[hypeit]

A human is not a bot. In addition to being dehumanizing, it removes agency to say that.

[ceejayoz]

Pretending large groups of humans can't possibly be influenced to do things is lunacy.

We do weird things in crowds even without intentional propaganda at play. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add8091

[bluefishinit]

That's not a "botnet" though, advertising does the same thing. We don't call the people buying things they've been marketed a "botnet".

[ambicapter]

There's definitely areas of advertising that are banned/controlled so that comparison seems more damning than beneficial (e.g. alcohol to minors, medication in any country other than the US

[ceejayoz]

It needn't be a perfect comparison to be a useful one.

[bluefishinit]

It's not useful though. I actually think it's very cool that TikTok got a bunch of young people to contact their representatives. If this ban goes through, the political blowback is going to be extreme. It will be like the Streisand effect x100,000,000.

[stale2002]

> If this ban goes through, the political blowback is going to be extreme.

Its not a ban. Whats going to happen is that tiktok will divest.

Kids will continue to have their social media.

[bluefishinit]

> What’s more, divestiture would require Beijing’s approval. Last year, the Chinese government said it opposed a forced sale.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/house-passes-tiktok-...

[ceejayoz]

> I actually think it's very cool that TikTok got a bunch of young people to contact their representatives.

I don't think that's the concern.

[butlike]

Just capitalism slaves :P

[butlike]

I'm a human, and I identify as a "bot," so there.