By Tom Fowdy
Last week, the deal that was sealed to handover TikTok's US operations, algorithm, and data came into force. Bytedance, the Singapore-registered Chinese Company, had been forced to struck such an agreement after the Biden administration supported a law to effectively ban the popular video app. Trump, however, saw an opportunity in postponing this law in order to facilitate an agreement. Thus, the CIA-linked firm Oracle, owned by Zionist ally and MAGA supporter Larry Ellison, completed the takeover of TikTok US.
Within days of this deal going into force, some changes took place on the platform: First, it immediately shadowbanned all political content; this might be an adjustment but it is obvious as to why. Second, terms such as "Jeffrey Epstein" have been banned from the platform outright and can no longer be implemented. Third, the terms and conditions of the application have now been updated to state that the user consents to giving them all of their personal data, location, and permits it for 3rdparty usage. The changes have generated a massive backlash on social media and a tidal wave of uninstalls.
Suddenly: TikTok has transformed into exactlywhat US politicians, ironically, warned it would become. It is an application that now harvests user data for purposes speculated to be nefarious, and of course engages in overt censorship of topics hostile to the current administration, as well as of course Israel. Everything they said China would do, they have implemented themselves anyway, with a distinctly pro-Trump slant. Myself and like-minded people have been warning about this for years. The "China" scaremongering campaign against the platform was not based on genuine "security concerns" but an opportunistic desire for the US to control it themselves and do precisely what they were warning about. The public was conned and lied to.
However, what is more ironic is that the Biden Administration and the Democrats at large have unwittingly conned themselves in the process by enabling this and scored a catastrophic own goal, void of any political hindsight. Why? Because while US ownership is one thing, having it operated by Trump loyalists is another, and thus the platform is not merely inclined for pro-US narratives, but pro-MAGA ones to be more specific. Donald Trump did not agree to having the platform banned because, unlike Biden, Trump doesn't miss opportunities and has a very good business instinct, and he saw one here.
Since the President was infamously deplatformed off Twitter (now X) and Facebook in January 2021 following the Capitol Riot controversy, he has become focused on attaining "internet sovereignty" so he cannot be silenced. After all, besides Larry Ellison and Oracle (as well as now Elon Musk and X), the big Silicon Valley firms are owned, operated, and dominated by Liberals, who are inherently hostile to the MAGA agenda. Thus, the President has been facilitating a social media ecosystem which is loyal to him and his interests. Hence, first, he created "Truth Social" which he sticks to, not because it has any value as a social media platform to anyone else, but because it is his primary, direct mouthpiece.
Next, Elon Musk taken over X and has turned it into a right-wing platform, then finally, Trump has facilitated Ellison's stake in TikTok, which is now also being turned into a MAGA-aligned app. In each instance, not only do the platforms push pro-Trump narratives, but they also censor and suppress criticism of Israel. What the US claimed China would do, the Trump administration has done itself. All of this is part of a broader trend in America whereby the Trump administration has slowly consolidated and centralised power, leading some people to accuse the US of Democratic backsliding. Indeed, I hypothesize further that the precise reason Trump has now completely discarded opposition to China on ideological terms (leaving only economic disputes) is because he wishes to emulate and enable authoritarian rule, as opposed to challenging it, precisely because it suits him.
But anyway, in conclusion, one would hope that many people's eyes are opened by what has happened with TikTok. I have said it for years: American politicians openly tell lies by exerting scaremongering and whipping up public fear in order to press for thinly veiled vested interests on various topics. From weapons of Mass Destruction to TikTok spying on you, they love a bogeyman, and the broader Western public and press fall for the American narrative every single time, precisely because it is always wrapped in overt moralisation which makes it unacceptable to question.
However, in this case of TikTok, I will note that the Democrats genuinely deserve this outcome. On a domestic level, they could have stopped this from happening and instead gone along with it, why "China bad" tends to shut down critical thinking. They are the biggest losers, as Trump tactfully coordinates a digital ecosystem around himself and his allies.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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