Free speech organizations team up to push back on potential TikTok ban

A group of more than a dozen free speech advocacy organizations sent a letter to members of Congress on Thursday to urge them against a potential nationwide ban on TikTok as the platform receives criticism over its data security and other practices. 

The 16 organizations, which include the American Civil Liberties Union and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, among others, argued that a potential ban would have “serious ramifications for free expression” and infringe on the rights that Americans have under the First Amendment to the Constitution. 

The groups also said that they recognize the concerns U.S. officials have raised about serious risks to national security. 

“But solutions short of a full-scale ban can address these vulnerabilities without resorting to an ill-advised, blanket approach that would impair free speech and set a troubling precedent that could curtail free expression worldwide,” the letter reads. 

The organizations noted that the Supreme Court has recognized that the First Amendment includes the right to receive information without government interference. They said the federal government broadly banning the platform in the United States would prevent individuals from communicating through a method that they choose. 

The letter comes as the House Committee on Energy and Commerce holds a hearing with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to look into the platform and security concerns about the protection of user data. 

Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns about the safety of U.S. user data from being obtained by the Chinese government. TikTok is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance, and officials have said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could require ByteDance to provide the Chinese government with user data. 

Chew has maintained that TikTok is independent from the Chinese government, and that user data is not at risk of being accessed by the CCP. 

The federal government and more than two dozen state governments have instituted bans on TikTok on state-owned devices. Lawmakers have introduced bills to ban TikTok or grant the federal government the power to regulate and potentially prohibit technology linked to foreign adversaries. 

The organizations said in the letter that seeing TikTok banned in the country would raise questions among a “rising generation” about protections for free speech. 

They also argued it would grant legitimacy to authoritarian regimes to shut down services that they do not support, as major U.S. platforms are already banned or majorly restricted by countries like China and Pakistan to limit dissent. 

The letter noted U.S. denunciations of Nigeria shutting down Twitter for seven months in 2021 and Russia shutting down “independent media and technology platforms” last year amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine. 

“A ban on TikTok would sorely undermine U.S. credibility as a defender of digital freedom, and invite copycat measures that could lead to severe constriction of expression worldwide,” the groups said. 

They said a consumer data privacy bill, instead of a ban, would significantly increase online data security and address concerns for all social media platforms beyond just TikTok.