This seems like a smokescreen for the actual problem, which isn't the algorithms(I don't think anyone has said the algorithms are the problem), but the fact that their app is effectively spyware.
It remains to be seen what "data flows" actually means. That term is used again in the article but it doesn't sound like it explicitly refers to how TikTok acts like a surveillence tool. Maybe it will, but this is political theater. If they were run by people who actually cared, they wouldn't have gotten to this point in the first place.
> TikTok will launch a Transparency and Accountability Center in Los Angeles for moderation and data practices that will house all of its data flows and code moving forward.
Sounds pretty ambiguous. Like I said, remains to be seen.
These aren't friendly people. Their app not only harvests an assload of your data but has also been shown to be full of vulnerabilities. I'm not just going to take their word for it that making everything "open" is going to show that they've made things right.
If I ran TikTok, I'd pull off a stunt like this to fool technically illiterate politicians to get them off my back.
It's quite possible TikTok will go down the path of promising the moon regarding self-regulation and accountability just until the immediate threat from regulators subsides. This appears to be a trend among companies to stave off regulation while in the public consciousness, then remaining largely unaccountable to these toothless accountability committees when the news cycle inevitably moves on.
I'm pretty curious about this as well. I read an article a few weeks ago where some developer went into how TikTok is "worse" but nothing stuck with me about it but it was posted here. It's been mentioned a few times that the real problem is the data collected is sent back to China and Singapore but again I'm not entirely sure how that's "worse" than having it given/sold to companies and governments outside of Asia.
I don't think it's about whether or not it is worse than FB etc. I don't think it is..it's about who it reports to and what their motivations are. If FB was reporting to an openly authoritarian and hostile regime...we would probably having this conversation about them. (and currently we sort of are actually given our govt issues)
What is your source for saying that? And what is your definition of spyware?
I don't use TikTok, Facebook, nor Instagram. But I don't get how TikTok is different than the other two? I don't call Facebook a spyware but I don't use it for the very similar reasons that I don't use TikTok and Instagram.
