Chicago (CBS) — Social media app TikTok filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government on Tuesdaytrying to fend off a new one Next year, legislation will be passed that could effectively ban the platform.
A Chicago business owner explained Tuesday how important the app is to his business.
“Some posts have been viewed over 30 million times,” said Dr. Benjamin Korin, a plastic surgeon and owner of Many Faces of Chicago. “So it's like a Super Bowl commercial, and it's free.”
A pin-and-string map is displayed in Mr. Colin's office, showing how patients from all over the country have found him. It is estimated that up to 20% of his orthopedic patients come to him from his TikTok. On his platform he has 480,000 followers.
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“Patients care more about the blue check mark on your TikTok than they care about you. I have two academic certifications. No one has ever asked me. They don't care. “We haven't done that,” Korin said. I mean, it's crazy, you know? I think that's a powerful thing. ”
But time is ticking for the popular platform. The Biden administration is defending a new bill that would force Chinese-owned social media company ByteDance to be sold to a U.S. owner or be banned within the next year.
“Do we want the data from TikTok, the data of children, the data of adults, to stay here in the United States, or do we want it to go to China?” said Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser. “That's the fundamental issue at issue here, and the president has made his position clear.”
TikTok fired back, filing a lawsuit claiming the ban violates First Amendment protections for free speech.
A petition filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., argues that any law that could lead to the ban is unconstitutional. The petition alleges that this is in part because it violates the First Amendment rights of U.S. users by effectively cutting off access to popular forums.
A petition filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asks the court to block Attorney General Merrick Garland from enforcing the measure. The lawsuit names TikTok and Beijing-based ByteDance as plaintiffs and was filed against Garland.
“There are exceptions to the absolute First Amendment right,” CBS 2 legal analyst Irv Miller said in an initial analysis of the lawsuit. “But what courts don't like is prior restraint. They don't like to tell someone in advance that they can't exercise their free speech rights.”
Miller said the issue will likely be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, which is earlier than most cases and has already begun its countdown.
“When you say national security could be at risk, it allows for certain kinds of speech restrictions that don't normally exist,” Miller said.
However, it could still be many months before a ruling impacts whether users like Dr. Korin can use TikTok.
