WeeklySA_AdminCENSORSHIP: US government’s intentions to change Chinese TikTok ownership are not a matter of security or protecting users’ privacy, but about controlling the algorithm—that is, deciding what you’ll see on TikTok and what you won’t. This the latest step toward ending the right to information, argues the writer in this article…
By Pascual Serrano
First, journalists had the power of communication, then the media (the journalist had the power of the medium in which he or she broadcast), and later the owners of the communication companies (the owner of the printing press).
Then came the Internet, and social networks, which are the means of reaching citizens and the mediators between them and the media, took over (as MacLuhan said, “the medium is the message”).
And now it’s the algorithm that decides what you’ll see on social media, which decides what you’ll see in the media.
The key power of the algorithm has been evident in the conflict between the United States and TikTok. As you may recall, US authorities have been raising the need for months to change TikTok’s Chinese ownership, especially the majority stake. ByteDance, because, according to them, it allowed Chinese authorities to access information about American users, which compromised the country’s security.
Now we have learned that Trump signed on Thursday, an executive order approving a proposed agreement that would allow TikTok to operate in the United States and suspend plans to ban it.
And it’s also revealed that the US government’s intentions to displace Chinese shareholder presence weren’t a matter of security or protecting users’ privacy. It was about controlling the algorithm—that is, deciding what you’ll see on TikTok and what you won’t.
This was one of the decisive factors in the US Congress’s decision to ban TikTok. These were the complaints of some congressmen, who denounced that the pro-Palestinian videos had a greater reach than those favourable to Israel.
As we know, TikTok views are heavily determined by its algorithm. Even the most modest user knows that, without any logical explanation, some of their videos reach a thousand views in the first few minutes and others never reach fifty, no matter how much time passes.
As with social media, there’s a bit of everything, but then they express what they want.
Returning to trade negotiations, according to the financial news channel CNBC, It is a transaction valued by Vice President JD Vance at $14 billion.The deal meets the requirements of a national security law requiring Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations to avoid a ban in the country.
Under the terms, which have not yet been approved by China, the technology giant will be the main investors in TikTok’s US business, controlling a roughly 45% stake in the entity. Oracle infrastructures, the Silver Lake investment fund and the Abu Dhabi-based MGX investment fund.
Meanwhile, ByteDance investors will retain less than 20% of the business.
Trump said over the weekend that conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch could also be involved in the TikTok deal, in addition to Dell Technologies.
Oracle was already inside TikTok, hosting the app’s user data in the US. Now, one of Oracle’s powers and missions, in the words of the BBC, will be to remain “in charge of retraining the algorithm that generates what we see.”
The point is that all of these shareholders who would seize power and aim to control the algorithm are close to Donald Trump. Particularly notable is the case of tech billionaire Larry Ellison, owner of 40% of Oracle, and his son, Hollywood producer David Ellison.
Ellison Sr.’s fortune has doubled in the past 12 months to nearly $370 billion – thanks to the company’s growing role in developing artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Known as a Republican mega-donor, he hosted a fundraising event for Trump in 2020, though it has been noted that he did not attend and federal records show no public contributions to the president.
For his part, Ellison Junior leads a vast operation with more than 18.000 employees and new challenges, including overseeing one of the most important media outlets in the United States: CBS.
The Ellisons are also said to be preparing a bid to buy Warner Brothers Discovery, home of Looney Tunes, Harry Potter, and Superman, as well as HBO and CNN, a combination that would create one of the largest media giants in the United States.
This way, father and son Ellison would have media control of CBS, CNN, and TikTok. If we add to this what Trump’s other friend, Murdoch, controls, the Fox network and media such as The Sun y The Times, we can imagine where Donald Trump’s influence reaches in the American communications landscape. There’s just one loose end to the TikTok deal. No ByteDance representative was present at the signing, and the company hasn’t acknowledged that a transaction is underway. No purchase price was mentioned, and there’s no indication that the Chinese government has made the necessary legal changes to make the deal happen.
President Trump claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping greenlit the deal, but we already know that Trump’s claims about other leaders’ positions don’t carry much credibility.
It would be odd if the United States’ news plurality had to depend on Chinese authorities, whether or not they authorise TikTok’s shareholder change to be controlled by Trump’s friends.
* Pascual Serrano is a journalist and writer. His last book is “Forbidden to doubt. The ten weeks in which Ukraine changed the world”
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The looting of nearly R2 billion from the Tembisa Hospital , north of Johannesburg, by unscrupulous criminal syndicates has exposed South Africa’s vulnerable security networks even at health institutions which had been infiltrated by gangsters who colluded with government officials.
An interim report by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has revealed that three syndicates and about six other smaller ones, were implicated in the fleecing of this massive amount which was used to bankroll their luxurious lifestyles.
The SIU identified the main players as Hangwani Morgan Maumela whose syndicate secured a whopping R816 million; Richard Mazibuko’s syndicate pocketed R283 million and Syndicate X got away with R596 million. Three companies linked to criminal awaiting trialist, Vusimuzi ‘’ Cat’’ Matlala secured R14 million. According to the SIU, these syndicates had allegedly colluded with provincial government officials and health-care workers to commit the crime – at a price. An assistant nurse is believed to have been paid R7,3 million as a kickback by two syndicates. A total 15 former and current Tembisa hospital employees and Gauteng health workers were paid a total R122 million.
The Tembisa hospital has been plagued by rampant corruption spanning almost four years when Acting chief director of financial accounting and whistleblower, Babita Deokaran, flagged R850 million in suspicious tenders. She paid a heavy price for her vigilance and exposure of this corruption. She was shot and killed in 2021.
Instead of upgrading and tightening security after being made aware of the serious nature of the allegations, the looting continued unabated until the SIU intervened and started its investigations which revealed that the amount had now ballooned to a shocking R2 billion. This money was intended for the provision of healthcare to the most vulnerable population in this country. The fleecing of these millions also happened at a time when South Africa’s economy was almost at its knees compounded by the staggering number of people, especially youngsters, who were unemployed.
It also occurred when most rural areas are deprived of healthcare facilities with most areas relying on a single clinic to service thousands of patients. And yet, there were unscrupulous gangs who cared less about their plight and only believed in enriching themselves while millions of people were suffering. Many hospitals throughout the country still experienced medical shortages and staff as well as lack of beds and linen for patients.
The SIU has referred the matter to the National Prosecuting Authority, the Department of Health and the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority for decisive action including the recovery of this money.
No stone must be left unturned to bring all those responsible for the looting to book. South Africans have had enough of this kind of looting since the Gupta era. This is money that is meant to improve the lives of millions of people who have been subjected to poverty since the dark days of apartheid.
The looters deserve nothing but heavy jail sentences.
