littleMAS t1_jdfa21g wrote on March 23, 2023 at 11:41 PM

Reply to comment by SomethingMatter in The average TikTok user in the US is an adult 'well past college age,' CEO says by djJAMZ

Of the 73.7 million Americans under the age of 18, 20 million are under the age of five. It seems likely that very few of them are TikTok users. My point is that at least 75 million Americans, roughly the number who voted for Trump, were identified as TikTok users and, therefore, potentially voters. Given the state of our politics, I believe they made their point to those elected officials, who will grumble about it and move on.

Yes, social media has shown limited regard, at best, for user privacy. "The user is the product" has been their mantra. TikTok is no different. Like all 'too big to fail' social media companies, TikTok is making its point, "We are too big to ban."

SomethingMatter t1_jdfc4n3 wrote on March 23, 2023 at 11:56 PM

The whole talk of banning them make absolutely no sense. The US has no reasonable mechanism to block their website and people can side load applications onto their phones and other devices. It's completely unenforceable. That's ignoring that it probably steps on quite a few laws and the constitution along the way.

littleMAS t1_jdfev8z wrote on March 24, 2023 at 12:16 AM

That is true, but politicians need cover. So, they can hold hearings and pontificate and pass a law that is unenforceable. Then they will brag about it during their re-election campaigns.