Comment by taylodl
17 hours ago
Because we're looking at the Big Picture and seeing how they're figuring out how to dismantle our First Amendment rights.
17 hours ago
Because we're looking at the Big Picture and seeing how they're figuring out how to dismantle our First Amendment rights.
First Amendment rights do not extend to corporations under foreign (adversarial) government control. Simple as.
This amendment to the constitution was rewritten a few times, each time more clearly stating that it applies to “the people”.
From: https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt1-7-1/ALD...
The People chose to use TikTok as their free press. The US government has banned a tool The People were using for speech. The government utilized a specious argument of "security" in denying The People to their free press comprised of TikTok. The government provided zero evidence of national security being compromised. If anything, the US government has called into question how they are using data from US-based social media companies such that we may now expect reprisals from all around the world - maybe that's what they wanted?
Programs like Prism [0] certainly lend credence to the idea that this ban reflects the US’ own behavior in terms of how it uses data. However Prism was markedly different given it collected data vs being a dial the government can turn to produce a given outcome in the consumers of the content.
All of the congressional hearings over the past ~15 years demonstrates how business in the US is still pretty much governed by the rule of law. I’m of the opinion that there isn’t some shadow cabal working with Musk and Zuckerberg to control our minds. However we know that the CCP absolutely manages what the public can consume, so personally while I’m no fan of heavy handed government intervention in business, this ban seems like “a good thing” to me. We must protect the short, middle and long term prospects of our population — it’s a fundamental duty of the federal government to do so.
[0]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/07/google-faceboo...
I agree that evidence would be nice, but let's not pretend TikTok is simply a 'speech platform' for 'The People'. It is an app on your mobile phone collecting data about you and making it available to a foreign adversary and feeding you content controlled by a foreign adversary.
To me it seems like it could be a first amendment violation against Americans who want to speak via tiktok.
This is a very weakly held opinion, and I don’t know if the opinion addresses this.
First Amendment Right is only for American citizens, no? If you're a visitor to the US for example, you don't get the First Amendment protection against anything, you're a guest. Why doesn't the same principle apply to a foreign company? I don't see how banning tik tok affects your first amendment rights or first amendment rights of American companies - maybe you can explain?
The constitution applies to everyone within the borders of the country, not just citizens. Tourists still get due process, can say what they want, cannot be forced to house american soldiers in their hotel, etc.
No idea if this applies to companies, but foreign visitors do get protections.
>The constitution applies to everyone within the borders of the country
Minor clarification that some parts specify "citizen" (e.g. voting). Others specify "person" or "resident" or the like, which would be anyone within the border.
The Constitution binds the activity of the government, individuals are irrelevant. Congress is forbidden from passing a law that violates the inalienable rights of humans, freedom of speech and association being one that is conveniently enumerated in the first amendment.
You will not find anywhere in the text that limits this to citizenship (with the sparse examples of the concept of citizenship coming up being things like eligibility for presidential office). The purpose of the Constitution is to spell out the abilities of the government, and one of the things it is expressly forbidden from doing is passing laws that curtail peoples' ability to communicate or associate.
Doesn't the right to bear arms apply only to citizens too?
Legal aliens absolutely have the same First Amendment rights as citizens.
Right, I guess I'm wrong about this then.
Also, the oligarchs just want us to use their crappy social media sites. This sets the stage for making competition illegal in some ways.
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Ridiculous statement. You must believe they should have political speech then? Maybe they should be able to donate to elections or even vote too? Why stop at corporations?
If they want speech, they should reside in the US, not just own a piece of a company that does.
The rights enforced inside the US are very generous compared to most countries and many apply to both legal and illegal residents, but restricting some rights, especially political ones, is crucial to have a sovereign state
The constitution is very clear on which parts apply only to citizens. The first amendment is not one of them.