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Is there even any mechanism for this in the US legal system? Companies and products can be regulated but the requirements need to be specific (and I'd welcome
by lukev 3y ago
Is there even any mechanism for this in the US legal system?
Companies and products can be regulated but the requirements need to be specific (and I'd welcome rules around personal data collection etc.) Or you can regulate an entire class of product, but then it would apply to all companies/manufacturers.
I don't see how you can ban TikTok without either being super specific about which rules it's breaking, or also banning Instagram/Youtube/many others.
- kelnos 3y agoCongress can more or less do what it wants for things like this (under the guise of "interstate commerce"). They can write up a bill that says "TikTok is banned", and if it's passed and signed... that's that. Certainly the Biden administration can't ban it on their own unless they can figure out how to use existing regulatory power in a way that the courts will uphold.
- lukev 3y agoCongress can pass whatever they like, but there's a bunch of reasons a law like that would be unconstitutional and likely quickly struck down. Not only is it a violation of the First Amendment, it is almost a textbook case of a Bill of Attainder. (At least, to to my layman's understanding. IANAL.)
- schrectacular 3y agoFile with the WTO for trade fairness rules? After all, no Facebook allowed in China.
- yorwba 3y agoThe Facebook ban is kosher under WTO trade fairness rules because censorship laws apply to domestic and foreign companies equally, and Facebook decided to no longer follow them. A TikTok ban that doesn't violate trade fairness would have to be based on some criterion other than nationality, e.g. by banning vertical video or something.