Make no mistake, it's not only that the capitalists in the states can't compete and want it gone, it's that they can't control the message. Musk owns twitter and it's lurched to the right, Facebook burying any Gaza data, the algorithm at alphabet is going to insure pro genocide propaganda gets top rank page position. But tiktok? It's a loose Cannon and that is why they are shutting it down. Don't believe they won't come after the lemmyverse next y'all. Spreading 'enemy disinformation' by sharing photos of dismembered Palestinian children. It is an information war and we are on the front lines.
As someone who has used both TikTok and Instagram I can say 100% this is both information warfare as well as a way for them to remove competition. I'm guessing the gov has been getting pressure from US corpos to ax TikTok, because Insta has less regulations on advertising.
I was listening to useful idiots interview with Simon Schuster about Ukraine and his insight was that the information war had been lost in the Donbass hence the war happened. If only they had controlled the message and convinced those Russia likers that they were wrong. Or something. It is all information war now, perception management, manufacturing consent. If the average Joe really understood how screwed they are getting by the multinational capitalists everyone would be adventure time with a gadget. That is their greatest fear: people knowing the truth