Twitter and The Musk & Facebook and The Zuck

[RainMaker]

Biden White House says TikTok’s threat to go dark is a ‘stunt’ - The Verge

[Atocep]

"We fucked up and it's Tiktok's fault for making us look bad"

[RainMaker]

I didn't realize CapCut was banned too. That will fuck up stuff everywhere too.

[RainMaker]

Interesting company to keep.

TikTok app is banned in

���� Afghanistan
���� China
���� India
���� Iran
���� Jordan
���� Kyrgyzstan
���� North Korea
���� Somalia
���� Uzbekistan
���� United States

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) January 19, 2025

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Interesting company to keep.

TikTok app is banned in

���� Afghanistan
���� China
���� India
���� Iran
���� Jordan
���� Kyrgyzstan
���� North Korea
���� Somalia
���� Uzbekistan
���� United States

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) January 19, 2025

The European Union and several members of the EU on their own also are working on a ban on TikTok. But, the big thing over here is, if we put TikTok on black, we'd have to be consistent and need to ban all the USA based social media for the same reasons. Which should mean Twitter has to go and that's still a popular way amongst right wing politicians to catch and keep people inside their algorithm.


Wait, why am I even wasting time on a repost of some random Twitter account that shared a random list without a source to confirm it?

[Ksyrup]

I assume this is being coordinated by Trump's team and all of the major players here to go dark at the end of the Biden administration and then Trump takes office, announces some sort of deal or indefinite extension to keep it open (that Biden gave but no one took), and then Trump takes a victory lap for saving TT and doing what Biden couldn't.

From an extremely personal level, I'm loving it being down for the simple fact that my kids can no longer pepper our group chats with a bunch of stupid videos they think are hilarious and I'm like ha...haha...ha? I just don't get it. And if I never hear the word "influencer" again, I'd die happy.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I didn't realize CapCut was banned too. That will fuck up stuff everywhere too.

My daughters phone was going crazy this morning with a group text about this. You would have thought someone died.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I like to think I'm at least ... passably social media literate. Don't use every platform but by & large I figure I've heard of most relevant apps and adjacencies.

Last night was the first time I'd ever seen/heard "CapCut" referenced in my entire life.

[Ksyrup]

This morning, in this thread, is the first time I've heard of it.

[GrantDawg]

Capcut is an video editing platform that was owned by Bytedance and was mostly used with TikTok , so if you had no reason to use it, it is not hard to believe you didn't know about it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Capcut is an video editing platform that was owned by Bytedance and was mostly used with TikTok , so if you had no reason to use it, it is not hard to believe you didn't know about it.

My rationale for "I should have at least heard the name" was basically "I know quite a few content creators".

I had to really think about it, I do know what I figure is an above average number of content creators but I'm not sure TikTok was a primary vehicle for any of them. Maybe that's the reason.

[RainMaker]

It's the best and most popular free video editing app. Very easy to use and extremely popular with young content creators. If you watch Reels or YouTube Shorts you've probably seen the logo a million times and not noticed.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

It's the best and most popular free video editing app. Very easy to use and extremely popular with young content creators. If you watch Reels or YouTube Shorts you've probably seen the logo a million times and not noticed.

I rarely watch either, so in that case that could be a factor too I guess.

I see a handful of IG clips now & then. The two you mentioned are particularly annoying to me, as they're the opposite of anything I want from either platform.

[JPhillips]

Trump's plan is for the US government to own half of Tik Tok. That's even worse than what we have now.

[JPhillips]

This from Catherine Rampell is high quality.

What is socialism, if not the state owning the memes of production

[JonInMiddleGA]

And it's already coming back up.

Gotta hand it to 'em, ByteDance played the past 12-16 hours pretty much perfectly.

[kingfc22]

Love how the headlines are about Fuhrer Trump saving TikTok.

Oh how fast we forget how we even started down this road to begin with:
Trump Signs Executive Order That Will Effectively Ban Use Of TikTok In the U.S. : NPR

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I'm thinking broadly. The power to ban a form of communication because you don't like what Americans say on it seems like a huge threat to democracy. Something you typically only see from authoritarian governments.

