TikTok Strikes Back: Why the TikTok Ban Will Likely Fail
It’s hard to ban free speech in America, and it should be
TikTok should be banned or divested in the U.S. That’s my personal opinion. It’s not, however, my objective assessment under the law.
Free speech is a cornerstone of American democracy. It’s in the very first amendment under the Bill of Rights for a reason.
In a recent article, I discussed the major legal hurdles the government would face by banning or forcing the sale of TikTok in America. Now those hurdles are staring U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland directly in the face.
TikTok filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government on May 7th making many of the same arguments I previously set forth. The title of this current essay, “TikTok Strikes Back”, may evoke the Empire in Star Wars (perhaps an analogous corollary to China’s surveillance state today), but regardless, the strength of TikTok’s legal arguments is on par with the Empire’s counterattack in the Star Wars classic.
Let’s objectively assess the legal merits, both in favor of TikTok and the U.S. government. You decide whether one of the most American principles — free speech — is enough to save TikTok amidst national security risks posed by its parent company’s government, China.
