It's good that TikTok is down

(for now)

I’m very glad that TikTok was taken down in the US, and I hope it stays that way.

Here’s why:

• I like democracy - as such I want to make it harder for extra-democratic institutions to mess with democratic outcomes. It’s bad when any powerful interest gets to distort the discourse, double-bad when said powerful interests are completely immune to a democratic government’s subpoenas and regulations. This certainly isn’t to say that my government is perfect, just that I much prefer its problems to those of the CCP. We have a right to divest TikTok for the same reason we have a right to prevent foreign governments from cutting huge checks to their preferred candidates.

• I don’t like social media - infinite-scroll For You feeds and other time-in-app maximization schemes have tremendously distorted human life, especially for the young. There’s plenty of good to be found on social media too - keeping up with friends, promoting your work, community discovery - and I want to be able to rescue those things from the stuff that weighs heavily on the human condition. As it is, social media at scale is bad for mental health, bad for political discourse, and bad for democratic outcomes. Fixing it certainly won’t be easy, and certainly not in the short term, but this conversation needs to be an ongoing one. Being critical and intentional about your own social media use is one of the best things you can do, for your own life and for the quality of the world in general.

There are a lot of valid concerns with the divestment - government overreach, free speech protection in general, the benefits of the creator economy and community discovery. I think this is one of the few cases where an action like this is warranted and worth the downsides, and I’m happy to talk about it and may be proven wrong.