Second link is to the Opinion of the Court in U.S. WECHAT USERS ALLIANCE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. DONALD J. TRUMP, et al., Defendants. Decision by United States Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler of the Northern District of California, sitting at San Francisco.
The order also covered TikTok.
Summary from the above linked article:
US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in California granted “the motion on the ground that the plaintiffs have shown serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim, the balance of hardships tips in the plaintiffs’ favor, and the plaintiffs establish sufficiently the other elements for preliminary-injunctive relief.”
I agree with the preliminary injunction. Putting this on hold until the courts have a proper chance to vet the First Amendment claims is appropriate.
Because this case involves both factual and legal disputes, a bench trial will be necessary.
Interestingly, both the Government and the Plaintiffs consented to the jurisdiction of a United States Magistrate Judge in this case, due to the likely extensive delay that would have been involved if they had to wait on a backlogged United States District Judge.
I am NOT entirely sure what the FINAL outcome of this case should be, though as I said above, I support the preliminary injunction.
The China-controlled TikTok has already actively interfered in the US election by promoting a campaign to get tickets to a Trump event with no intent of going.
The ruling effectively endorses foreign election interference on a massive scale.
Similar efforts are being done over Twitter and other platforms.
The government must show a much more pervasive pattern of interference AND tie it directly to the Chinese government before the government can justify overriding the First Amendment by such an action.
Which is why I have decided to wait for the upcoming trial on the matter to make my own final opinion on the matter.
The TikTok app caters to adolescent girls and dance videos. The idea that the political interference in the Trump campaign was the result spontaneous actions of users is extremely unlikely.
My opinion is that the Trump ticket hoax was almost certainly actively promoted and coordinated by the Chinese Communist Party. It would not surprise me if it included active collusion of the Biden campaign.
Time to get FISA warrants and start a Mueller-style investigation of the Biden campaign?
Your verbage is incorrect. TikTok didn’t promote the campaign to make Trump look foolish, it was the people that used TikTok that made him look follish.
Would have been no different if people had used an American company such as some Google or Microsoft products and/or things like Facebook, Twitter, or Whatsapp.
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.WW, PSHS
I wouldn’t exactly call it election interference either. Now if they were doing that for every Trump rally, maybe. But one? Come on. Best prank ever though!
WeChat is an important business app and as such presents a much bigger risk than TikTok. Who could the ChiComs glean more valuable intel from, powerful business execs or citizens posting silly videos?
not sure how “users” are harmed by other people not being able to download the app. Also not sure how new “users” would be harmed since there are other platforms they could download. the injunctive relief seems a bit much considering “users” cannot show harm.
