The article has compelling arguments, good background and a disconnect about TikTok.

First, I was intrigued to read about Edward Bernays and the concept of "engineering the consent of the masses" has been well in effect since social media came around. What has changed is polarizing nature because politics has really made its way on social media and there are not moderation teams and instead powered by algorithms. TikTok is not solely to blame, but some of the links you made have well been available on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube , etc.

The four main reasons you list for TikTok's unprecedented abilities are already present on existing social media companies based in the United States (U.S.). Why did they launch short-form video apps?

A reminder that people like me and who started on the app as a nobody and left Twitter or Facebook to avoid the arguments about elections/politics. I do not know how but I have garnered 400k in followers. A lot of the legacy users from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and others flocked to TikTok because they were looking to reconnect in new ways.

I encourage to read my most recent article why it would be a bad thing to ban TikTok.

I see the point and the concept of engineering, but you are not discussing the problems Meta or Google have created, which has led to TikTok's rise in the U.S..