Apple has removed the Meta-owned end-to-end encrypted messaging app WhatsApp from its App Store in China following a government order citing national Meta-owned WhatsApp and Threads have been pulled from Apple’s App Store in China following a government order citing national security concerns, Reuters reports.
It was banned on national security concerns, aka they don’t have any control over the apps. So I doubt there is anything they can do to get back. Telegram and Signal were among the apps removed too.
Not surprising, though I do find it ironic when people complain about the potential US ban on Tik Tok. Tik Tok is a foreign hostile government’s propoganda, data mining, and manipulation tool.
Nobody has an issue with banning TikTok. Everyone has issue with only banning TikTok and not also banning western social media that does exactly the same things.
Do you consider free speech to be an inalienable right for an entity to collect any data about you that they would like, regardless of whether you know they’re collecting that specific data?
Not at all. There should absolutely be GDPR of what data companies can collect. But apps should be forced to keep to the GDPR, not outright banned. And they certainly shouldn’t be banned because of the country they are made in, or what users say on them. And I’m talking about apps in general, not just TikTok.
In what context? Because it matters. Do you have an issue with government banning dangerous food? Do you have an issue with government banning batteries that are known to explode? Companies having to comply with safety/privacy regulations is in no way, shape, or form a violation of your free speech.
Government targeting a single company while giving carte blanche permission for others to continue their abusive behavior is a hypocrisy that nobody who cares about safety/privacy should tolerate.
There is a difference between:
Company has to follow privacy regulations or face a ban
vs
Company is banned because we don’t like the country that made it
In the context of the US specifically, there’s definitely a difference in the eyes of the government itself between Tik Tok and other Western social media companies.
I’m all for much tighter privacy laws, but Tik Tok is absolutely worse than other sites (again from the US perspective).
Worse how? US users data is still for sale to anyone by US and non-US based data brokers. If the goal is to stop China getting user data, this ban fails to achieve that. It’s a political theater, since being against China is a popular position at the moment.
That’s the thing about privacy, you can’t ban one company, but still allow others collect the same data and share with anyone they want. If data is available for sale, anyone can buy it.
If you can’t see the difference between a literal Chinese government controlled app vs other western social media companies from the perspective of the US government, you’re either being intellectually dishonest or not thinking this through.
I fully understand the privacy implications, so let me reiterate. From the perspective of the US government, a foreign owned platform is much riskier than a US one, EVEN THOUGH data brokers may be in use now. The US has more control over companies like FB and Twitter vs. Tik Tok.
Are you also complaining about targeted western company bans in China? Governments are going to move in their own best interests.
It’s you who are missing the point. The officially stated reason for the ban is China’s access to the US users data. This ban doesn’t solve the issue because western platforms/brokers are still able to sell the same data to China.
And yes, US is making a ban out of self-interest. It’s just that interest is purely political and not based on policy or protecting US users.
And China bans all platforms that doesn’t comply with their regulations. We might see it as censorship, but they are fair in how they apply it to everyone and not a single company.
No need to take this discussion further if you think China’s approach is “fair”. China’s regulations are to allow them unfettered access to all data. I got it. US bad China good.
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