Does Rally Point allow posts of unusual TikTok videos?

CSM Charles Hayden — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 15:53:56 -0400

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 14 at 2023 5:06 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 17:06:43 -0400

I am not sure where you are headed with this, CSM Charles Hayden, but I, for one, take a hard line with TikTok as this company's owners (China) are fundamentally one of two primary U.S. Adversaries! Yet under President Biden, we are not taking a hard line with them, and depend heavily on products that are provided by them... All information taken from TikTok's members goes into the hands of China, eventually, which can use that information (videos, images, statements, facts, etc.) against us in some way or fashion which places us in a negative manner among global allies and adversaries... Accordingly, any obtuse or unusual TikTok videos may wind up on RP or other social media sites... and again be used against us... Just saying...

Response by COL Randall C. made Jul 14 at 2023 5:13 PM

COL Randall C. — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 17:13:16 -0400

CSM Charles Hayden, as long as you remain within the community standards*, you should be fine. Accessing TikTok videos through a web URL are no more dangerous to the platform or an individual's system than most of the sites that many members post.
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* https://rallypoint.my.site.com/Support/s/global-search/standards
* https://docs.google.com/document/d/13S7FUn2IyKDn48lQ-bEJsf_qBbf-hZkniUIfjJ3oJSY/edit

RallyPoint Support Center

Response by SFC Kelly Fuerhoff made Jul 14 at 2023 6:02 PM

SFC Kelly Fuerhoff — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 18:02:07 -0400

Sgt Kerry Harkins
Posted 1 h ago
I am not sure where you are headed with this, CSM Charles Hayden, but I, for one, take a hard line with TikTok as this company's owners (China) are fundamentally one of two primary U.S. Adversaries! Yet under President Biden, we are not taking a hard line with them, and depend heavily on products that are provided by them... All information taken from TikTok's members goes into the hands of China, eventually, which can use that information (videos, images, statements, facts, etc.) against us in some way or fashion which places us in a negative manner among global allies and adversaries... Accordingly, any obtuse or unusual TikTok videos may wind up on RP or other social media sites... and again be used against us... Just saying...

-- Have you even been on TikTok? Do you even really know how it works or do you just regurgitate right wing talking points?

60% of the company is owned by global investors who are non-Chinese, 20% by employees and 20% by its founders. US user data is being stored by an outside contractor in the US. Old user data is being deleted so if anyone joined when it started, perhaps their info is on their old servers but thta's being deleted. New users, all that info is stored in the US and China can't access it.

If anyone was in during the OPM hack several years ago, China already has your info anyway. The publicly avaiable info that is on TikTok isn't even anything sensitive. it's stuff that any random person could find on the Internet with a basic understanding of using Google. I could probably find out more information Googling TikTok users just purely on their social media presence than any info they have on their profile. In fact, a lot of people who f* around do find out with Internet sleuths figuring them out really fast by just using their social media profiles.

Like oh no China knows that I watch cat videos...whatever shall I do? oh no they might know that I share comic book videos...ahhh!!

Response by COL Randall C. made Jul 15 at 2023 10:56 AM

COL Randall C. — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 10:56:13 -0400

SFC Kelly Fuerhoff, "right wing talking point"? I have to disagree. I apologize up front if this lengthy post seems I'm specifically criticizing you, but the threat of TikTok is real as almost every cybersecurity firm, geopolitical analyst and intelligence agency will tell you.

I think the politicians on the right are probably more vocal about the threats posed by TikTok, but it is a very bipartisan* view that it is a threat and most cybersecurity firms agree*. The US and our Five Eye partners have all implemented bans of TikTok being present on federal government devices due to the threat it poses and many other countries have implemented restrictions as well. Additionally 34 (25 'Republican' and 9 'Democrat') of the 50 states have banned TikTok on state owned devices.

Yes, the previous administration was very outspoken about the threat, but that's no reason to dismiss it as some right-wing propaganda, just like it's unwise for some to dismiss everything coming from the present administration as left-wing propaganda.

The main concerns with TikTok is not that they know what cat videos you are watching or that you share comic book videos, it's that the application has the ability to collect from users sensitive information which is often taken without the user’s explicit knowledge and that more broadly it poses a risk to U.S. security because the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) has the ability to leverage the app for influence operations and as a data harvesting clearinghouse.

The app itself can collect and store data on their servers which includes device brand and model, Operating System (OS) version, mobile carrier, browsing history, app and file names and types, keystroke patterns or rhythms, wireless connections, and geolocation*. Additionally, if you have the TikTok application installed and use it's credentials as a single-sign on (SSO) for other sites, then they can access those sites through the application without your knowledge*. Finally, if you have other applications running on your device, TikTok has the ability to access them which will allow the app to work with the permissions of that application and access data that it does*.

