Free speech organizations caution against impending TikTok ban

Sixteen free speech and civil rights organizations signed a letter last week petitioning lawmakers to not ban the Chinese social media platform TikTok, arguing such a move would infringe on Americans’ rights to free speech. The letter, signed by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Coalition Against Censorship, argues that banning the app would “have serious ramifications for free expression in the digital sphere,” and result in “a potent and worrying precedent in a time of increased censorship of internet users around the world.”

The March 23 letter coincided with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s congressional testimony. Chew insisted that user data collected by the app is secure, continually reaffirming that TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have no relationship or history of sharing data with the Chinese Communist Party. But senators have voiced concerns about national security, citing the short-form video app’s access to personal information for about 150 million American users and its base in a totalitarian communist country. Last December, Congress passed the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, which bars users from downloading TikTok on any federal devices. Before the federal ban, over a dozen state governments already passed legislation banning TikTok from state devices, including Arkansas, West Virginia, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Idaho, Georgia, North Dakota, Iowa, Alabama, Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, South Dakota, Maryland, Nebraska, Florida and Tennessee.

Instead of a full ban, free speech organizations suggest more rigorous digital security measures. “We recognize the grave concerns that TikTok and other social media platforms pose for the privacy of individual users,” the letter said. “A comprehensive consumer privacy bill would limit data commodification, thereby dramatically increasing users’ security online … [and] also mitigate concerns not just of foreign data mining, but also hacking, ransomware and other security vulnerabilities.”

The letter pointed to U.S. lawmakers’ condemnation of similar social media bans by other governments. U.S. government officials condemned Nigeria’s 2021 ban on Twitter, Russian censorship during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and Iran’s Internet restrictions after violent citizen protests.

“A [U.S.] ban on TikTok would sorely undermine U.S. credibility as a defender of digital freedom,” the letter said. “A legislative ban on TikTok in the U.S. would set an alarming global precedent, lending legitimacy to authoritarian regimes in shutting down and excluding services they disfavor.”

The free speech group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) did not sign the joint letter but released its own statement Thursday, calling a TikTok ban “a last resort.” The statement acknowledged that “the legal obligations of Chinese companies with regard to data sharing with the Chinese Communist Party are startling.” However, FIRE maintained that, should the U.S. government enforce any data protection measures, it should “use the least restrictive means necessary to ensure the privacy of American citizens while not unduly burdening First Amendment rights.”