U.S. “looking at” banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps

cbsnews.com

3 pointsMyNameIsKir3 comments

I'm having a hard time imagining what a ban on an app would look like.

Would they impose sanctions on the corporation, and go after any US-based app storefronts that carry the app for breaking a trade embargo? Maybe do the same for any US-based advertising networks that TikTok uses?

Or is a "ban" going to look like an order for government employees to stay off TikTok?

They'd probably just ban Apple and Google from having TikTok available on their App Stores.

Personally, I can't see how TikTok is any different from FaceBook. They both extract data from their users, they both hand over that data to governments who want it.

Ban TikTok, maybe. But to be consistent, you should ban FaceBook too.

I'm not aware of any US law that allows the federal government to order a corporation to cease publication of an app. In fact, that would probably be a First Amendment violation.

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