Tik Tok already lost

Posted on: January 4, 2025 at 16:10:46 CT

The DC Circuit ruling argued that a TikTok divest-or-ban rule outright promotes the values of the First Amendment. It said in its ruling that the law did not run afoul of the US Constitution, with the court saying that it satisfies a legal standard known as strict scrutiny that must be met for government restrictions on speech to stand.

“The Act was the culmination of extensive, bipartisan action by the Congress and by successive presidents. It 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). Under these circumstances, the provisions of the Act that are before us withstand the most searching review..... Indeed, the First Amendment precludes a domestic government from exercising comparable control over a social media company in the United States....Here the Congress, as the Executive proposed, acted to end the [People’s Republic of China’s] ability to control TikTok. Understood in that way, the Act actually vindicates the values that undergird the First Amendment.”