Banning TikTok Is Unconstitutional. The Supreme Court Must Step In • Hacker News Board

Re: Banning TikTok Is Unconstitutional. The Supreme Court Must Step In

#141

Post by BeefWellington » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 6:30 AM UTC

thehappypm wrote: post #48

xutopia wrote: post #25

We all know it's just a way for Musk and others to get a really popular social media for cheap. This ban has nothing to do with anything else than that.

Which is why the law was signed by .. checks notes.. Joe Biden?

Well, to be fair, the law wasn't individually passed by Biden. It was stuffed into a foreign aid bill aimed at supplying both Ukraine and Israel, as well as enforcing additional sanctions on Russia.[1]

It's not entirely clear if Biden thinks it's a good move but honestly I doubt very much he has his own opinion on this as it is.

[1]: https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20240415/HSupp_01_xml.p...

Re: Banning TikTok Is Unconstitutional. The Supreme Court Must Step In

#142

Post by disambiguation » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 6:34 AM UTC

I wonder how long until public discourse is willing to acknowledge that social media is not just a fun little way to stay in touch with old friends, but a straight up tool of surveillance and influence. For those that agree, do you think governments should do nothing? For those not convinced, what more evidence do you need?

Re: Banning TikTok Is Unconstitutional. The Supreme Court Must Step In

#143

Post by TiredOfLife » Thu, Jan 16, 2025, 2:30 PM UTC

voisin wrote: post #133

Salgat wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The forced divestment is for national security reasons. Bytedance, as a Chinese company, is required by law (Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China) to provide full data access to the Chinese government on request, and they are compelled not to reveal when this occurs. Since this is done through legitimate channels (on Bytedance's side), this won't even be caught with an audit. So you have a situation wh…

Meta was selling data to Chinese groups and buried a report stating this until recently. This has nothing to do with national defence and everything to do with ensuring American companies control the narrative without competition.

> Meta was selling data to Chinese groups

Source?

Re: Banning TikTok Is Unconstitutional. The Supreme Court Must Step In

#144

Post by SmarsJerry » Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 5:51 AM UTC

A foreign citizen or foreign corporation does not have first amendment rights so this is constitutional. However they should not ban TikTok if they want to hold any moral high ground over China.

Re: Banning TikTok Is Unconstitutional. The Supreme Court Must Step In

#145

Post by stewardyunn » Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 7:04 AM UTC

AppStore should have had some review mechanisms from the beginning. When an app reaches a certain scale, it should be required to ensure that its data centers are supervised by government technical personnel and accessible to the government. This approach is similar to China's, because data is valuable—it can feed algorithms, making them more powerful and making the "candy" for kids even more addictive. The platforms where data resides can also do many things; just look at what Elon did on X regarding the election. Otherwise, it's like shooting oneself in the foot. By the way, I found a ridiculous website https://www.tiktok-alternatives.com/ Zack is just too funny.

Re: Banning TikTok Is Unconstitutional. The Supreme Court Must Step In

#146

Post by chrismcb » Sat, Jan 18, 2025, 6:00 AM UTC

Baking tik tok isn't a first amendment issue. As much of an advocate for free speech and the first amendment, I think Congress has the right to regulate trade and prevent a foreign company from doing business on American soil.