Federal lawmakers are pushing to ban TikTok in the United States unless it severs ties with its Chinese parent company. Fordham Law Professor Chinmayi Sharma spoke to Law360 about the potential First Amendment issues for such a ban.
Chinmayi Sharma, an associate professor at Fordham University School of Law, agreed that it was hard to see how the TikTok bill, as currently drafted, would “get by First Amendment issues.”
“This proposal is still something that’s restrictive of speech that would otherwise be legal, and it’s a very high bar to show that there is enough of a compelling state interest in restricting speech to pass muster under the First Amendment,” Sharma said.
While House members may have heard evidence in classified intelligence briefings of instances where TikTok’s parent company has been compelled or voluntarily shared user data with the Chinese government, the lawmakers “have not public presented evidence that TikTok has or would share information with the [Chinese Communist Party],” Sharma noted.
“Absent any actual evidence of this happening or the likelihood this would happen, it’s uncertain how this would pass scrutiny under the First Amendment,” Sharma added.
Read “1st Amendment Only The Start Of Woes Facing TikTok Ban” in Law360.