Unsurprisingly, The Economist’s article peddles a false narrative. Livestreamers and video games are merely the surface of a deeper phenomenon. TikTok and Xiaohongshu thrive only because China’s middle class isn’t impoverished. What makes these platforms persuasive is that they undercut Western myths by contrasting middle-class life in China vs the US.
China has a positive image in the world because it’s leading in sustainability, building world-class infrastructure, pioneering tech in emerging fields, and maintaining safe, clean cities at scale. Its foreign policy, while not flawless, is far more benign than the America’s. No constant wars. A major ally for developing nations. Growing global brands. Standing firm against a bully in the tariff dispute. Meanwhile, tourists who document their visits, are dismantling claims of a police state or genocide.
But what about the Yogurts genocide in Tinyman Square? Muh authoritarian see-see-pee, or something.
yes and tibet xizang must be freed because i want to suck the lama’s tongue!!
tiktok seems to be pushing back against any positive images by promoting tiktokers who have a clearly negative perspective on china and i think it has something to do with trump’s involvement.
i foresee tiktok becoming the american empire’s front line soldier in the propaganda ware at some future stage, if it manages to survive its ban.
There definitely seems to be a change in the algorithm, but it’s still far more open than western owned platforms.
– for now, since they still have to please their chinese masters to allow the sale to the american empire to proceed.
I don’t think China will allow TikTok to be sold to the US at this point, but looks like they are willing to make some compromises.
it think that the only thing the us cares about now is retaining the userbase to keep the china-is-an-authoritarian-hellhole narrative intact for as long as possible.
letting them keep the name “tiktok” will be a win for them since the ban has proven that the brand has a meaning with liberals who refuse to leave it even though it’s gotten clearly worse and that the chinese gov’t won’t let them buy the original algorithm.
I’m saying that China would not allow this sale to happen because the US is only a small part of the global market, and it would be seen as a sign of weakness for China to hand over their platform to the US. They would rather just cut off access in US.
They’re mad that a 20yo black kid destroyed their carefully cultivated decades old narrative by just strolling in China lmao.
“The Economist, a journal that speaks for the British millionaires”
-Vladimir Lenin, 1915
