Hacker News Reader

Comment by publicola1990 | Hacker News Reader

publicola1990

Either TikTok has right to operate in US or it does not. Is there any letter or terms or conditions of the US law that is prohibiting TikTok from operating? I don't think so.

Also it has been allowed to operate for years till now, What sudden change of circumstance has occurred that banning it is imperative now? The government has not made any explanation.

Ideal solution in this case would be to define a data security and privacy legislation through Congress applicable to all social networking apps/services and clarify the terms under which they can operate. Then if TikTok is complying with them they can operate and if they are in violation they face necessary consequences.

Instead what is happening is arbitrary misuse of executive/administrative powers to promulgate a ban without due process, and based merely on fear and speculation.

View on HN

It's not nearly as back and white as you would appear to like it to be. I do not see any laws being broken or US Citizen rights being trodden on with this ban. They're not even setting a new precedent with this ban. It is completely within the executive branches power to ban a foreign corporation for national security reason, reasons that may not be completely clear to the public.

Though I think the reason is very clear, at least their official one. If you are a China based company the CCP by law has access to your data and they have abused access to sensitive and private data time and time again. Just because nothing has happened yet doesn't mean we shouldn't be proactive against China.

And I wish Congress would do something about it. The Chinese government deserves so much more then a TikTok ban and Congress could give the ban a more stable foundation then a executive order from a controversial administration.

As a European I can‘t resist but to say that I wish that we would start banning all of the American internet cooperations that are required by law to share their data with the US government which has time and time again shown that they are willing to abuse access. Remember the time they wanted to wiretap Angela Merkel? Good times!

It‘s really astonishing to what extent people are willing to be hypocrites not only but especially in the US... American exceptionalism, what a f*cking joke... Might explain how the Republican party and American establishment could create such a mess of the country. It would be funny if it wasn‘t so damn sad and dangerous for all the other countries and people. /rant

>They're not even setting a new precedent with this ban.

They are though. The powers of executive order used for the ban are specifically limited to prevent any banning or stopping the information flow of any forms of media and communication.

i.e. The U.S. President can't use executive orders to circumvent the first amendment.

I'm absolutely not an expert, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I suspect the CCP/Tiktok has no constitutional rights in the US and the President can take any action against a government controlled foreign business if there's even a hint of a national security risk. Not saying it's right it wrong, only that it's within their power.

U.S. citizens have constitutional rights, and that includes using information services for expression of speech that are or are not based in the U.S.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com