THREAD: chinese balloon
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News Timeline
TIKTOK On The BRINK: Biden’s Bold Move to Ban or Force Sale of Chinese App
— TikTok and Universal Music Group have just renewed their partnership. This deal brings UMG’s music back to TikTok after a short break. The agreement includes better promotion strategies and new AI protections. Universal CEO Lucian Grainge said the deal will help artists and creators on the platform.
President Joe Biden has signed a new law that gives TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, nine months to sell the app or face a ban in the U.S. This decision is due to worries from both political sides about national security and protecting American youth from foreign influence.
TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, announced plans to fight this law in U.S courts, claiming it supports their constitutional rights. Yet, ByteDance would rather close TikTok in the U.S than sell it if they lose their legal battle.
This conflict shows the ongoing struggle between TikTok’s business goals and America’s national security needs. It points out big worries about data privacy and foreign influence in American digital spaces by China’s tech sector.
TIKTOK’S SHADOW BAN: Suppressing Content Critical of Chinese Communist Party?
— A recent investigation by Rutgers University’s Network Contagion Research Institute has unveiled unsettling details about TikTok’s content guidelines. The popular social media platform, notorious for its data collection and sharing with its parent company in China, now stands accused of stifling content that criticizes the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The research team found a stark contrast in the number of posts featuring contentious hashtags such as China’s conflict with India over Kashmir, the Tiananmen Square massacre, and the Uyghur genocide on TikTok compared to other platforms like Instagram. For instance, there were 206 Instagram posts tagged #HongKongProtests for every single one on TikTok. Similar ratios were observed for #StandWithKashmir, #FreeUyghurs, and #DalaiLama.
The report suggests that there is a high likelihood that TikTok either boosts or suppresses content depending on how it aligns with the Chinese government’s interests. This is worrisome since many Generation Z users rely on TikTok as their primary news source — interestingly enough, this is also the only generation reported not to take pride in being American.
TikTok cannot deny these findings as they mirror the methodology used by them last month to prove their platform was not biased against Israel. This revelation raises serious questions about
2,952–0: Xi Jinping Secures THIRD Term as President of China
— Xi Jinping has grabbed a historic third term as president with 2,952 votes to zero from China's rubber-stamp parliament. Shortly afterward, the parliament elected Xi Jinping's close ally Li Qiang as China's next premier, the second-highest ranking politician in China, behind the president.
Li Qiang, previously the Communist Party chief in Shanghai, received 2,936 votes, including President Xi — only three delegates voted against him, and eight abstained. Qiang is a known close ally of Xi and gained notoriety for being the force behind the tough Covid lockdown in Shanghai.
Since the reign of Mao, Chinese law prevented a leader from serving more than two terms, but in 2018, Jinping removed that restriction. Now, with his close ally as premier, his grip on power has never been firmer.
FOUR Balloons in ONE Week? US Shoots Down a Fourth High-Altitude Object
— It started with one rogue Chinese surveillance balloon, but now the US government is going trigger-happy on UFOs. The US military has claimed its shot down another high-altitude object described as an “octagonal structure,” bringing the total to four objects shot down in one week.
It comes just a day after news broke of an object shot down off Alaska that reportedly posed a “reasonable threat” to civilian aviation.
At the time, the White House spokesperson said its origin was unknown, but officials are of the opinion that the first Chinese surveillance balloon was just one of a much larger fleet.
ANOTHER Object SHOT Down Over Alaska by US Fighter Jet
— Just a week after the US destroyed a Chinese surveillance balloon, another high-altitude object has been shot down off Alaska on Friday. President Biden ordered a fighter jet to shoot down the unmanned object that posed a “reasonable threat” to civilian aviation. “We do not know who owns it, whether it’s state owned or corporate owned or privately owned,” said White House Spokesman John Kirby.
A FLEET of Surveillance Balloons: US Believes Chinese Balloon Was Just One of a Larger Network
— After shooting down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon hovering over the US mainland, officials now believe it was just one of a much larger fleet of balloons distributed across the globe for spying purposes.
Massive Chinese SURVEILLANCE Balloon Detected Flying Over Montana Near NUCLEAR Silos
— The US is currently tracking a Chinese surveillance balloon hovering over Montana, close to nuclear silos. China claims it’s a civilian weather balloon that was blown off course. So far, President Biden has decided against shooting it down.
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