The US government forcing spinoffs is a core tenant of antitrust enforcement.
We’ve seen similar enforcement applied to other applications like Grindr [1].
The fundamental issue is ByteDance ownership. Forced divestiture due to legitimate concern for potential abuses is perfectly acceptable whether by a financial or national security rationale.
Can you imagine implementing regulations that are not for your safety?
All data that they collect are given by user voluntary, by agreeing with their terms of use. Instead of banning, educate about how data harvesting works and why it matters. No one is learning from censorship.
The average consumer doesn't understand nor care to understand about the implications of what they are agreeing. That's why consumer protection laws exists. Because, humans are, by a large, very stupid about most things.
The fundamental issue is ByteDance ownership. Forced divestiture due to legitimate concern for potential abuses is perfectly acceptable whether by a financial or national security rationale.
———
1 - https://www.axios.com/2024/04/27/biden-tiktok-sale-grindr