You’d epxect official media to be happy about it. But they had cordoned off the rest of the world for a reason on TikTok. They have that Great Firewall for a reason.
It’s a very recent development and such a change takes time. And of course the company behind the app is welcoming to new users, because it means growth, even when it comes with new headaches towards moderation and pressure from government.
The company not scrambling to make the experience good for foreigners would be leaving money on the table. And no corporation wants to do that. But it’s not up to just them.
Obviously the Chinese government is a big thing and I’m sure there’s a lot of different opinions, but at least the foreign ministry has released official statements speaking positively of the exchanges.
If the foreign ministry was planning to split the userbase, they would be warning about malicious foreign influence, like the US did before they banned tiktok.
A bunch of Americans with a fresh chip on their shoulder for the US government storming a Chinese social media site and airing out their grievances doesn’t exactly paint the US in a positive light, I would bet that whoever is responsible for coordinating Chinese propaganda sees this as a free win.
A bunch of Americans with a fresh chip on their shoulder for the US government storming a Chinese social media site and airing out their grievances doesn’t exactly paint the US in a positive light
It’s not like the Chinese people don’t have any grievances, particularly around mental health stigmas and treatment for ADHD/autism. But a lot of americans are finding out things aren’t so bad everywhere else for the first time.
Chinese news seems generally positive. Here’s a translation from the official Chinese media, People’s Daily, yesterday:
spoiler
You’d epxect official media to be happy about it. But they had cordoned off the rest of the world for a reason on TikTok. They have that Great Firewall for a reason.
Why would you expect official media to be happy?
I’d expect official media to be warning about dangerous foreigners manipulating you, especially if they were planning to shut it down.
Because it’s good PR. Pretend to be happy while you work to cordon off foreigners again
Except they’re not cordoning us off, they’re doing the opposite by adding built-in translation functions.
It’s a very recent development and such a change takes time. And of course the company behind the app is welcoming to new users, because it means growth, even when it comes with new headaches towards moderation and pressure from government.
The company not scrambling to make the experience good for foreigners would be leaving money on the table. And no corporation wants to do that. But it’s not up to just them.
Obviously the Chinese government is a big thing and I’m sure there’s a lot of different opinions, but at least the foreign ministry has released official statements speaking positively of the exchanges.
Are we really going to take word from foreign ministries in earnest?
If the foreign ministry was planning to split the userbase, they would be warning about malicious foreign influence, like the US did before they banned tiktok.
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The purpose of the walled internet was to prevent western propaganda, instead they’re seeing their users get real information from real people.
A bunch of Americans with a fresh chip on their shoulder for the US government storming a Chinese social media site and airing out their grievances doesn’t exactly paint the US in a positive light, I would bet that whoever is responsible for coordinating Chinese propaganda sees this as a free win.
It’s not like the Chinese people don’t have any grievances, particularly around mental health stigmas and treatment for ADHD/autism. But a lot of americans are finding out things aren’t so bad everywhere else for the first time.