Things
are
looking
up
for
TikTok.
After
Congress
and
the
President
signed
off
on
a
requirement
for
ByteDance
to
divest
itself
of
TikTok,
the
company
promised
to
go
to
court
alleging
that
the
law
violated
the
First
Amendment.
There
have
already
been
cracks
in
the
government’s
argument
against
TikTok
(thanks,
Mitt
Romney),
but
the
government
would
have
a
hard
time
against
TikTok
even
if
not
for
the
loudmouth.
From
NPR:
Evelyn
Douek,
a
professor
at
Stanford
Law
School
who
focuses
on
online
speech,
said
First
Amendment
legal
precedents
make
clear
that
the
government
cannot
shut
down
speech
based
on
a
hypothetical
or
potential
threat
to
national
security.“The
First
Amendment
places
the
burden
on
the
government
to
demonstrate
that
the
harms
are
real
and
that
their
response
will
actually
mitigate
those
harms,”
Douek
said.
“To
date,
the
government
has
not
met
this
bar
in
the
public
domain,
at
least
with
respect
to
TikTok.”
This
assessment
is
good
news
for
the
millions
of
TikTok
users
nationwide.
Does
this
mean
that
TikTok
is
destined
to
beat
their
case?
Few
things
are
guaranteed
with
the
YOLO
court
in
power,
but
having
the
law
on
the
side
of
the
people
is
a
great
position
to
be
in.
The
facts
are
on
TikTok’s
side
too;
their
“Project
Texas”
should
act
as
defense
against
Congress’s
claim
that
the
app
poses
a
a
danger
to
users:
TikTok
says
it
has
spent
$2
billion
on
that
would,
with
the
help
of
Austin-based
tech
company
Oracle,
create
a
firewall
between
U.S.
user
data
and
the
app’s
Beijing-based
parent
company.TikTok
officials
presented
Project
Texas
to
national
security
officials
in
Washington
but
the
plan
failed
to
assuage
critics,
as
it
did
not
include
a
complete
severing
of
TikTok
from
ByteDance.
The
tide
could
quickly
change
if
the
government
proffers
any
proof
that
TikTok
is
actually
a
spy
app
the
Chinese
government
has
duped
everyone
to
download,
but
the
dancing
app
looks
like
it
will
stick
around
for
a
bit
longer
if
the
DOJ
fails
to
scrounge
up
any
actual
evidence
of
snoopery.
Legal
Experts
Say
A
TikTok
Ban
Without
Specific
Evidence
Violates
The
First
Amendment
[NPR]
Earlier:
TikTok
Plans
To
Fight
Censorship,
Mouthy
Politicians
Make
It
Very
Easy
For
Them
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.
