No one is enforcing it, it’s a play by TikTok. TikTok did it voluntarily
Yup. In fact, Biden had specifically said he will not enforce the ban.
Which, incidentally…might be the same thing Trump does to “unban TikTok” once he takes office. Which is bizarre, on both sides. Like…that’s literally not legal for a president to do. They can’t legally just ignore an Act of Congress.
Not that the law matters in America anymore. The Supreme Court has pretty definitively seen to that.
enforcement is up to the ag, so yea. they could just ‘ignore’ the law.
the only thing the ‘president’ can do is extend the deadline by 90 days given evidence that the company is closing-in on a deal.
with scotus out of the way, ruling in favor of trump’s initial desires, and that which subsequently passed through congress; it is now up to congress to undo the legislation if they so choose.
Not sure that is true though. When I read the law it specifies that the President can choose to block ANY foreign owned social media site that they (as in the president) deems a national security threat. So Trump could in theory say ban RedNote tomorrow and it legally would have to be done. That said… he may be able to just say “bytedance is not considered a national security threat at this time” and that may be enough to let TikTok continue to be in the U.S.
I’d have to read it again to confirm
Edit: nah ByteDance got targeted hard, no dodging that.
DIVISION H-- PROTECTING AMERICANS FROM FOREIGN ADVERSARY CONTROLLED APPLICATIONS ACT
Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act
(Sec. 2) This division prohibits distributing, maintaining, updating, or providing internet hosting services for a foreign adversary controlled application (e.g., TikTok). However, the prohibition does not apply to a covered application that executes a qualified divestiture as determined by the President.
Under the division, a foreign adversary controlled application is an application directly or indirectly operated by (1) ByteDance, Ltd., TikTok, their subsidiaries, successors, related entities they control, or entities controlled by a foreign adversary country; or (2) a social media company that is controlled by a foreign adversary country and determined by the President to present a significant threat to national security. (Here, a social media company excludes any website or application primarily used to post product reviews, business reviews, or travel information and reviews.)
enforcement is up to the ag, so yea. they could just ‘ignore’ the law.
In practice, there’s no real mechanism to force it (especially if Congress is unwilling to impeach & convict). But legally speaking, the Take Care clause of the constitution obligates the President (through his executive) to enforce all laws passed by Congress. Ignoring it would be unconstitutional.
The executive branch can selectively enforce laws, look at all the weed dispensaries the feds could just waltz into and have a federal case against everyone.
TikTok and its service providers are liable. “No one is enforcing” is meaningless, because they can still be prosecuted retrospectively if the US Government changes its mind.
No one is enforcing it, it’s a play by TikTok. TikTok did it voluntarily. The server is still there, my wife logged in and saw the notice.
It’s just theater.
$10 says Trump influenced TikTok to go dark today to make him look better when it turns it back on tomorrow.
We all know they didn’t actually have to do this.
Yup. In fact, Biden had specifically said he will not enforce the ban.
Which, incidentally…might be the same thing Trump does to “unban TikTok” once he takes office. Which is bizarre, on both sides. Like…that’s literally not legal for a president to do. They can’t legally just ignore an Act of Congress.
Not that the law matters in America anymore. The Supreme Court has pretty definitively seen to that.
enforcement is up to the ag, so yea. they could just ‘ignore’ the law.
the only thing the ‘president’ can do is extend the deadline by 90 days given evidence that the company is closing-in on a deal.
with scotus out of the way, ruling in favor of trump’s initial desires, and that which subsequently passed through congress; it is now up to congress to undo the legislation if they so choose.
Not sure that is true though. When I read the law it specifies that the President can choose to block ANY foreign owned social media site that they (as in the president) deems a national security threat. So Trump could in theory say ban RedNote tomorrow and it legally would have to be done. That said… he may be able to just say “bytedance is not considered a national security threat at this time” and that may be enough to let TikTok continue to be in the U.S.
I’d have to read it again to confirm
Edit: nah ByteDance got targeted hard, no dodging that.
DIVISION H-- PROTECTING AMERICANS FROM FOREIGN ADVERSARY CONTROLLED APPLICATIONS ACT
Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act
(Sec. 2) This division prohibits distributing, maintaining, updating, or providing internet hosting services for a foreign adversary controlled application (e.g., TikTok). However, the prohibition does not apply to a covered application that executes a qualified divestiture as determined by the President.
Under the division, a foreign adversary controlled application is an application directly or indirectly operated by (1) ByteDance, Ltd., TikTok, their subsidiaries, successors, related entities they control, or entities controlled by a foreign adversary country; or (2) a social media company that is controlled by a foreign adversary country and determined by the President to present a significant threat to national security. (Here, a social media company excludes any website or application primarily used to post product reviews, business reviews, or travel information and reviews.)
In practice, there’s no real mechanism to force it (especially if Congress is unwilling to impeach & convict). But legally speaking, the Take Care clause of the constitution obligates the President (through his executive) to enforce all laws passed by Congress. Ignoring it would be unconstitutional.
The executive branch can selectively enforce laws, look at all the weed dispensaries the feds could just waltz into and have a federal case against everyone.
TikTok and its service providers are liable. “No one is enforcing” is meaningless, because they can still be prosecuted retrospectively if the US Government changes its mind.
Yup. They even asked for clarification on the “no enforcement” and the Biden administration basically just said “it is what it is”.
What big company is going to take a risk like that?