently. All caused by small groups (in relative terms) of people.

Prepare for the worst and hope for the best is the way I am approaching the next few years.

Yeah, the best approach, I expect. What else can you do.

Interesting, yeah, but scary too!

I think it's started already. Started here in February 2022 and things have not improved.

By the way, I've seen chainsaw movies, the characters go through hell but the chainsaw guys never end well. Small consolation, I suppose.

 

[Graybeard]

As of December 2024, TikTok has approximately 170 million monthly active users in the United States.

1. TikTok is a non-Chinese version of Douyin: The Chinese version of TikTok.
2. If TikTok is NOT any real hidden security issue transferring REAL ownership to an entity in the US, so to allow US regulator scrutiny, should not be an issue.
3. There is no real freedom of speech issue here. There is a freedom of a foreign nation operating media within this country, the U.S., here, and being able to avoid scrutiny toward compliance with U.S. Laws.
4. Would the People's Republic of China, allow the United States owned business to operate media within their country?

Of course not.

 

[azgold]

mud on the face event for Xi & China.

That typically results in the other country getting a citizen or two (who happen to be in China) thrown into a Chinese prison for a while. We've had it happen here, the Two Michaels, as they were being called were released, I think it was earlier this year.

 

[Graybeard]

China has their laws and the US has their own laws.
Reciprocity matters.

Facebook, X (F.K.A.: Twitter), as well as other "Western social media" are banned in China.
Foreign businesses operating in China have to follow Chinese law or Chinese government decrees as a condition of doing business in China.

Reciprocity matters.

 

[azgold]

You know what's crazy? My wifi router, I just recently came to find out, is made and updated by a Chinese company. Apparently, China is a wholesaler for routers. Can they not just grab data that way if they lose social media methods?

 

[Graybeard]

In theory yes, but they would need to crack the HTTPS. They would need to have the certificate issuer's private key(s) to do this on any scale.

For high-value targets, such as government officials, your messaging would be worth encryption cracking, that is possible, but extremely difficult. That is assuming there is a real, and not imaginary, backdoor in the hardware or base operating system of the router.

HTTP encrypts the IP packets before the router, caveat, [AI: Domain Name (SNI): The domain name (e.g., example.com) is visible to the router and other intermediaries due to the Server Name Indication (SNI) field in the TLS handshake.]

 

[azgold]

I only discovered yesterday that our government forced them to shut down their office and leave Canada. But we are still free to use the app.

CSIS cautions us to consider the risks before doing so.

I've never used it, myself. But that's me, I have no interest in social media anymore.

 

[Graybeard]

I've never used it, myself. But that's me, I have no interest in social media anymore.

Have you tried:Bluesky Many have escaped from Twitmo and landed there --definitely not the trump-musk camp and all its fascist trolls.

 

[T J Tutor]

Per NBC NEWS Yesterday:

EXCERPT:
"Government censorship, scam accounts, celebrity impersonation, propaganda and a user revolt over a journalist accused of demonizing trans people — these are just some of the hurdles faced by the nascent social media platform Bluesky. But they’re also signs of its rapid growth since the election.

As Bluesky attracts more activity, particularly from those fleeing Elon Musk’s X, it is facing the price of success: tough moderation decisions and a growing number of bad actors."

They have things to work out before they are established as mainstream platform I think, but it may come sooner than later.

 

[Graybeard]

They have things to work out before they are established as mainstream platform I think, but it may come sooner than later.

But the people (most) are not useless shits or self promoters like Musk's Twitmo has become.
I am not try to market something or make money there.