Silicon Valley Is Bad But ByteDance Is Much Worse

America’s Lack of Clarity in Ukraine is Embarrassing

For decades, America’s adventurism abroad has been embarrassing. There are hawks who now favor antagonism toward China for all the wrong reasons. But my colleague Evita Duffy-Alfonso is wrong to suggest TikTok is somehow less of a threat to our freedom than America’s own corrupt social media platforms. Indeed, the comparison is dangerous — and China knows it.

The Crux of Duffy-Alfonso’s Argument

Here’s the crux of Duffy-Alfonso’s argument: “If you’re an American conservative or free thinker, Big Tech and its sinister partnership with the deep state and powerful corporations are trying to suppress your worldview far more than China.” That’s a bit like saying the guy who just shot you in the foot is worse than the guy holding a gun to your head. They’re both trying to suppress us, the difference is that one country is a hostile foreign power and the other is still at least somewhat beholden to democratic pressures. (Just last week TikTok announced censorship of climate discourse, which could ultimately boost their economy at the expense of our economy and personal freedoms.)

• This is not to pound the war drums.
• It is not to downplay the lawless collusion and abject corruption of both the Pentagon and Silicon Valley.
• But the reality is that we are facing the prospect of a hot war with China.
• Whether you support intervention or not — and there are good arguments to be had here — Xi Jinping wants Taiwan, and our leaders are committed to protecting it from invasion.
• That’s not a recipe for resolution.

In the case of a hot war, the Chinese Communist Party will be in a position to quietly exploit its access to the TikTok algorithm via its control over ByteDance in Beijing. We will have no way of knowing it’s happening until the American public has been manipulated by a steady flow of propaganda under the control of a wartime enemy.

What’s the Difference Between the CCP, American Tech Executives, and Deep-State Operatives?

But what’s the difference between the CCP, American tech executives, and deep-state operatives? Didn’t Meta walk so ByteDance could run? Do they not all actively work toward the failure of the American project as we know it? Do they not all desire to curb our freedoms?

Popularizing those sentiments, of course, is the CCP’s goal. But the decadent and evil weirdos from Silicon Valley to the Pentagon don’t want to get