Facebook is capitalist spyware and a social engineering tool. You have to remember that capitalism is not a normal power relationship, even though they have been working tirelessly to make the world believe they are – capitalism is at the bleeding edge of techno-fascist authoritarianism.

OK you get the idea, and I’m not trying to defend China, but they’re just one of many powers - most private - that are using tools like this. I’d favor legislation to break them all up, to say any social network over a certain size has to federate, to say no one company or government can own more than one social network, lots of possibilities I would favor, but cherry-picking TikTok seems like Congress is working for Zuck. Taking out one of the big players just consolidates the incredibly dangerous power of the others.

And truthfully, in my time scrolling TikTok, I’ve generally found the content to be a lot less manipulative, more liberal, and more democratic-leaning than on capitalist social networks, so if the CCP is actively using it for social engineering, they’re doing a terrible job of it.