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Re:TikTok goes dark in the US by LPisGood on Sunday January 19, 2025 @12:36PM (#42759268)
First, you could say something similar about many restrictions.

If there is one steel monopoly and you ban being a monopoly then we can apply the same logic you have there.

To be completely fair, the “illegal part” of being a monopoly is not generally in the existence of the monopoly itself, but in the monopolistic actions the company may take. However, those actions may be a fundamental part of the function of the company, and I’d argue that country of ownership is another property that should be eligible for restriction.

Second, and _far_ more importantly, it is not clear to me that it’s unconstitutional to make a law that a foreign company can’t operate a certain type of business in America.

Re:TikTok goes dark in the US by withinboredom on Sunday January 19, 2025 @01:51PM (#42760233)
I would argue this is a bad example because it will lead into a conversation about monopolies, which is off-topic.

Restrictions are fine, but they need to apply broadly -- this law was specifically targeted at a single US entity, owned by a foreign entity. To me, who has only coarsely read up on this due to his account being cut off because I originally signed up with a US phone number when I lived in the US; it seems as though a bunch of rich people got mad that someone else in another country was getting rich.

Keep in mind that I am just now even caring about this situation, so I'm coming in with fresh eyes and limited history. In any case...

> it is not clear to me that it’s unconstitutional to make a law that a foreign company can’t operate a certain type of business in America.

Of course they can. My only issue is that they are targeting a specific entity and punishing them for being owned by someone in another country, which seems unconstitutional. If they targeted all companies, big or small, it would be different. I may not like it, but it wouldn't be questionable.

Re:TikTok goes dark in the US by LPisGood on Sunday January 19, 2025 @02:33PM (#42760813)
All companies owned by some specific countries are impacted by this law.