The US government's plan to either ban TikTok or force owner ByteDance to sell it to a (US) company is part of Washington's economic war on China, and an attempt to protect Big Tech monopolies.
The point about US protectionism is well taken. But Raimondo is very obviously making an argument about innovation based on Chinese IP theft. The analysis here would be stronger if this point was acknowledged and confronted head on. Are claims of IP theft factually correct? Does China take a different political position on intellectual property law than the U.S.? By simply saying that she is calling to curb innovation, you are missing a big part of the story.
"Banning TikTok would boost Alphabet, Meta and Snap”, Forbes chirped excitedly in 2023. It noted that these "American technology giants could tack on some $431 billion in market value if the U.S. bans TikTok".
I am very curious how the knitty gritty economics of these tech companies work. $431 billion by taking over a platform that runs cat videos and distracting short videos?
From what I understand, tech platforms make money via selling ads and selling our browsing habits to either corporations or the government. Corporations earmark a 'marketing budget,' which is extracted from consumers via fees and higher prices. The marketing budget is spent on TV commercials, billboards, radio, print media, and online ads.
So Tik Tok really commands 431 billion in potential advertising money or government surveillance contracts? The cat video and short video brain disease platform?
What I'm getting at here is a lot of these 'innovative' tech platforms are really siphoning off money from the consumer via higher prices to pay for worthless advertising, and taxpayers paying for the government contracts to these platforms. And in return we get a brain disease cat video platform that can surveil our browsing habits and can be easily censored or manipulated.
Really mind blowing. Welcome to another unsustainable tech bubble.
It may become more interesting when literately all technology produced in China gets banned in the western world. :))
The US is showing how a true fascist regime looks like, a government working as an agent for their corporate bosses, the globalists.
The EU is the same, or actually are even lesser swamp creatures.
The point about US protectionism is well taken. But Raimondo is very obviously making an argument about innovation based on Chinese IP theft. The analysis here would be stronger if this point was acknowledged and confronted head on. Are claims of IP theft factually correct? Does China take a different political position on intellectual property law than the U.S.? By simply saying that she is calling to curb innovation, you are missing a big part of the story.
Thanks so much, Ben, always enlightening.
"Banning TikTok would boost Alphabet, Meta and Snap”, Forbes chirped excitedly in 2023. It noted that these "American technology giants could tack on some $431 billion in market value if the U.S. bans TikTok".
I am very curious how the knitty gritty economics of these tech companies work. $431 billion by taking over a platform that runs cat videos and distracting short videos?
From what I understand, tech platforms make money via selling ads and selling our browsing habits to either corporations or the government. Corporations earmark a 'marketing budget,' which is extracted from consumers via fees and higher prices. The marketing budget is spent on TV commercials, billboards, radio, print media, and online ads.
So Tik Tok really commands 431 billion in potential advertising money or government surveillance contracts? The cat video and short video brain disease platform?
What I'm getting at here is a lot of these 'innovative' tech platforms are really siphoning off money from the consumer via higher prices to pay for worthless advertising, and taxpayers paying for the government contracts to these platforms. And in return we get a brain disease cat video platform that can surveil our browsing habits and can be easily censored or manipulated.
Really mind blowing. Welcome to another unsustainable tech bubble.