That's interesting, because I feel the exact same way but on the opposite side. "we do that too, and it is bad." just reads as deflection to me. This comment section is full of it and it's very tiresome.
I see nowhere in this comment chain, where "we do that too" was used as an attempt to shut down discussion or to justify the bad behavior.
What it was being used to do was to support the argument that "instead of just banning one company, we should create rules that apply fairly."
That isn't deflection.
Notably, the first non-TikTok entities that were mentioned as needing to be reigned in were the KGB. Nobody complained that was off topic.
So while "whataboutism" and allegations of "whataboutism" can both be (edit: and frequently are) used to distract and deflect, that doesn't mean that every instance of either is doing that. You have to ACTUALLY READ what is being said and how it relates, not make snap judgments.
