The chief of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Car said, ‘US authorities could cite the Bharatiya ban on Chinese social media platform TikTok to build a strong case for similar action in the US’.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the country.
Notably, on April 24 US President Joe Biden signed a bill into law that would force TikTok to exit the US if its Chinese owner ByteDance fails to relinquish control over it and disinvest completely.
The matter is likely to end up in US courts as TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew stressed last week that the facts and the USA’s constitution were on the company’s side. In a video statement, Chew said, the company isn’t going anywhere. He added, ‘Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere’.
ByteDance also said in a statement that it did not have any plan to sell TikTok. TikTok, which belongs to a nation where there is a heavy restriction on foreign apps and freedom of speech, said on X that the ban in US would trample the free speech of millions of Americans.
TikTok is banking on the constitution’s first amendment to pursue a ban in the courts of the law. It protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
However, many believe the argument won’t work as the matter is related to national security. ‘Bharat’s action on TikTok could very well play a role in the litigation in the US’, said Carr. ‘Imagine that TikTok is going to argue that this is some sort of unique American obsession with China to foresee threats that don’t exist’, added Carr.
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