I don't know about you, but if I must leak my private data like a sieve to use the internet, I'd much rather that data go to a government that isn't governing me!

They still can, they just have to go back to buying that data lmao

Everybody Sucks Here

That's a solid criticism and I upvoted. I hadn't thought about YouTube. Anecdotally I've had factual comments about how many kids are killed, what Israeli politicians say, etc. auto-moderated into oblivion on YouTube. But at the same time I get a lot of the facts I use from YouTube (basically never been on TikTok) so it holds water. I also get a lot of info from other sources, but I can't think of something specific I'd get from them that I could never find on YouTube.

In my defense, I'm basing my opinion on why TikTok is particularly targeted on interviews like this one with Ted Cruz. He talks about how TikTok is specifically designed to push messages that are harmful to America, including what he calls pro-Hamas content but I suspect is actually anti-Israeli policy, pro-Palestine content. That is why I would argue there's some evidence of a campaign against TikTok in particular that might skip over YouTube or other major platforms. Perhaps the Western powers feel that YouTube is still acceptably moderated towards their interests whereas TikTok isn't. Perhaps Google is just too influential domestically.

Edit: I found a video I was looking for: Biden talking about passing the TikTok/Israel funding/Ukraine funding package. A bit of language he uses that I think is telling is "it continues America’s leadership in the world and everyone knows it" which could signal US dominance as a motivation and thus TikTok as a target and not US companies.

That doesn't mean your point isn't worth discussion, or that my points aren't opinion. I'm interested to see how it develops. I've based my opinion on the conversations I can find and language used, but I'm open to adjusting my view if evidence prompts that.

For one the YouTube algorithm is absolute dog shit compared to TT, which is literally the gold standard at this point.

If you haven't tried, you're seriously missing out. It's legit incredible how good it is. I hardly use it because I prefer long-form content (and don't honestly have much time) but I absolutely can respect what they created

Western SM is already in the pocket of the state and any content that goes against their values is suppressed.

Pro-Palestinian content on Tiktok can easily get traction and receive over hundreds of thousands, if not millions of views.

Considering that younger people are not watching regular media news, channels like fox just do not have comparative reach and they aren't buying into the zionist propaganda like previous generations.

There are a lot of content creators who are articulate, succinct and organisation has come out of it. People have created sites & apps that list all corporations and products to boycott because of their support for Israel and it's had an impact.

Sure, TTs algorithm can easily push you down unpleasant rabbit holes but that's the nature of algorithms, not just specific to TT.

So there might be similar content on western SM but it's being held down and isn't showing on people feed 'organically'.

What we certainly do know is that Musk bought twitter not to enable free speech, but to control speech according to his personal whims and beliefs.

I imagine the Saudi's went in with Musk on the twitter deal to also control and dilute unfavorable speech. The Saudi ruler is the guy that assassinated journalist Jamal Khashoggi on foreign soil because he wasn't exactly a team Saudi ruler kind of guy.

I 100% admit that my take on the TikTok ban is opinion based on the hearings and arguments + the scope of the bill, so you aren't being unfair. I have never heard that about the Twitter purchase - I had read it was a poor decision Musk made only half-seriously and then was basically forced to follow through with.

I think the reason it's happening now is because of the growing protest movement against the genocide in Gaza.

All the other US media companies actively sensor pro-Palestine/anti-Israel content and TikTok doesn't. Unacceptable!