Ryan Nee

A tribute band for Better Than Ezra called Worse Than Better Than Ezra

Assuming you’re reading a physical copy, have a dictionary handy and use a second bookmark to keep your place in the footnotes!

I’m an average height.

Agreed.

Musk and Zuck’s right to free speech lets them control their algorithms as they desire. That’s the protected speech.

TikTok algorithm’s owners have no constitutional rights.

Users of any social media service have no consitutional right to free speech within that privately-run service.

Musk and Zuck:

• Constitutional right to free speech (their algorithms are a form of speech)

• Can be sued, fined, or jailed for breaking laws (unlikely but theoretically possible)

TikTok algorithm’s owners:

• No constitutional right to free speech in US

• Cannot be sued, fined, or jailed

I don’t think they belong in jail or will go to jail. All I am saying is:

TikTok’s algorithm owners:
0.0% chance of fines, lawsuits, or jail time because they’re not governed by our laws

Meta & X’s algorithm owners:
Higher than 0.0% chance because they are governed by our laws

Yes, I have been in a coma.

I don’t want to duck out of the conversation — I want to go wander around an Italian town, which is more compelling than talking to a fifteen year old on the internet.

Because we’ve caused a ton of problems in the world since World War II, or for some other reason?

I don’t think I’m going to successfully persuade you, and I want to go start my day now (I’m in Europe at the moment).

Thanks for the conversation.

How was it?

I assure you that people talk negatively about Joe Biden/Israel outside TikTok.

We should ban it because it’s a national security threat. Do you believe the Chinese Communist Party would never purposefully harm America via the algorithm? (e.g. dumbing us all down slowly over many years)

An alternative to banning TikTok in the US.

What do you propose as an alternative? What do you believe is the best path forward?

Facebook, Inc., FTC v. The Federal Trade Commission has sued Facebook, alleging that the company is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct. The c...

Facebook is literally being sued by the federal government right now, and it probably won’t be the last time. You can argue that this doesn’t matter, but the alternative (in TikTok’s case) is literally no possible repercussions at all.

www.ftc.gov/legal-librar...

Spoon-feed would be best.

I’m not suggesting that they’re not doing anything nefarious. I think both Musk and Zuck are both harmful assholes.

I’m saying that they (and other people in their company) can be sued, fined, or put in jail. People who control the TikTok algorithm literally cannot. That’s the difference.

I’m not saying which algorithms are good or bad — I’m saying that some algorithms can be affected by our democratically-elected government (via lawsuits, fines, jail time, etc.) and some literally can’t.

Being correct is indeed adorable, thank you for saying so.

Facebook, Inc., FTC v. The Federal Trade Commission has sued Facebook, alleging that the company is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct. The c...

There are repercussions. Maybe not particularly effective ones, but with TikTok there is nobody to sue, fine, or jail.

www.ftc.gov/legal-librar...

At what point did I say that joining an app is enough to overturn an American’s worldview?

Having your data is only a minor part of the problem.

The main problem: the Chinese gov’t being able to manipulate us and slowly reprogram our brains with no possible repercussions.

Musk and Zuck can do that also, but there can be criminal repercussions if they do so nefariously. Not for China.

All human interaction is brainwashing to some degree. Our point of view unknowingly changes slightly when we have a conversation, listen to a podcast, read a book, etc.

TikTok’s CCP-controlled algorithm is capable of astonishing brain alteration — all wrapped in highly-personalized entertainment.

How is that related to this situation? Because TikTok is the world’s most advanced and widespread brainwashing machine ever created?

Facebook, Inc., FTC v. The Federal Trade Commission has sued Facebook, alleging that the company is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct. The c...

Yes. For example:

www.ftc.gov/legal-librar...

You may be (justifiably) jaded about how effective things like this are, but at least they are possible. With TikTok, there’s nobody to sue, fine, or jail.

Having your data is only a minor part of the problem.

The main problem: the Chinese gov’t being able to manipulate us and slowly reprogram our brains with no possible repercussions.

Musk and Zuck can do that also, but there can be criminal repercussions if they do so nefariously. Not for China.

Will I understand Maroon 5 if I haven't heard Maroon 1-4?

If you bought 10,000 maniacs in 1992 it would be worth 1,000,000 maniacs today

George R.R. Martin’s full name is George Reorge Rartin Martin.

[getting arrested]

me: you’ve got the wrong g-

cop: tell it to the judge

[court]

me: your honor, that cop has the wrong glasses for his face shape