šØ WARNING: LONG RANT INCOMING ā POTENTIAL SWEARINGšØ
Before I begin, some of what Iām about to share is based on hearsay, and some are facts you can verify yourself. Letās dive in.
Weāve all heard about the TikTok ban looming over us. Whatās been driving me nuts is how the US government keeps calling TikTokās CEO, Shou Zi Chew, āChineseā when heās Singaporean.
If you havenāt seen it, watch this absurdity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgLQCfypDLk.
From what Iāve seen (and heard from credible creators on TikTok):
1ļøā£ TikTok employs over 8,000 people, most of whom live and work in the US.
2ļøā£ The majority of TikTokās servers are located in the US ā mostly California, with some in New York.
3ļøā£ (Okay, this oneās more personal): The CEOās family ā wife and kids ā are American citizens.
What really pisses me off is this: TikTok might just be the most āAmericanā social media platform in terms of infrastructure and employees. Yet, itās public enemy #1.
Meanwhile, companies like Meta and Google operate most of their servers outside the US, employ large overseas teams, and likely have āarrangementsā with the US government to share data and dodge scrutiny. Double standards, anyone?
This is why protocols like Nostr are crucial. Decentralized systems mean no government can shut us down. Anyone can spin up a relay, and we can bring our social graphs wherever we go. Free speech, resilience, and ownership ā all baked in.
Thanks for sticking with me through the rant. What do you think? Is this just government posturing, or is there more to the TikTok ban? Letās talk.
#FreeSpeech #Nostr #Decentralization #TikTok #Web3 #DigitalFreedom