The Chinese TikTok’s parent company faces a ban in the United States next month as a result of the relevant decision of the federal appeals court, adopted on Friday, December 6.
According to media reports, it is highly likely that the complete restriction of the functioning of the mentioned virtual platform in the US will become a factor in the escalation of tension in the space of relations between Beijing and Washington. It is worth noting that even without the TikTok ban, the relationship between the United States and China was on a trajectory of consistent deterioration and showed no signs of improvement or at least the likelihood of a more positive situation in the context of interaction between the two countries. Some experts characterize US actions against the specified virtual platform as politically motivated. It is worth noting that against the background of the deterioration of the condition of geopolitical relations between many world capitals in general, and not only within the framework of tensions between Beijing and Washington, the risk of scaling up the practice of mutual prohibitions including in the areas of information and technology is increasing. Such a scenario as the formation of polar blocks concerning each other on a kind of media world map is not inevitable, but it also does not belong to the category of impossible prospects. The mentioned negative probability arose due to the already mentioned increase in geopolitical tensions.
It is worth noting that TikTok is popular in the United States. This app is also in demand among consumers of media content around the world.
A three-judge panel in Washington unanimously upheld the new law of the United States, noting that in this case there are no violations of freedom of speech provided for by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. If the company is not sold, the Supreme Court could be the only obstacle in the path to the ban on the use of TikTok that will take effect on January 19.
TikTok posted a message on the social media platform X stating its intention to appeal. The company also hopes that the justices will agree with its arguments in the context of the issue of freedom of speech. TikTok claims that the decision to ban is based on inaccurate, flawed, and hypothetical information. Also, in the relevant context, it was separately noted that in this case, the outright censorship of the American people is practiced.
The ban on TikTok will take effect the day before the inauguration of Donald Trump. According to the media, the practical enforcement of this decision may be complicated by Mr. Trump’s position on the relevant issue. Donald Trump has repeatedly stated his opposition to the TikTok ban. He actively stated the appropriate point of view among young Americans. It is worth noting that during his first presidential term, Donald Trump was negatively disposed toward TikTok and did not demonstrate favorable intentions. At the same time, the virtual platform was not banned during the mentioned period.
A representative of Donald Trump did not respond to a media request for comment on the decision of the federal appeals court regarding TikTok. Also, the US Department of Justice has not yet commented on this news.
Analyst Matthew Schettenhelm said that a ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit would make it more difficult for Donald Trump to possibly reverse the ban. Also, according to the expert, the Supreme Court is unlikely to urgently block the law in the case of an appeal from the company.
Congress has stated that the law is necessary to protect national security and user privacy. Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote for the panel that the First Amendment exists to protect freedom of speech in the United States. It was also noted that in the case of TikTok, the government acted solely to protect the mentioned freedom from a foreign adversary nation and limit the ability of this adversary to gather data about people in the US.
For residents of the United States, the specified virtual platform is a source of entertainment and information and a space to build a business. Currently, there are more than 170 million TikTok users in the US, which is part of the ownership structure of ByteDance Ltd. The results of a special survey conducted by Pew Research published in September indicate that about 17% of American adults regularly receive news from the mentioned app. It is worth noting that this indicator is five times higher than the figure recorded in 2020.
Civil liberties groups immediately expressed disagreement with the ruling. Patrick Toomey, deputy director of the National Security Project for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the ban forms a flawed and dangerous precedent that gives the government too much power to silence the speech of the residents of the US on the Internet. It was also separately noted that the government cannot shut down an entire communication platform unless it causes extremely serious and imminent harm, and there is no evidence of that.
Lawmakers said that a lawsuit was necessary to prevent China from using the app to obtain information about United States citizens or spread propaganda. It is worth noting that the US government has not provided evidence that Beijing used TikTok to influence Americans or steal data.
The virtual platform and a group of content creators said that the law tramples on the right to freedom of speech by silencing users. It was also noted that news outlets with foreign ownership continue to operate in the United States.
The panel of judges concluded that the law actually protects freedom of speech, since in this case, the Chinese government’s ability to manipulate public opinion in TikTok is limited. It was also noted that a foreign government threatens to distort freedom of speech in an important medium of communication.
The court stated that the concerns of the United States authorities about national security appear to be justified, given the history of spying by China, including attempts to gather confidential data on US citizens.
The panel of judges argues that the Asian country’s government poses a particularly serious hybrid commercial threat, as Beijing has adopted laws that enable it to access and use data held by Chinese companies.
The prospect of completely limiting the ability to interact with TikTok has sparked a predominantly negative reaction in US society. The results of the Pew survey indicate that only 32% of the adult population of the United States backs the virtual platform ban.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Meta Platforms Inc., and Snap Inc. could potentially benefit from restricting access to TikTok. It is highly likely that these virtual platforms will record an increase in the number of users against the background of the ban on the app owned by ByteDance.
At the same time, Oracle may face difficulties. The relevant perspective is related to the fact that this brand offers internet hosting services to TikTok.
United States President Joe Biden signed the law in April after members of Congress raised concerns about TikTok’s alleged interaction with the Chinese government.
As we have reported earlier, Texas Sues TikTok.
