Young People Get Their News from TikTok. That's a Huge Problem for Democrats.

[babylonsister]

Seems like a dangerous conflict we could probably do without. I don't use TikTok so I'm pretty neutral about this, though did not know you could find news there. But who's writing the news? Any unbiased sources informing the masses?

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/democrats_tiktok_news_ban_biden.php

Columbia Journalism Review
The Media Today
Young People Get Their News from TikTok. That’s a Huge Problem for Democrats.
March 15, 2024 By Cameron Joseph


Democrats are doing the most awkward TikTok dance.

The House’s Wednesday vote to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social media behemoth to an American entity has put Democrats from President Biden on down in a tough spot. Most are now on record backing a bill that could shutter a fast-growing platform that’s most popular with the young voters they so badly need.

TikTok users aren’t just kids mindlessly scrolling dance videos. Roughly one-third of Americans aged 18–29 regularly get their news from TikTok, the Pew Research Center found in a late 2023 survey. Nearly half of all TikTok users say they regularly get news from the app, a higher percentage than for any other social media platform aside from Twitter.

Almost 40 percent of young adults were using TikTok and Instagram for their primary Web search instead of the traditional search engines, a Google senior vice president said in mid-2022—a number that’s almost certainly grown since then. Overall, TikTok claims 150 million American users, almost half the US population; two-thirds of Americans aged 18–29 use the app.

“It is astonishing the extent to which TikTok has become the primary information platform for young people,” said Jesse Lehrich, a Democratic strategist and Big Tech critic. “Us olds are slow to pick up on the ways that young people are actually using these platforms. People use it as search. People use it as their primary news source.”

Pissing off TikTok users is obviously a risk for Democrats. As Biden administration Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Bloomberg News a few weeks ago, if Democrats ban TikTok, “the politician in me thinks you’re going to literally lose every voter under 35, forever.” (One irate TikTok user recently left a congressman a voicemail saying that “TikTok is my Google” and that, if they didn’t vote against banning it, “you’re gonna see me at your house.”)

[rso]

1. RSO

Fortunately, I don’t think this will be resolved one way or another before the Election.

[Scrivener7]

2. If Mnuchin's bid to buy it is successful, that'll be a much bigger problem for Democrats. And that, I believe, is the

reason this is all coming up at this particular moment and not a year ago or a year from now.

I agree with you. This is not a good move for us.

[babylonsister]

5. Agreed, Munchkin being involved is

very concerning. Faux II?

[Scrivener7]

6. Faux Godzilla. And the vile thing suddenly did a 180 and now supports the selling of tiktok. No doubt the

benefits have been spelled out to him, using small words.

[babylonsister]

7. The primary benefit for

him is, I think, $$. I keep flashing on this picture, but he could do a lot of damage, too.

[Scrivener7]

12. The prospect of them buying TikTok is a nightmare.

[bdamomma]

3. And if this ass plans to buy

it, you will see more propaganda funneled to the younger people. Tik Toc needs to be regulated.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/ex-treasury-secretary-mnuchin-wants-to-buy-tiktok-i-m-going-to-put-together-a-group/ar-BB1jTgOq

snip article

Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin revealed Thursday that he’s building a team of investors to potentially buy TikTok after House lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill that would force its China-based parent ByteDance to sell.

Mnuchin expressed support for the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which gives ByteDance six months to divest its stake in the company or face a total ban in the US. As The Post reported, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) faces intense pressure to bring it up for a speedy vote.

“I think the legislation should pass and I think it should be sold,” Mnuchin said during a Thursday appearance on CNBC’s .


This slim ball is resurfacing too.

[CurtEastPoint]

10. Here's Mr and Mrs Moneysucking Slimeballs Munchkins

[usonian]

4. Just require social media to pay news sources

They will stop feeding news.


https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-starts-process-end-news-availability-canada-2023-08-01/
Meta starts blocking news in Canada over law on paying publishers

[BootinUp]

8. This will be a good political experience

For them.

[ripcord]

9. People freaked out when the U.S. gathered data on them but I guess it is ok from China

As long as Tik-Toc is required to hand over data to the Chinese government they should be banned along with another other app from China that gathers information.

[EarlG]

11. It's a weird situation for sure

If the government had threatened to ban MTV in 1984 I imagine there would have been significant backlash. But on the other hand, I can't imagine how it would have played out if MTV had been owned by the Soviet Union at the time.

[Qutzupalotl]

13. We are being propagandized either way.

Like YouTube, TikTok amplifies negative videos about America in general and Biden in particular. It's one reason the age issue and support for Israel are such big liabilities — these things can shape perception among viewers. There is a kind of hypnotic effect that is hard to ignore; one accepts suggestions when they are presented repeatedly in various ways, and when people see their peers voicing opinions, they tend to agree.

I don't know that a domestic owner would be much better, but at least they would be subject to U.S. law. We would stand a chance of them complying with a subpoena, for instance. We could perhaps see what is done with our data. But a lot depends on who the new owners would be.

I'm told that Mnuchin was at one time a Democrat. I don't know whether politics has any bearing on his interest in buying. He appears to be motivated mostly by money, as though he needed more. Maybe he does, to keep his wife happy. Or maybe he doesn't want to pay taxes under Biden.