It should not surprise anyone that a communist regime might expect its citizens to provide details of things they see or hear wherever they allow them to go. Communism survives in the shadow of the terror state, and you’d be crazy to say no. So it is with Chinese Companies.
China allows them to do business, and if the company can serve the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), it will. There’s even law, not that the CCP would concern itself over such a thing if it got in the way of what they wanted.
Our government uses technology and social media to spy on, censor, or propagandize violating laws and enumerated natural rights. Hence, the idea that Tik Tok might collect personal or location data for its government is not a stretch. It’s not even a question.
The question is, does it present enough risk that America or Americans need to do something? Increasingly, the answer is yes, even in New Hampshire. Governor Chris Sununu has issued an Executive Order banning Tik Tok from all State devices and networks.
WHEREAS, TikTok can harvest large amounts of data from devices it is installed on including when, where, and how the user conducts Internet activity and on June 30, 2022, TikTok admitted in a letter to nine United States Senators that China-based employees can access U.S. data, even though that data is stored in the United States. Additionally, under China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, all Chinese businesses are required to assist China in intelligence work, including data sharing.
WHEREAS, there are also several Chinese companies that produce Telecommunications and Video/ Audio equipment and we reasonably believe use of these products may enable the manufacturer or vendor to:
• Collect sensitive citizen, financial or other business data.
• Enable Business Email Compromise and act as a vector for Ransomware Deployment.
• Conduct effective Cyber-espionage against government entities.
• Conduct surveillance and tracking of individual users.
• Use algorithmic modifications to conduct disinformation or misinformation campaigns.
Manipulate elections?
He’s probably not ready to make that leap, even though we know our government used Facebook and Twitter to this end.
How about child pornography? I know it’s allowed in public and school libraries, but it is also allegedly pervasive on Tik Tok.
TikTok allegedly has child sex abuse material hiding in plain sight all over the social media platform, according to a Forbes investigative report. …
“They typically read like advertisements and come from seemingly innocuous accounts,” Forbes reports. “But often, they’re portals to illegal child sexual abuse material quite literally hidden in plain sight—posted in private accounts using a setting that makes it visible only to the person logged in.”
The grotesque material can be found in “post-in-private” accounts, which predators easily access using specific phrases to avoid algorithms that would lead to a violation.
TikTok says it doesn’t allow that and uses both AI and human moderation of videos to enforce its “zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material and this abhorrent behavior which is strictly prohibited on our platform.” Child advocates claim they’ve seen the stuff and mention tactics used to fool the AI. Does one of them involve a school board because that seems to be how they expose children to pornography around here?
It’s not quite the same, but one begets the other. Child pornographers encourage and support the sexualization of children they can exploit.
China encourages using technology to obtain personal or other data on people in foreign countries, including ours. Doing it with a social media app Americans are willing to install on their personal tracking devices is just smart spying (ask the US Government).
And while some will complain about the Governor banning the platform from state devices and networks, anyone who complains too much was probably spending more time making or viewing videos on TikTok at taxpayer expense than the job for which they were hired.
If we were looking to lower the cost of government …
NH Sununu EO 2022-09
