Recently,
Congress
voted
to
functionally
ban
TikTok.
They
can
hide
behind
the
claim
that
they
are
merely
requiring
ByteDance
to
divest
its
hold
on
TikTok
within
9
months
and
blame
ByteDance
for
forcing
their
hand,
but
no
multi-billion
dollar
company
is
going
to
do
that
if
it
means
leaking
their
prized
algorithm
to
competitors.
It
would
be
worth
going
to
court
over,
and
ByteDance
has
promised
to
go
that
route
if
push
came
to
shove.
That
battle
looks
to
be
an
uphill
one.
From
The
Verge:
TikTok
has
promised
to
bring
a
legal
challenge
against
the
law
that
was
signed
by
President
Joe
Biden
on
Wednesday…Experts
expect
its
main
arguments
to
center
on
alleged
violations
of
its
own
First
Amendment
rights
and
those
of
its
170
million
US
users.
But
it
won’t
be
an
easy
fight
since
judges
often
hesitate
to
make
decisions
of
national
security
importance
where
the
legislature
has
so
forcefully
weighed
in.
If
only
this
case
involved
some
sort
of
nexus
test
that
properly
balanced
free
speech
rights
with
matters
of
national
security.
Maybe
then
the
Supreme
Court
would
step
in,
say
“Screw
Congressional
intent!”
and
side
with
big
business.
I’m
sorry,
I’m
still
hung
up
on
the
Sackett
decision.
The
TikTok
case
has
to
hit
the
lower
courts
before
Thomas
and
Alito
see
it
though,
so
the
point
about
Congressional
deference
still
stands.
Anyone
who
has
sat
through
a
war
powers
module
in
a
Con
Law
class
could
tell
you
that
when
Congress
does
a
thing
for
the
sake
of
“national
security,”
pretty
much
anything
is
fair
game.
Like,
anything.
Considering
that
TikTok
has
openly
been
demonized
as
a
tool
China
uses
to
funnel
propaganda
toward
impressionable
Americans:
It
really
isn’t
that
much
of
a
stretch
to
frame
the
justification
for
the
ban
in
war
terms,
namely
stopping
a
foreign
nation’s
psychological
combat
campaign.
Is
that
a
bunk
position?
Probably,
but
judges
also
have
a
habit
of
taking
national
security
at
its
word
when
legal
arguments
are
made.
The
Legal
Challenges
That
Lie
Ahead
For
TikTok
—
In
Both
The
US
And
China
[The
Verge]
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.
