Yes, the US Government Threatening to Block TikTok Violates the First Amendment

Re:Yes, the US Government Threatening to Block TikTok Violat... by skissane on Thursday March 16, 2023 @03:48PM (#35187367)

This article fails to ask the only question that really counts: if the President (or Congress) bans TikTok on national security grounds, would the current SCOTUS majority overturn that on the basis of the 1st Amendment? Nobody can know for sure, but personally, I doubt the answer would be “Yes”. The article makes a lot out of how some District court ruled, but District court rulings are close to useless at foretelling how SCOTUS will rule. It also cites some decades old precedents, but ignores that SCOTUS will likely find some way to distinguish the current case from those precedents, rendering them inapplicable.

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Re:Yes, the US Government Threatening to Block TikTok Violat... by dekhn on Thursday March 16, 2023 @03:51PM (#35187424)

I agree. I also don't understand the logic of some of those precedents- for example, it's said that shutting down an entire platform based on a limited set of messages is suppressing first amendment rights, but.... 1FA advocates can just pick up their free speech and move it to another platform, it's not like the government is intentionally cutting off the ability to exercise free speech.

but I am not a lawyer and certainly not a constitutional one.

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Re:Yes, the US Government Threatening to Block TikTok Violat... by blsapologist42 on Thursday March 16, 2023 @03:57PM (#35187517)

Current SCOTUS makeup is very pro free speech. However it's really hard to say for this case since it doesn't seem like Americans are really that burdened if they have to use, say, YouTube instead of TikTok.

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Re:Yes, the US Government Threatening to Block TikTok Violat... by garbagecoder on Thursday March 16, 2023 @03:55PM (#35187485)

While I am not sympathetic to TikTok, I think you're more observant than most law school graduates about this who have been trained to try and interpret the law as it is, without asking this very Instrumentalist question that is the only one that matters. And who is the President implementing it might matter too.

I didn't read the article, but I don't think it violates the First Amendment as it stands now if they provide a good enough basis grounded in national security. The way people want the Constitution to be, versus how it is, aren't the same thing as you pointed out.

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Re:Yes, the US Government Threatening to Block TikTok Violat... by skissane on Thursday March 16, 2023 @04:03PM (#35187608)

> And who is the President implementing it might matter too.

It might. But, in this case, I think that’s less likely. If Biden tries to ban TikTok, he’ll simply be doing what Trump already tried to do. If both Trump and Biden want something, it ends up looking bipartisan-which increases the odds SCOTUS will uphold it.

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Re:Yes, the US Government Threatening to Block TikTok Violat... by garbagecoder on Thursday March 16, 2023 @04:21PM (#35187894)

I don't think Trump having tried it matters. The policy of the SCOTUS majority is "executive power broad for things and people we like, executive power narrow for things and people we hate."

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Re:Yes, the US Government Threatening to Block TikTok Violat... by skissane on Thursday March 16, 2023 @04:33PM (#35188086)

If Biden bans TikTok, and it gets before SCOTUS, I expect a lot of amicus briefs supporting him from conservative think-tanks, Republican Congresscritters, former Republican Attorneys-General, etc. If Trump doesn’t suffice as a signal to the conservative SCOTUS majority that “in this case we are all on the same side”, all those conservative amici probably will

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