China is not the US.

China's kompromat and industrial espionage policies differ from those of the US.

It is off base to compare while ignoring intentions and impact, because they're Very different countries.

'National security risk' is all the FCC is arguing; they're not arguing that these data collection practices are bad in themselves, only that they're bad if it happens in a way that strengthens a foreign government.

The difference is that when we hear about that being done extrajudicially, it's a scandal.

We have a system where due process is required. Sometimes authorities break those laws. But the system and culture is nonetheless there and for a reason.

The US isn't rounding thousands (millions actually?) of civil, political, religious, and other kinds of dissenters and imprisoning, reeducating, or killing them.

That's kind of a big difference here.

The CCP has mandatory seats on the bytedance board and wants a copy of all the data so they can target people.

Spying is bad, murder is next-level bad.

Stop it all, but start with the bigger issues first.

The 'they do it too' is fallacious. Does TikTok pose a threat? If the answer is yes, then request to remove it from app stores is justified.

You gotta remember a lot of people on HN work for, and already drank the FAANG kool-aid.

Who would you rather give a theoretical copy of all of your digital information? Assuming both have equal access to non-digital you.

The notion which myself and others have problem with is that the US Federal Govt and the CCP are entities which we should be treating with a similar level of trust and care. The CCP has proven time and time again, be it from their refusal to cooperate with studying the source of COVID, or their continued systematic genocide of the Uighur population, that they are not a political institution which can be trusted or respected on the world stage.

This isn't to say that the USG should be admired or emulated, far from it, but as someone who's neither Chinese nor American, I think it's an objective truth that most people in the world fared better under 20th century American-hegemony than the worldwide Sinicization which the CCP has made clear is its aim.

Americans pick and choose which media to listen to. And the media across the spectrum is aligned on one thing: China Bad, US Good. However, if you listen to NPR, it _does_ matter that we're locking up immigrants in the South. But did you hear that NPR story about Uyghur genocide? Then you look for other non-American affiliated publications on the matter and they are slim pickings. Why does the United States focus so much on China? And yeah, it's mostly to manufacture consent.