TikTok on Thursday pushed back against U.S. government arguments that the popular social media platform is not shielded by the First Amendment, comparing its platform to prominent American media organizations owned by foreign entities.
Last month, the Justice Department argued in a legal brief filed in a Washington federal appeals court that neither TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, nor the platform’s global and U.S. arms — TikTok Ltd. and TikTok Inc. — were entitled to First Amendment protections because they are “foreign organizations operating abroad” or owned by one.
TikTok attorneys have made the First Amendment a key part of their legal challenge to the federal law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to an approved buyer or face a ban.
It’s because of China’s censorship laws that are too strict for Tiktok, the same company offers a similar platforms that conforms with their laws. It doesn’t really exonerate it though.
I’m on the fence as well. Most social media is propaganda to an extent imo, Tiktok is definitely not the exception. It is also foreign owned and banning or restricting it makes a lot of sense.
But I’d rather more consumer protection and less wild west behavior in the data sector ultimately.