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For those who’re one of many one billion month-to-month lively TikTok customers worldwide—or a religious “LawTok” follower—you’ve in all probability seen information tales discussing an upcoming TikTok ban in the US.
With laws focusing on the regulation or outright banning of TikTok in American jurisdictions, there’s so much happening—which is why we’re offering a TikTok ban replace. Under, we’ll cowl what TikTok is, a fast run-down on the present TikTok-related laws in the US, and the potential implications of those legislative modifications.
What’s TikTok?
TikTok is a extremely well-liked social media platform. ByteDance, a Chinese language web expertise firm, acquired TikTok (previously often called Musical.ly, a lip-syncing app) in 2018.
TikTok permits customers to generate, view, and distribute short-form movies. Famend for its distinctive suggestion system, TikTok’s algorithm determines the movies displayed on a consumer’s feed by analyzing their previous viewing preferences and the accounts and hashtags they comply with.
Although TikTok might have begun as a lip-syncing app, TikTok has grown right into a content material creation platform, the place customers put collectively humorous sketches, leisure and dance movies, and even academic content material, protecting subjects from psychological well being to investing. In consequence, TikTok has spawned hundreds of on-line communities, together with LawTok.
Why is TikTok so well-liked? One motive for its reputation is its addictive nature. When a consumer opens TikTok, movies begin taking part in one-by-one, they usually get immersed in a sea of content material. Moreover, TikTok permits anybody, no matter their background, to create content material effortlessly. Due to this fact, even attorneys who might lack advertising and marketing expertise however want to make the most of the platform for model development or connecting with different authorized professionals can simply start.
Want more? We have an entire guide to social media for lawyers.
TikTok bans: A quick abstract
The US has enacted a number of legal guidelines that both outright ban TikTok or possess the potential to take action. Let’s delve into them in additional element.
Defending Individuals From Overseas Adversary Managed Functions Act
The Home handed the Defending Individuals From Overseas Adversary Managed Functions Act on March 13, 2024–and will pave the best way for the US to ban TikTok. The laws now strikes to the Senate, with President Biden indicating he would signal it if accepted.
Ought to the Act develop into legislation, TikTok, would have 165 days to separate from its mother or father firm ByteDance. Failure to take action may end in a whole ban of TikTok from US app shops and web sites, together with different foreign-owned providers or functions (decided by The RESTRICT Act) deemed a danger to nationwide safety.
The RESTRICT Act
On March 7, 2023, Congress launched a bipartisan invoice that empowers the Secretary of Commerce to ban corporations related to “overseas adversaries” from working in the US. In accordance with the present textual content of the invoice, “overseas adversaries” are categorised as:
- China (together with Hong Kong and Macau)
- Cuba
- Iran
- Russia
- Venezuela (below the regime of Nicolás Maduro Moros)
The RESTRICT Act doesn’t explicitly point out TikTok. Nevertheless, the textual content of the proposed invoice would offer the secretary of Commerce with the authority to ban TikTok in the US. This has led to hypothesis {that a} nationwide TikTok ban is on the best way.
As of June 2023, the RESTRICT Act has been read twice by the Senate and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
No TikTok on Authorities Gadgets Act
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the No TikTok on Authorities Gadgets Act into legislation. Initially launched within the Senate in 2020, this legislation prevents federal staff from downloading or utilizing TikTok on federal authorities and authorities company units –now with 30 states and counting prohibiting using TikTok .
Montana TikTok ban
In Might of 2023, Montana grew to become the primary American state to enact a TikTok ban. This legislation would have prohibited “entities” (corresponding to Apple and Google) from permitting others to entry or obtain TikTok in Montana. The ban, which was deliberate to enter impact in January 2024, has now been halted by a federal decide.
Why is TikTok being banned?
What may short-form movies do to attract such ire from the US authorities? It has much less to do with the platform’s content material and extra to do with safety considerations.
These considerations stem from the worry that the Chinese language authorities may order TikTok’s proprietor, ByteDance, to share consumer information, leading to publicity of Western safety pursuits. And, actually, there are allegations (presently being investigated by the Justice Division) that TikTok has been using TikTok data to spy on American journalists.
TikTok’s privateness coverage
TikTok’s Privacy Policy outlines the kinds of info that TikTok collects from customers. In accordance with their Privateness Coverage, TikTok might gather the next info relating to customers:
- Profile info, together with usernames, passwords, start dates, contact info, and any info disclosed in a consumer’s profile.
- Person content material, together with uploaded pictures, audio, and movies.
- Messages despatched or obtained by means of the platform’s messaging functionalities.
- Buy info, together with cost playing cards, billing, supply, contact info, and gadgets bought.
Moreover, the platform collects how customers have interaction with the platform, inferred info, technical info (e.g., IP addresses, time zone settings, cellular carriers, and keystroke patterns), location info, and extra.
Authorized challenges to TikTok bans
Unsurprisingly, TikTok bans are already going through their share of authorized challenges (and extra are positive to return).
TikTok has already filed a lawsuit towards the state of Montana, claiming that the TikTok ban violates the First Modification and different federal legal guidelines. The corporate additionally asserts that considerations about China’s entry to US TikTok consumer information in Montana are “unfounded.”
Nevertheless, TikTok isn’t the one entity suing Montana over the TikTok ban.
For instance, 5 Montana-based TikTok content material creators have filed a lawsuit towards the state of Montana below comparable grounds.
As these lawsuits are nonetheless making their approach by means of the courts, time will inform what affect—if any—they are going to have on the Montana TikTok ban.
When will authorities ban TikTok?
The Defending Individuals From Overseas Adversary Managed Functions Act could possibly be handed in the summertime of 2024, which goals to fully take away the appliance from U.S. app shops.
Whereas federal authorities staff are already prohibited from downloading TikTok on their units, the remainder of the nation presently has entry to TikTok to be used, for now.
TikTok ban replace: Our closing ideas
With an impending TikTok ban heading to the senate, bans on authorities units, and the potential implications of the RESTRICT Act (to say nothing of the authorized challenges), there’s going to be so much to comply with within the coming months.
However, these authorized challenges elevate fascinating questions relating to governments’ talents to ban free speech and expression or in any other case censor people. As TikTok has gained immense reputation as a social media platform, we count on that vital resistance will meet any subsequent bans. Till then, we’ll proceed to observe this house to see how a TikTok ban may affect attorneys utilizing TikTok.
Whatever the social media platforms you employ (now or sooner or later), be conscious of your moral obligations on any social media platform. By no means share particular case particulars and be conscious of interacting with purchasers (for instance, inadvertently initiating a lawyer-client relationship) when interacting on-line.
Above all, you should definitely think about using on-line social media platforms that can enable you drive enterprise. Be taught extra in The Ultimate Social Media Playbook for Lawyers, our complete useful resource on social media.
We revealed this weblog put up in March 2024. Final up to date: .
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