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Congress can’t ban TikTok ‘just in case’

2 years 1 month ago

TikTok is used by around 150 million Americans, including journalists. Photo courtesy of Nordskov Media.

Like a bad penny, bills to ban TikTok keep turning up in Congress. We’ve written before about how such proposals are unconstitutional and would enable mass censorship. The newest legislation that would effectively ban the platform, passed earlier this month by the House of Representatives, is no exception.

Writing in the Columbia Journalism Review, Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Advocacy Director Seth Stern warns that banning TikTok would impose a prior restraint on journalism and set a precedent for future censorship, including bans on foreign news sites.

Stern writes:

The reality is that even definitive proof that a platform is propagandizing or surveilling Americans wouldn’t justify censorship. The Pentagon Papers case established that “national security” isn’t a magic word that nullifies the First Amendment—and there, the alleged threat was to troops’ lives, not college kids’ political thought. Nonetheless, Justice Hugo Black explained that “the word ‘security’ is a broad, vague generality whose contours should not be invoked to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment.”

Read the full column here.

Freedom of the Press Foundation

Build My Future Expanding to Cape Girardeau & Bethany in Fall 2024

2 years 1 month ago
The popular Build My Future showcase event for high school students is reaching out to even more Missouri teens this fall. The Associated General Contractors of Missouri (AGCMO) has added new interactive events highlighting careers in the construction industry on Oct. 8 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau and Oct. 23 at the […]
Dede Hance

Winco Honored at FGIA’s 2024 Annual Conference

2 years 1 month ago
Winco Window Company, a St. Louis-based manufacturer of commercial and architectural aluminum windows, was honored with two prestigious awards at this year’s Fenestration & Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA) annual conference, which recognizes member contributions and achievements for their efforts toward progressing the work of FGIA and the glass industry. The event was held at the […]
Dede Hance

A conservative takes on right-wing social media

2 years 1 month ago
You all remember Christopher Rufo, don't you? He's a right-wing activist who made his bones as an opponent of Critical Race Theory, DEI, wokeness, systemic racism, LGBT "grooming," and, in general, liberalism's "long march" to take over America's most powerful institutions. Just recently he was largely responsible for getting Christine Gay to step down as ...continue reading "A conservative takes on right-wing social media"
Kevin Drum