Why TikTok is so hard to ban in the US, according to experts

The Biden administration is under pressure to ban popular Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, but any such move likely hinges on passage of a new law that bolsters the government’s authority to regulate speech, experts said.

ByteDance

Pressure is mounting from lawmakers and national security hawks to ban TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, over fears the app could censure content, influence users, and pass Americans’ personal data to Beijing, allegations the company denies.

Courts blocked a prior bid by the Trump administration to ban the app in part on the grounds that such a move violated free speech protections.

the RESTRICT ACT

That means any move to block the app likely depends on passage of legislation like the RESTRICT ACT, a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators this month granting the Commerce Department new power to ban foreign technology that poses a national security risk. That would circumvent the speech protections embedded in existing law, lawyers and China watchers said.

“RESTRICT is really helpful because it gives this completely new, from scratch, legal authority that doesn’t have any of those complications” under other laws, said Emily Kilcrease, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and former deputy assistant U.S. Trade Representative. “It’s a much stronger, cleaner legal authority.”

the Biden Administration

TikTok previously criticized the RESTRICT act, saying “the Biden Administration does not need additional authority from Congress to address national security concerns about TikTok: it can approve the deal negotiated with (the Biden administration) over two years that it has spent the last six months reviewing.”

About E. J. McKay

E.J.McKay is a Shanghai-headquartered investment bank with a special focus on mergers & acquisitions. We are one of the most long standing independent investment banks in China, with core business of mergers & acquisitions and financing advisory.