University professors in Texas are suing the state over ‘unconstitutional’ TikTok ban

HollowNotion@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 95 points –
University professors in Texas are suing the state over ‘unconstitutional’ TikTok ban | Engadget
engadget.com
71

You are viewing a single comment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Unless it's from China or any communist allies.

It has long been recognized that freedom of speech is not unlimited, and I really hope you're not trying to argue that TikTok is press.

Oh. People are trying. I recently, will add briefly, watched a documentary on the Titanic where they had a guy from TT stating facts because his authority is that he's "The Titanic guy". Turned it off seconds after I stopped laughing.

The key line here is “abridging the freedom of speech”

I don’t like TikTok. I think it’s an actual danger to our society in how it promotes the dumbest shit and encourages dangerous antics and conspiracy theories. However, I think it’s an equally dangerous step to let the government decide to limit or remove access to a foreign social media site. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and while it might seem like a good move to limit access to TikTok specifically, that sets the precedent for removing access to other ways of communicating.

They're not limiting access. They're saying you can't install the application on a government-supplied device. Want TikTok on your personal phone - great, go ahead! Want to watch TikTok in a browser on your government device - hey, that's fine! Install a piece of software that's really aggressive in the data it collects on a government device - nope!

I think it’s an actual danger to our society in how it promotes the dumbest shit and encourages dangerous antics and conspiracy theories

This is unrelated but I laughed.

This is a perfect description of Great Old Party.

I think it’s an actual danger to our society in how it promotes the dumbest shit and encourages dangerous antics and conspiracy theories.

Now for a serious post, I'll gladly sacrifice TikTok and a goat if that's it takes to kill Google, META and the others.

1 more...
1 more...

Tiktok is not the sole method for speech, and it is not a slippery slope to ban all similar methods of speech.

The reason for not allowing it is that tiktok is malware. Should malware with a political message be required to be installed on government computers?

If blocking a website on government devices/networks is a violation of free speech why are you just now sounding the alarm? Why didn't you sound the alarm when I wasn't allowed to browse reddit on my government laptop? The government blocking access on personal devices/networks is a violation, blocking access on government networks/devices is business as usual.

If they were forbidden from installing the app on their personal devices, I'd agree with you. However, the ban is on installing it on government devices, so it's their right to make that rule.

Also, if they really have to watch TikTok on government provided devices, they can watch through Firefox or Chrome or Safari. I'm not seeing any issue at all here.

24 more...