
Our government passed a law that bans TikTok in this country (unless it sells to a U.S. person or company). And last week, the Supreme Court upheld that law - agreeing with Congress that it was a security threat (and that threat was great enough to restrict free speech).
I disagree. I fail to see the security threat. While it is true that the free speech right of all Americans is not absolute - you cannot use speech to put lives in danger (like yelling fire in a theater or telling someone to kill someone or exposing a military secret) - the rules against it are rightfully very limited.
Just how does allowing TikTok to exist compromise our national security?
Its opponents point out that it gathers the personal information of citizens. I'm sure it does. But so do many other social media sites (and they eagerly sell that information to companies and other organizations). That doesn't compromise our national security, but it can be irritating to individuals who don't want their information shared. To them, I say don't share your information of any internet site.
Its opponents say many people get their "news" from TikTok, and they could be getting news slanted toward China's interests. That may be true also. But many people get their news from other sites that are suspect, both on the right and left (and those sites contain a lot of slanted news and outright misinformation). It would be nice if every site only printed the truth, but that is not the world we live in.
The truth is that free speech must include speech we don't like - even speech that may offend us. We can use our own speech to oppose what we see as offensive or untrue, but it's a mistake to try and ban it. When a government bans one type of speech, it makes it easier to ban another - and banning speech is the tool dictators use to control the population.
The two most important rights we have as Americans are the right to vote and the right to free speech - and those rights depend on each other. We cannot restrict either and maintain our democracy.
The government ban of TikTok was a step in the wrong direction for our democracy. I hope it can soon be overturned.