TikTok Will Be Banned In The USA
TikTok attempt to overturn a law which would have its US operation banned or sold by February 2025 has been rejected. A panel of three federal appeals court judges has ruled unanimously to uphold a law that could ban TikTok in the United States that was approved by Congress in March 2024
The social media company had hoped the court would agree with its argument that the law was unconstitutional because it represents an attack on the constitutional first amendment right to free speech for its 170 million US users.
Unfortunately for TikTok, the court has decided to uphold the law, which it said "was the culmination of extensive, bipartisan action by the Congress and by successive presidents.. TikTok’s millions of users will need to find alternative media of communication,” said the judge, Douglas Ginsburg.
“That burden is attributable to China’s hybrid commercial threat to US national security, not to the US government, which engaged with TikTok through a multi-year process in an effort to find an alternative solution.” Ginsburg ruled.
The US government wants TikTok's US operation to be sold or banned because of what it says are its owners links to the Chinese state - links TikTok and parent company Bytedance have denied.The court agreed the law was "carefully crafted to deal only with control by a foreign adversary, and it was part of a broader effort to counter a well-substantiated national security threat posed by the People's Republic of China."
However, TikTok says it will now take its fight to the US Supreme Court, the country's highest legal authority. "The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans' right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
TikTok claims that the law was based on "inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information" and a ban would censor US citizens.
Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 US Presidential Election may also present another route to survival in the US market. Despite unsuccessfully attempting to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, he said in the run-up to the November elections he would not allow the ban on TikTok to take effect.
Govinfo.gov | CBS | NBC | BBC | BBC | Guardian
Image: Ideogram
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