TikTok is fighting the impending ban at the US Supreme Court. What you need to know
The company that owns TikTok is headed to the US Supreme Court on Friday to try to block a new law that would see the infamous social media app banned later this month.
The law would prohibit companies like Apple and Google from making TikTok available to users in the United States unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, sells it.
The ban is due to take effect on Jan. 19, the day before Donald Trump’s inauguration as president.
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing ByteDance’s last-ditch effort to strike down the ban as unconstitutional.
Here’s what you need to know.
Why do American lawmakers want to ban TikTok?
The US government sees TikTok’s Chinese ownership as a “grave threat to national security” because the Chinese government has the power to force ByteDance to hand over user data and because of fears that China might use TikTok’s powerful algorithm to spread unintended information.
“TikTok’s collection of sensitive information about 170 million Americans and their contacts makes it a powerful tool for espionage, and TikTok’s role as a key communications channel makes it a powerful weapon for covert operations,” wrote US Attorney Elizabeth Prelogar a government brief in court.
The government says the law is not intended to restrict users’ free speech but aims to end foreign adversary control of TikTok.
How would the ban work?
I the law will ban TikTok in the US if ByteDance fails to divest its ownership of the app and sell it to a non-Chinese company by Jan. 19.
It makes it illegal for anyone to “distribute, maintain, or update” the app in the US and carries the threat of fines of up to $5,000 per user for anyone who violates the law.
This means that it won’t affect anyone who has already downloaded TikTok, but app stores will no longer be allowed to run TikTok in the US, and users won’t be able to get updates or new versions of the app.
Congress passed the bill last year with strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, before President Joe Biden signed it into law.
The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok if its Chinese subsidiary, ByteDance, does not sell it. The bill is likely to hit a roadblock in the Senate, however.
Where will the Supreme Court case be based?
The case is like a conflict between two basic principles of US law: the First Amendment right to free speech versus the government’s authority to determine national security concerns, said Gus Hurwitz, academic director of the Center for Technology, Innovation and Competition at the University of. Carey Law School of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Hurwitz said ByteDance’s view is that the intended effect of the law is to stop the company from speaking to the American people.
“The company is making a very specific argument here, that they are a platform, that in many ways they are no different than a newspaper, a magazine, or any other website,” Hurwitz said in an interview with CBC News. .
Freddy Tran Nager, associate director of the digital communications program at the University of Southern California, Annenberg, said the ByteDance controversy is “very minor.”
“This law does not ban TikTok based on its content,” Nager said in an interview. “The concern is about the privacy of data, especially the data of American citizens.”
Can the US legally force a change of ownership on TikTok?
The US has a long history of limiting foreign ownership of broadcast outlets such as radio stations and television networks, but limiting ownership of social media is a new frontier.
Kate Ruane, director of the free speech project at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, DC, described the law as unprecedented.
“To block all free speech in the United States is a flagrant violation of the constitution,” Ruane said in an interview.
“It prevents TikTok’s 170 million users from using their preferred method of communicating online in ways that are unrelated to the government’s concerns,” he said.
The ban could be avoided if ByteDance begins negotiations to sell the app to a non-Chinese owner, but the company has not given any indication of that happening.
TikTok is suing the US government over a law that would ban the Chinese-owned app unless it is sold to another company. Andrew Chang breaks down TikTok’s legal argument and why it says its first amendment rights are being violated.
What is the timeline for the decision?
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case immediately, given the law’s effective date of Jan. 19.
“I expect that if the court is going to side with TikTok, we will hear very soon,” about next week, Hurwitz said. “If the restraining order is issued immediately … I would interpret that silence as saying with great confidence that the court will rule against TikTok.”
What happens if Donald Trump takes office?
Trump’s inauguration took place on Jan. 20, one day after the ban went into effect. After liking TikTok’s ban in its prime, it has changed its tune. Trump now wants the law suspended, and his lawyers have filed a petition “friend of the court” for short on his behalf before Friday’s hearing.
“President Trump opposes the banning of TikTok in the United States at this time, and wants the power to resolve existing issues through political means once he takes office,” the report said.
Nager said he suspects the incoming Trump administration “would like to have TikTok as part of the larger negotiations.” [with China]whether it is tariffs or other imports or other war agreements.”
Trump could issue an order to delay the implementation of the law, Hurwitz said, but added that in the long term, it is unlikely that the new president will use the political capital to try to repeal the law when many Republican lawmakers strongly oppose the Chinese. application ownership.
Would Canada be affected?
TikTok’s distribution ban only applies to US organizations
Separately, the federal government ordered TikTok in November to cease business operations in Canada, but did not limit the availability of the app.
Source link
