Courts will generally not uphold a categorical ban on speech. Millions of users post protected speech to TikTok every day, choosing the app over other options for its features or for its audience. Banning Americans From Using TikTok Would Violate the First Amendmentīanning Americans from using the TikTok app would infringe the First Amendment rights of those users to express themselves online. Any way you slice it, an effective ban of the scope suggested cannot be squared with the Constitution.
Rather, the President has said broadly, “we’re banning them from the United States ,” or most recently, “it's going to be out of business in the United States.” This could mean a ban on using the app, or perhaps a ban on distributing TikTok in app stores, or maybe something else.
While there is significant cause for concern with TikTok’s security, privacy, and its relationship with the Chinese government, we should resist a governmental power to ban a popular means of communication and expression.Īs is too often the case with government pronouncements, the Trump administration has proposed a ban without specifying what the ban would actually be or what authority allows for it.
Censorship of both speech and social media applications, after all, is one of the hallmarks of the Chinese Internet strategy. It is ironic that, while purporting to protect America from China’s authoritarian government, President Trump is threatening to ban the TikTok app.
0 kommentar(er)
