TikTok Sues the US Government to Stop a Potential Ban
WiredMay 07
TikTok Sues US Government Over Potential Ban
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The Facts
Social media app TikTok on Tuesday sued the US government over a law Pres. Joe Biden signed last month to force parent company ByteDance to sell the app to a non-Chinese entity or face a ban.
ByteDance, which under the new law faces a Jan. 19, 2025 deadline to divest, argues that TikTok is protected by the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of expression and that Congress has taken the "unprecedented" step of singling out one social media platform for a ban.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The courts should continue being deferential to Congress when it comes to national security legislation. The public doesn't have the right to see all the classified evidence legislators are privy to, but considering a bipartisan group of lawmakers agrees on this matter, there must be a threat from TikTok.
Pro-China narrative
In a presidential election year, politicians from both sides of the US political aisle think they can score points by bashing China. Yet Biden and others continue to use TikTok. Politics is the only reasonable explanation for this law, and it should be overturned on its merits and because of the hypocrisy of US lawmakers.
Nerd narrative
There's a 25% chance that TikTok will be sold to a US entity before Jan. 1, 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.