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  • Hacker News
  • Why would anyone expect a data-funnel to the CCP to be honest? I am baffled that people even use the app.
  • Tiktok was sold to a US company iirc
  • Will you ever cease to be baffled, I wonder? All the crazy things people do, and all the crazy stories on the news every single day, your life must be absolute kaleidoscopic madness of noncomprehension.
  • It’s a data funnel to Larry Ellison and the Trump crime family now.
  • I guess because endangering its ability to function here endangers its ability to funnel data?
  • There's only 3 options for the internet:

    1. free for all

    2. locked down with ID checked age gates

    3. sanitized with no adult content at all

    If we put responsibility for keeping kids safe on companies we will get 2 or 3. The only good option is that parents need to actually parent their kids.

  • Those are not mutually exclusive. I'll take #1 and #2 combined, thank you very much. #3 is the purview of the advertisers and CC companies.
  • This is soooo true. But unfortunately, whenever you confront a parent with their responsibilities, they immediately lash out with excuses. "How should I know." "There is already sooo much work to do." "In these times ..." All lazy ass excuses by people who obviously have no idea what responsibility they have.
  • What about:

    4) Human moderated in smaller communities

    5) Self run reputation systems

    Plenty of communities exist out there that aren't a free for all, do not perform id checks, have adult content, and are free from children.

  • what about 4: my hardware I do what I want including connecting to other peoples hardware if I want.

    In a lot of the ways we are exiting eternal september. most of the normies are already tech illiterate enough to lose their ancestral knowledge of how independent websites might work. they will be punted into their walled gardens more and more while the internet returns to people who are more tech literate again.

  • Why not a layered system of all 3. Everyone starts in #3 by default, your grandma can do her shopping and banking and pay for parking without the constant risk of being scammed. Then jump through some hoops to get to #2 and/or #1. #2 has regulated adult content. #1 ends up only appealing to tech-types and so, due to self-selection, ends the Eternal September.
  • Seems like that would be contrary to the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
  • > TikTok in August agreed to settle three U.S. lawsuits brought by young people who accuse social media companies of designing their platforms to be addictive and harming their mental health.

    I am so happy I do not live in US where an idiot harms themself and non-idiot has to pay them.

  • What libertarian utopia do you live in?
  • > young people

    We were all idiots at that point in our lives.

  • Beyond a Free-for-all, ID-checked gates, or a sanitised platform there's a fourth option: you declare what you want less of and your own software enforces it against the platform's preferences.
  • Texas judge rules heroin marketed as child safe so parents could get back to doing their own heroin was not child safe after all.
  • People talking about addictiveness but from what I can tell this is all about how effective the content filters are. Tiktok being held liable for the efficacy of its controls is a much bigger issue than this one case.
  • My son is trying to get me to get him a phone. His is reason is because all the 5th graders have them on the bus. Im so worried about these damn phones. It seems like this is how this generation of kids loses their innocence these days. Like here is a little box full of gossip and porn and things to envy over...idk maybe im just too damn worried lol
  • TikTok isn't even safe for adults, let alone children.
    by pmdr
  • The open internet isn't safe for adults, either. There is some serious misinformation out there, and it's high time we restrict the internet to only high-IQ people. (/sarc)
  • > Liu also said Texas had established that TikTok's "Restricted Mode" did not work as advertised and exposed minors to content the company said would be filtered out.

    I don't use tiktok, can someone explain what the restrict mode was advertised as vs does? If it's like any social media limiter it's perhaps a softer thing (time limit) than a hard thing (ie, designed to put the onus on the user).

  • IIRC, it's supposed to filter out disturbing or offensive content; any time you report a comment or a video, it suggests enabling it to prevent seeing that sort of thing in the future.
  • From TikTok:

    What Is Restricted Mode? Restricted Mode limits videos that may not be right for all viewers. It filters out mature or complex themes. Some features like LIVE videos and the Following feed are hidden while it is active

    So I can only assume that it did not filter out these things.

    by ljf
  • Based on their faq: https://www.tiktok.com/support/faq_detail?category=web_accou...

    > You shouldn't see mature or complex themes, such as:

    > • Profanity

    > • Sexually suggestive content

    > • Realistic violence or threatening imagery

    > • Firearms or weapons in an environment that isn't appropriate

    > • Illegal or controlled substances/drugs

    > • Explicit references to mature or complex themes that may reflect personal experiences or real-world events that are intended for older audiences

    It is clearly described as a content filter. (It also deactivates gifting on live and "following" feed.)

  • > The State’s second argument concerns TikTok’s representations about whether its “Restricted Mode” feature effectively filtered out content that might be inappropriate for minors. TikTok claimed that Restricted Mode “limits the appearance of content that may not be appropriate for all audiences” and that users “shouldn’t see mature or complex themes,” such as “profanity,” “sexually suggestive content,” “realistic violence or threatening imagery,” “firearms or weapons in an environment that isn’t appropriate,” “illegal or controlled substances/drugs,” and “explicit references to mature or complex themes that may reflect personal experiences or real-world events that are intended for older audiences.” For years, the State argues, TikTok employees internally recognized that Restricted Mode was not functioning in the way it was marketed and exposed users to a high volume of content that should have been filtered out.

    https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/ima...

  • It blows my mind that parents let their children use these platforms with these safety features.

    I just found out yesterday that my cousin lets their 5ish year old have a TikTok account, but they have to allow or deny anyone who follows. How absurd is that. It doesn't block anything about what they view (I assume they relied on this safety feature), and there's no way that vetting who can follow (family and friends) is safe enough. The alternative is my younger cousin not having access to TikTok at five years old. Seems like a completely fine alternative.

    I imagine the average person just doesn't think about the potential implications of giving your child a TikTok account at that age.

  • Instead of sueing the platforms, the parents should be subjected to CPS, on a daily basis.
  • It's two things. When you step outside the HN bubble, very few people have any idea of the dangers and history of these apps. Also, life is objectively harder for parents these days. Often times, both parents are working, and they're working longer hours and getting paid less than previous generations so a lot of parents just dump their kids in front of screens. I'm not saying that's good. It's objectively bad, but that's the reality.
  • I think the blame is on the parents that allowed a 5 year old to have a TikTok account. No safety feature or regulation can compensate for bad parenting.