Gen Z is no doubt in the throes of agony today as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously to uphold the sell-or-ban bill concerning TikTok, which is scheduled to go into effect on Sunday. If you listen closely, you can hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from young folk who are addicted to the video scrolling app. I bet all of the safe spaces are packed, the adult coloring books sold out, and cookies and milk giving precious snowflakes little tummy aches.
On a side note, what’s the deal with TikTok anyway? Many people have said that it’s super easy to get famous on the app and go viral, building an audience that will enable them to monetize their account. And that must have a grain of truth to it seeing as there are a ton of influencers that rely on the app for their livelihood.
“We are conscious that the cases before us involve new technologies with transformative capabilities. This challenging new context counsels caution on our part,” the Supreme Court decided on Friday. “As Justice Frankfurter advised 80 years ago in considering the application of established legal rules to the ‘totally new problems’ raised by the airplane and radio, we should take care not to ‘embarrass the future.’”
SCOTUS added, “A TikTok user’s content feed is also shaped by content moderation and filtering decisions. TikTok uses automated and human processes to remove content that violates the platform’s community guidelines.”
“TikTok Inc.’s ultimate parent company is ByteDance Ltd., a privately held company that has operations in China. ByteDance Ltd. owns TikTok’s proprietary algorithm, which is developed and maintained in China,” the Court pointed out. “ByteDance Ltd. is subject to Chinese laws that require it to ‘assist or cooperate’ with the Chinese Government’s ‘intelligence work’ and to ensure that the Chinese Government has “the power to access and control private data” the company holds.”
According to Breitbart, SCOTUS then stated that the record shows that China “has engaged in extensive and years long efforts to accumulate structured datasets, in particular on U. S. persons, to support its intelligence and counterintel operations.” That alone should make users chilled to the bone. We know that China is using this app to gain information and even influence future generations of our nation. This is unacceptable. TikTok is a tool in the hands of communists being used to get the upper hand psychologically on those they view as opponents on the global stage.
“We are mindful that this law arises in a context in which national security and foreign policy concerns arise in connection with efforts to confront evolving threats in an area where information can be difficult to obtain and the impact of certain conduct difficult to assess “ the justices stated in the ruling.
The Court went on to say, “Furthermore, as we have already concluded, the Government had good reason to single out TikTok for special treatment, adding, “The validity of the challenged provisions does not turn on whether we agree with the Government’s conclusion that its chosen regulatory path is best or ‘most appropriate.’”
“We are especially wary of parsing Congress’s motives on this record with regard to an Act passed with striking bipartisan support,” the Court noted. As the Court noted, Congress has enacted the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act to address this threat.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the Court continued in the written decision. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights,” the Supreme Court said.
The Supreme Court then explained that passing a law that helps to target a foreign adversary’s control over a communications platform is far different from limiting someone’s freedom of expression. I agree with that. This is a matter of national security. And it’s not attempting to silence any one person’s views or even a group of people’s ideology. It’s trying to protect the country from foreign interference.
“While we find that differential treatment was justified here, however, we emphasize the inherent narrowness of our holding. Data collection and analysis is a common practice in this digital age,” the Court concluded. “But TikTok’s scale and susceptibility to foreign adversary control, together with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects, justify differential treatment to address the Government’s national security concerns.”
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