That's not why I want to ban it (and much else of social media), which I thought I made clear in my post on the topic, but I guess social media has rotted your brain to the point where you just skim words and look for conflict.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I rarely watch either, so in that case that could be a factor too I guess.

I see a handful of IG clips now & then. The two you mentioned are particularly annoying to me, as they're the opposite of anything I want from either platform.

I think it's a generational thing. We'd likely edit videos on a laptop or desktop. Young people do everything on their phone. I was shocked the girl we hired for social media did everything on her phone.

It's a weirdly huge industry too. CapCut was a top 5 downloaded app in the stores for years. Meta just released their version of a video editing app today after CapCut was banned.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I assume this is being coordinated by Trump's team and all of the major players here to go dark at the end of the Biden administration and then Trump takes office, announces some sort of deal or indefinite extension to keep it open (that Biden gave but no one took), and then Trump takes a victory lap for saving TT and doing what Biden couldn't.

Biden banned it. They followed the law until they got reassurances from the next President. It seems coordinated because of what a dumb fucking move it was by the Democrats. Imagine this message going out to 170m users, mostly young adults. Another colossal self-own.

https://t.co/en8BuFpPOb pic.twitter.com/Ek1b0YtsV2

— Ryan O'Donnell (@ryanodonnellpa) January 19, 2025

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

That's not why I want to ban it (and much else of social media), which I thought I made clear in my post on the topic, but I guess social media has rotted your brain to the point where you just skim words and look for conflict.

I read what you wrote. I don't think banning forms of communication with legal speech is ever good for democracy.

[CrimsonFox]

I may be slow but how exactly is tiktok a security risk? Is it like the Furby that can record what you say unknowingly? Or is it the secret dance signals?

[dubb93]

Legitimately one of the biggest self owns in history. Trump now looks like a hero to young people and females who flock to this platform. Trump is playing chess and the dems are playing cracker jacks at this point.

[Danny]

I agree with Rainmaker, Biden and the democrats in charhe are a bunch of morons. This was such an idoitic move towards a voter base which you should be able to dominate.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

I may be slow but how exactly is tiktok a security risk? Is it like the Furby that can record what you say unknowingly? Or is it the secret dance signals?

It's not. It was just the excuse they used because admitting you did this for Facebook and Israel doesn't sell.

[CrimsonFox]

Israel?

[GrantDawg]

For some reason, since coming back, they aren't allowing users to go live. The video quality has also gone down on many videos.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

Israel?

They lobbied heavily to ban the app. Both Blinken and Romney talked about how TikTok was a huge problem for PR in the Middle East. There's even video of the ban being celebrated in the Knesset

Zuck's been pushing for years to ban it but didn't have the juice till Israel added pressure too.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

For some reason, since coming back, they aren't allowing users to go live. The video quality has also gone down on many videos.

Their cloud services may not have allowed them back on yet. So they may be working from extremely limited resources. The bill actually doesn't punish TikTok as much as it punishes companies for working with TikTok. The apps are still not available in the app stores because of this.

Guessing that'll change tomorrow when Trump signs the extension and there are no legal ramification for these companies.

[GrantDawg]

There is a trend on TikTok right now of people thanking President Obama for bringing back TikTok. You can see why this is a dangerous app that must be banned, right?

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[Ksyrup]

Any truth to the rumor/unsubstantiated reports that FB user accounts are automatically following Trump/Vance now, and that Instagram has made it difficult/impossible to find #DNC/Democrat or put up a "warning senstive material" when these are searched? I saw that the FB thing just might be official accounts changing hands, but then there are reports that people are unable to unfollow those accounts.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Any truth to the rumor/unsubstantiated reports that FB user accounts are automatically following Trump/Vance now, and that Instagram has made it difficult/impossible to find #DNC/Democrat or put up a "warning senstive material" when these are searched? I saw that the FB thing just might be official accounts changing hands, but then there are reports that people are unable to unfollow those accounts.

