TikTok hasactually pressed back on arguments that the popular social media platform is not protected by the First Amendment
ByHAELUYA HADERO AP service author
August 15, 2024, 10: 00 PM
TikTok on Thursday pressed back versus U.S. federalgovernment arguments that the popular social media platform is not protected by the First Amendment, comparing its platform to popular American media companies owned by foreign entities.
Last month, the Justice Department argued in a legal short submitted in a Washington federal appeals court that neither TikTok’s China-based momsanddad business, ByteDance, nor the platform’s international and U.S. arms — TikTok Ltd. and TikTok Inc. — were entitled to First Amendment securities since they are “foreign companies operating abroad” or owned by one.
TikTok lawyers haveactually made the First Amendment a secret part of their legal obstacle to the federal law needing ByteDance to sell TikTok to an authorized purchaser or face a restriction.
On Thursday, they argued in a court file that TikTok’s U.S. arm doesn’t surrender its constitutional rights duetothefactthat it is owned by a foreign entity. They drew a parallel inbetween TikTok and popular news outlets such as Politico and Business Insider, both of which are owned by German publisher Axel Springer SE. They likewise mentioned Fortune, a service publication owned by Thai entrepreneur Chatchaval Jiaravanon.
“Surely the American business that release Politico, Fortune, and Business Insider do not lose First Amendment security since they have foreign ownership,” the TikTok lawyers composed, arguin