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Decades-old Law Forms Biggest Obstacle to Nationwide TikTok Ban, Lawmaker Says

posted by janrinok on Thursday February 02 2023, @05:37PM   Printer-friendly
from the unintended-consequences dept.

upstart writes:

TikTok's CEO agrees to testify before Congress for the first time in March:

As Congress prepares to vote on a nationwide TikTok ban next month, it looks like that ban may already be doomed to fail. The biggest hurdle likely won't be mustering enough votes, but drafting a ban that doesn't conflict with measures passed in the 1980s to protect the flow of ideas from hostile foreign nations during the Cold War.

These decades-old measures, known as the Berman amendments, were previously invoked by TikTok creators suing to block Donald Trump's attempted TikTok ban in 2020. Now, a spokesperson for Representative Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), the incoming chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Ars that these measures are believed to be the biggest obstacle for lawmakers keen on blocking the app from operating in the United States.

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported that lawmakers' dilemma in enacting a ban would be finding a way to block TikTok without "shutting down global exchanges of content—or inviting retaliation against US platforms and media." Some lawmakers think that's achievable by creating a narrow carve-out for TikTok in new legislation, but others, like McCaul, think a more permanent solution to protect national security interests long-term would require crafting more durable and thoughtful legislation that would allow for bans of TikTok and all apps beholden to hostile foreign countries.

[...] Back in 1977, Congress passed the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to empower the president to impose sanctions on and oversee trade with hostile nations. The plan was to prevent average American citizens from assisting US enemies, but the law troubled publishers doing business with book authors and movie makers based in hostile nations. Those concerns led Congressman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) to propose an amendment in 1988, which passed, exempting "information and informational materials" from IEEPA and blocking presidents from regulating these materials.

As technology evolved, in 1994, another IEEPA amendment specifically exempted electronic media, leading to today, when everything from a tweet to a TikTok would be free from presidential regulation under the so-called Berman amendments. How this prevents Congress from passing a new law remains unclear, but the WSJ reports that lawmakers are hesitant to draft legislation limiting TikTok if that could threaten those protections.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by RS3 on Friday February 03 2023, @02:50AM (3 children)

    by RS3 (6367) on Friday February 03 2023, @02:50AM (#1289972)

    Well, them and CCP spy balloons [cnn.com]. Right? Maybe?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 03 2023, @09:13AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 03 2023, @09:13AM (#1289993)
    Is that confirmed to be a CCP spy balloon though? I mean even youtubers have sent up high altitude balloons. The entry barrier is pretty low.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday February 03 2023, @11:45AM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday February 03 2023, @11:45AM (#1290002) Journal

      Playbook: Worries balloon over Chinese spying [politico.com]

      The Pentagon revealed Thursday afternoon that it has detected and is tracking a large Chinese spy balloon floating in the stratosphere above Montana, where it was surveilling a nuclear missile base. The balloon, which entered U.S. airspace on Tuesday, is well above the altitude at which commercial aircraft fly, and Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. PAT RYDER insisted that it “does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.”

      Officials also noted that it’s not the first time one of these balloons has been spotted in American airspace in recent years — including during the Trump administration. But another official said the balloon has lingered longer than the others.

      “It is appearing to hang out for a long period of time this time around, more persistent than in previous instances,” the official said. And, of course, tensions with China are already high.

      Biden “was briefed and asked for military options,” according to a senior Defense official. He apparently wanted to know if he should blow it out of the sky.

      On Wednesday afternoon, the Billings Logan International Airport was closed for two hours while F-22s were sent up and the airspace around the balloon was emptied.

      --
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    • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday February 03 2023, @04:58PM

      by RS3 (6367) on Friday February 03 2023, @04:58PM (#1290045)

      In case you missed the latest news, CCP have admitted it's theirs, but (of course) not admitting it's a spy.

      Like far too many things we may never know.

      I'm hoping our military and DIA know exactly all about it, and maybe have jammed it or rendered it dead with a nice energy pulse weapon (that we don't really have, right?)