My FB account is not following Trump, and I searched both hashtags on IG and there was no problem or warning. Seems to be lots of that kind of questionable information floating around.

[GrantDawg]

Dola: Just looking at some reporting on the IG hashtag thing, it looks like that did happen for a short while. Lots of speculation that they were "testing" something for later, but if I had to guess what actually happened there was some mass reporting that triggered it.

[Atocep]

Mr Free Speech is banning people for 12 hours for calling him a nazi on Twitter.

[Edward64]

I personally don't think there's much to it but it's funny as heck. Great meme (like Zuck's looking) for the forseeable future.

Elon Musk controversial salute image beamed on Tesla factory in Berlin

[NobodyHere]

As if the alleged nazi salute wasn't bad enough:

Musk Confesses to Letting Other Gamers Play for Him to Boost Stats

[RainMaker]

A Chinese company released their AI for free and it's so much better than anything any of the American companies have come up with. They did it with a fraction of the cost and without top of the line chips. A lot of tech people freaking out and others coming up with excuses for their inferiority.

[JPhillips]

Although they are being questioned as to their claims. They've been accused of having a lot of top of the line Nvidia equipment but they can't say they have it due to western sanctions.

[GrantDawg]

New report today that Microsoft and Oracle are in negotiations to take over TikTok global, not just US. Bytedance will be keeping just a minority stake. The White House is in the center of the negotiations. As much as Musk and Zuckberg seemed to be getting the attention toward taking over, it has always been Oracle and Larry Ellis that has had the inside track. They currently have control of the US servers for TikTok (have since 2021).

Article:
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/25/g-s1-44779/tiktok-ban-deal-trump-oracle

[RainMaker]

Kind of a win-win for all those involved (well not us, but those in power). Despite the hysterics from politicians, TikTok is really not that important. Social media is volataile and they'll cash in at its peak even with the discount that will be provided by forcing a sale.

So ByteDance collects a hundred plus billion that they can invest in their AI which is already miles ahead of other American companies. They maintain a minority ownership and likely access to data to train their AI.

Politicians get a win as it'll now be in the hands of another far-right billionaire who can push the political messaging they want and censor views they don't. And they get to buy at a discount thanks to a handout from the U.S. government. Plus it's a huge win for Trump with 170 million people, many of which are young seeing him as saving the app that Biden banned.


Really the only loser here are the Democrats.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Really the only loser here are the Democrats.

A repeating theme.

[Atocep]

Are you telling me this isn't a tic tac toe winner?

[Atocep]

It wasn't a Nazi salute!

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/e...l-c-rcna189316

[Ksyrup]

OMG the first picture in that article! Tell me that is photoshopped LOL!

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Although they are being questioned as to their claims. They've been accused of having a lot of top of the line Nvidia equipment but they can't say they have it due to western sanctions.

I don't think that's the case. It seems that being forced to use inferior chips made them focus more on efficiency which is where their model excels. It's why the restrictions were destined for blowback. You force people to innovate and they will.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I don't think that's the case. It seems that being forced to use inferior chips made them focus more on efficiency which is where their model excels. It's why the restrictions were destined for blowback. You force people to innovate and they will.

What I read is he started with about 120 older Nvidia chips, then just added what lesser chips they could get.

[RainMaker]

This thread mostly sums up my thoughts after reading a chunk of the papers they put out. I really think they just did it on those H800s. Everything adds up in how they optimized things.


Still think the AI stuff is a loser but some pretty cool innovation taking place.






[Edward64]

That's okay, Zuck. You really didn't have a choice. Other billionaires have kissed the ring. May not be the right thing to do, but it is the smart thing to do.

Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against the company after it suspended his accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to three people familiar with the matter.
:
The people familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity Wednesday to discuss the agreement. Two of the people said terms of the agreement include $22 million going to the nonprofit that will become Trump's future presidential library. The balance will go to legal fees and other litigants, they said.

[flere-imsaho]