Yes, that AP article you referenced does show the claims from the company that it will change it's data practices and store US data on servers owned by Oracle and maintained within the country and delete the US data off the servers that are in China by the end of the year. However, while it is unknown if ByteDance (the company that owns TikTok) has given information to the Chinese Government, they have accessed data from users in the United States* in the past and have the ability to continue to do so. While ByteDance said they have never shared data with the Chinese government and would never do so, the CEO also recently testified to Congress that they never accessed US user data, so their credibility is suspect.

Furthermore the Chinese government can, and has in the past with other companies, force them to comply with Chinese Intelligence Security law which requires them to turn over whatever information the government requests and/or cooperate with a wide array of intelligence work. Just one example would be the CCP changing the app's recommendation algorithm to manipulate content and even use it to subtly conduct influence operations as the algorithm determines what content a user sees. This means TikTok’s engineers can direct the app to serve content friendly to CCP interests, such as by prioritizing videos in users’ feeds which support the CCP’s claim over Taiwan.

TikTok has already shown a willingness to push narratives aligned with CCP interests within the platform. Forbes* notes that TikTok features several accounts run by the CCP’s propaganda arms who have amassed millions of followers and tens of millions of views by posting divisive content about U.S. politics. This has included criticizing candidates in both major parties leading up to the 2022 elections.

Moreover, TikTok also exerts influence through what the platform deliberately excludes in the form of censorship, thereby distorting users’ perceptions. A TikTok executive disclosed to U.K. lawmakers in 2020 that the app censored videos, revealed Foreign Policy*. This included content about China’s repression of the Xinjiang region’s Uyghur population.

Earlier this year, TikTok suspended Russian nationals’ access to the app, demonstrating TikTok’s willingness to censor materials even outside of China-focused content. TikTok claimed the decision was driven by its commitment to adhere to Russia’s so-called “fake news” law designed to control the narrative about the war in Ukraine, but as written in VICE, researchers found that international content about the war was blocked, while pro-Putin narratives remained available on the platform.

But this shouldn't be a worry because nobody believes what they see on Social Media, right?

If you want to use another comparison, then China has over 133 million digital sleeper agents in the United States and over 1 billon of them around the globe and they have the ability and resources to activate them and are only waiting on the political will to do so.

When security professional conduct a comprehensive security risk assessment they use an age old formula to determine if their security is adequate: Risk = Threat + Consequences + Vulnerability, or to put it more broadly, the likelihood of a threat occurring, what the potential consequences are if that threat occurs, and how vulnerable are you to that threat. Right now all three components of that formula are rated as high or very high.

As my old boss and current Director NSA/Commander USCYBERCOM recently said, "China has already said they're going to 'touch the data at any time they want to touch this data'. This concerns me"*.

So no, this isn't some right-wing talking point nor is it about cat videos or comic book videos. There are very legitimate security concerns regarding the application and what a potential adversary can do with it.
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* https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tiktok-ban-democrats-china-challenge/
* https://www.cisecurity.org/insights/blog/why-tiktok-is-the-latest-security-threat
* https://www.cisecurity.org/insights/blog/tiktok-influence-ops-data-practices-threaten-us-security
* https://www.proofpoint.com/us/blog/threat-protection/understanding-information-tiktok-gathers-and-stores
* https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/06/tiktok-expands-integrations-with-third-party-apps-for-logins-sharing-sounds-and-more/
* https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-tapes-us-user-data-china-bytedance-access
* https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2022/12/01/tiktok-chinese-state-media-divisive-politics/?sh=752417795e64
* https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/01/12/tiktok-security-concerns-china-european-union-social-media/
* https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3354874/leaders-say-tiktok-is-potential-cybersecurity-risk-to-us/

Democrats come around on TikTok ban, reflecting willingness to challenge China

The growing number of Democrats backing a ban on the massively popular video app reflects an increased willingness to confront Beijing, experts say.

Response by PO2 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 15 at 2023 11:56 AM

PO2 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 11:56:52 -0400

Don't turn your back on the Chicoms or they bury a knife in it.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jul 15 at 2023 11:58 AM

LTC Stephen F. — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 11:58:14 -0400

Thank you my friend and brother-in-Christ CSM Charles Hayden for posting the question
Does Rally Point allow posts of unusual TikTok videos?
Thank you my friend and brother-in-Christ COL Randall C. for mentioning me.

Response by LTC Trent Klug made Jul 16 at 2023 3:22 AM

LTC Trent Klug — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 03:22:01 -0400

Great question CSM Charles Hayden . Thanks for asking it!