Oracle Begins Auditing TikTok's Algorithms

Oracle has begun vetting TikTok's algorithms and content moderation models to ensure they aren't manipulated by Chinese authorities, Axios reported Tuesday. From the report: The effort is meant to provide further assurance to lawmakers that TikTok's U.S. platform operates independently from influence by the Chinese Communist Party. TikTok is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance. ByteDance bought the U.S. lip-syncing app Musical.ly in 2017 and merged it with its version of a similar app called TikTok. The app has since skyrocketed in popularity in the U.S.

Warning to TikTok

[tgeek]

You're about to get a bill from Oracle for unexplained support services . . . and it's going to be at least 5x what any reasonable organization would expect.

Re:Why?

[Freischutz]

What's the connection between Oracle and TikTok?

The story seems to leave this important bit out. Are they being paid by the US Government to do so?

Oracle is an agent of the CCP and in league with the Deep State the Lizard People and George Soros to rig voting machines in the Demoncrat's favour during the midterm elections using TikTok's algorithms to inject millions of illegal immigrant's votes into the voting machines by means nanobots beamed onto the voting machine SD cards via Huawei 5G equipment. Duuuh, obvious!!!

Re: Why?

[ArmoredDragon]

On a more serious note, I do wonder how Oracle manages to attract any engineering talent. I can't picture anybody saying "oh, here's a job listing for Oracle, I think I'll apply for it." I think somebody would have to be pretty untalented and desperate to work there. I personally wouldn't want my name associated with that turd.

Re:

[radarskiy]

Do you really think a software engineer cannot also be a sociopath?

Re:

[ArchieBunker]

I ask the same thing. If anything this is something the federal government should be doing. Remember when Trump wanted to force TikTok to be sold to Oracle?

Re:

[Burdell]

Because if there's a trustworthy organization to do such an audit, it's One Rich Asshole Called Larry Ellison.

Re:

[VeryFluffyBunny]

Doesn't Ellison worship at the alter of Ayn Rand?

Re:

[znrt]

The story seems to leave this important bit out.

from literally the 4th paragraph in the story:

Catch up quick: In June, after longstanding pressure from the U.S. government, TikTok said it had begun routing all its U.S. user data to Oracle's cloud infrastructure.

yes, it's all bullshit, technically a "trump syndrome related aberration of the ecopolitical continuum", but oracle is going to make a shit ton of money from it anyway because ... hey! oracle! thanks to the generosity of us taxpayers i guess, i doubt tiktok will be paying the bills. and i doubt they actually let them see anything but scraps. comedy gold.

Because if there's anyone I trust...

[TWX]

...it's Oracle.

Oracle.doTheNeedful(tiktoks)

[NobleNobbler]

See what I did there.

I am so not even remotely funny.

Oracle? Really?

[Tablizer]

I wouldn't let Oracle vet a Cracker-Jacks Batman ring.

Re:

[Mononymous]

Restrictions on exporting cryptographic algorithms were always a misguided idea.

Levels of trust

[HamidPayaamAbbasi]

I'm shocked they managed to find an organization I have less trust in than the Chinese government but here we are having Oracle, which is possibly satan itself, lead this investigation

Re:

[VeryFluffyBunny]

The main outcome of the report will be that TikToc will be better for the American people if it runs on an Oracle provided system.

Somebody has to

[RogueWarrior65]

TikTok shows videos for "life skills" and other educational content to users in China but here in the US, it shows inane dancing videos. The app should be banned not just because of this but because they allow portrait orientation video. It's sort of like Plato's Cave except that the Chinese government controls it. A lot of their employees used to work for state media.

Re: Somebody has to

[ArmoredDragon]

If it's educational, it's probably Cuba style education that comes with propaganda built in. For example Cuban literacy education went all the way from the beginning of "c is for Castro" to having propaganda materials being the actual literature they had to study.

Re:

[JThundley]

I've heard this before as well. Let's assume the worst: China manipulates it to show good stuff to the Chinese and vapid stuff to America. So what? Are they not allowed to do that? Are we going to tell them they can't operate in America because we don't like the content of the speech that is delivered through it? The only thing I'm concerned with is tracking people and their data, but I assume you sign those rights away by using the site and signing up.

Don't worry China...

[VeryFluffyBunny]

...the population of the USA are perfectly capable of dividing & fragmenting society & generating pointless conflicts themselves, no foreign interference necessary.

Re:

[GlennC]

...the population of the USA are perfectly capable of dividing & fragmenting society & generating pointless conflicts themselves...

Agreed! "Team Blue" and "Team Red" have been doing quite a commendable job of dividing and fragmenting the nation, and have been doing so for DECADES!

Re:

[muh_freeze_peach]

Ah yes. The "Both Sides" guy.

Re:

[GlennC]

You're cordially invited to prove me wrong.

Re:

[VeryFluffyBunny]

GlenC, you're not gonna take that from muh_freeze_peach are you?

Re:

[muh_freeze_peach]

Jesus. I need more tin foil.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

What do the algorithms matter?

[sabbede]

Do they include whether or not a Chinese colonel can call up ByteDance and tell them to call the US HQ and have them start sending data? No, because that's not a computing issue?

So, what's the point?

Oh, right, making a lie look meaningful.