From the perspective of the United States government it makes perfect sense to be hostile towards Chinese influence before its own platforms. If they wanted to curb foreign interference there, they could, their failure to do so is just a symptom of regulatory capture. That’s the whole argument here.

It doesn’t matter for this argument what atrocities they committed elsewhere or how poorly the country is run in various ways.

Besides, China does the exact same thing itself. All foreign corporations in the country operate under strict regulations or as junior partners to Chinese companies, and can and will be kicked out for much less than what tiktok does. And those corporations are not directly tied to foreign governments as tiktok is.

[–] TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

There is no whataboutism in pointing out your argument is reversed and completely false. Also, "whataboutism" is a dog whistle word used by Westerners for deflection used to abrupt or end the argument when there are no real counterpoints. And since US government loves to demonize their “near-peer competitors” (official term) China and Russia, it is perfectly fair to argue with US in perspective.

will be kicked out for much less than what tiktok does

Tesla car cameras were being used by CIA to spy on Chinese military areas. Tesla got banned from roaming around military areas and still operates and manufactures there.