ESSAY: Tic-tac-toe time for TikTok
Google, Facebook, Microsoft and ByteDance, among others, have the world increasingly dancing to their tune, and it’s an algorithmically-generated one.
The lively debate about TikTok and its future in the US market has all kinds of people arguing all kinds of things, with Pollyannas and paranoids locked in mortal combat. As is often the case in American politics, the me-me-me claims of high moral dudgeon obscure the nitty-gritty nuances of the issue at hand.
Nowhere is this more true than in the US Congress where flag-waving, serving up lies like freedom fries, cloaking intentions, dog whistling to constituents and signaling antipathy for anything foreign is just another day on the Hill.
American politicians vent the way they do because adopting a patriotic pose wins votes and shores up vested domestic interests. It’s more about scoring points than finding a solution.
Nancy Pelosi resorted to creative alliteration to bolster her defense of the congressional bill, saying of the forced sale. “This is not an attempt to ban TikTok. It’s an attempt to make TikTok better. Tic-tac-toe. A winner.”
The congressional vote in f…