I feel like we're missing the point by not adressing the core problem surrounding TikTok. Labeling everyone who's concerned by TikTok for personal data & privacy reasons as out of touch while not even adressing the real elephant in the room that is the rec algo plays right into TikTok's hand 9/9

which for me has always been its opaque recommendation algorithm that encourages extremist content.

This story is going to whitewash TikTok and further distract from the real issue, allowing TikTok to make a triumphant return to american smartphones, if it ever even leaves. 8/9

What I find dangerous in this whole story is that we are reducing the danger of TikTok to a mere question of “stealing personal data”, which really isn’t that important to a significant portion of the population, while forgetting the real danger posed by TikTok, 7/9

Chinese users on this new platform are echoing these reflections by Americans. I don't know if this is a targeted operation from China, or, more likely, just impromptu humor, but that is besides the point. 6/9

especially among young liberal Americans. Young people find it hilarious, it reinforces the image of the American Senate as out of touch with youth, and people once again claim that (1) they don’t care if their data is stolen and that (2) the US Big Tech steal them anyway, so who cares? 5/9

What is also subtly problematic — and here I’m putting my party pooper hat on — is that Chinese users on the platform are welcoming the arrival of American users with memes like: “I’m a Chinese secret agent here to steal your data.” These memes are being shared on US Instagram and Twitter, 4/9

It is hosted exclusively in China, all the servers are in China (in some ways making it more problematic than TikTok in this regard), and nothing is yet known about the recommendation algorithms they use (sound familiar?) 3/9

With the increasingly real possibility of a widespread ban on TikTok (the Senate’s deadline being just a few days away), Americans are starting to look for alternatives and are discovering RedNote (Xiaohongshu), a platform inspired by Pinterest/Instagram. 2/9

Sometimes, all you need is spam. 3/3

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Thématiques, acteurs et fonctions du discours anti-français en Afrique francophone www.ifri.org/fr/etudes/th... (contributed via graphs)

🖋️ Post-truth politics in the Middle East: the case studies of Syria and Turkey dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/arti... with the great @cosenote.bsky.social

Oh btw hello Bluesky 👋 I'll be doing short *fun* threads like this one from time to time, mostly about Russian info ops in Sahel, East Africa and MENA.