KATE THOMPSON DAVY: Finding fact and fiction in TikTok fears and China’s tech crackdown
The divide between China and the West is deepening, with tech as the backdrop and the subject of regulation
Are you on TikTok? The running (meme-ified) joke among my peers is that they’re only on Instagram these days to watch weeks-old TikTok videos shared by their younger friends and content recycler accounts. For many it is hard to see the appeal of this app, which is too often derided as the lip-syncing, viral-dancing waste of time it can be.
There is, of course, another side to it. There are (potentially) 8-billion sides to it — because of that superpowered algorithm that “reads” you and sorts you with brutal efficiency. Swipe through it for a minute or two and suddenly you will have no illusions about your preferences, priorities and peccadilloes...
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