Talk Talk More Talk and Some Dancing Around
On August 6, 2020 President Trump issued an
executive order prohibiting transactions related to WeChat and TikTok to “safeguard
the national security of the United States”. I had not used TikTok when this
came out so I loaded the app and found lots of teen girls (and some men) doing
silly dances. I agree we don’t want the world to see this. The odds are I will not be their
biggest user so don’t expect to see me dancing there any time soon. WeChat is a little different story and the one
I want to focus on.
On September 20th US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler of the US District Court Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction to a group of WeChat users that challenged the order arguing the “prohibitions trampled the free-speech rights of millions of Chinese-speaking Americans”. Judge Beeler said “the ban raised serious questions related to the constitution's first amendment, guaranteeing free speech.” Judge Beeler, stated that "while the general evidence about the threat to national security related to China is considerable, the specific evidence about WeChat is modest".
Government lawyers wrote in their filing “The Court’s
preliminary injunction permits the continued, unfettered use of WeChat, a
mobile application that the Executive Branch has determined constitutes a
threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,”
Here is the interesting part from Judge Beeler “Certainly
the government’s overarching national-security interest is significant,”. “But
on this record – while the government has established that China’s activities
raise significant national security concerns – it has put in scant little
evidence that its effective ban of WeChat for all US users addresses those
concerns.”
What I understand is that she agrees that national security is
a significant issue and the executive branch has the right to do this, but the executive order may not have the intended effect they are claiming. Yes,
it could stop the app from being loaded more and keep the app from becoming
more popular in the United States. But will it stop a national security threat.
The parent company Tencent has other operations in the United States as well. There
are other Chinese companies that collect similar data including the larger part
of Tencent, their games, Why WeChat?
For Chinese Americans WeChat is a primary way of communicating
with their families back home. But there are other ways to communicate.
Considering there are other apps. Is blocking the download
of WeChat limiting Chinese Americans free speech?
As a comparison, If I said T-Mobile is no longer allowed to
make calls to China but there is still Version and AT&T. Is your freedom of
speech limited?
Does Judge Beeler’s comment indicate that the impact from
the executive order will not accomplish the intended result remove the
justification for the order?
If there is a national Security risk is it appropriate to
only focus on one or two companies where there is concern?
If the concern is the Chinese government spreading manipulative
information is there a different way to control this?
If you try to limit the messages from the Chinese government
can you separate their messages from the individual Chinese American messages
that are part of their freedom of speech?
If Chinese access to data stored in China is the main concern
should this be a legislative action to require companies working in the US to
store their data and all access to the US? TikTok argued that their data is stored
in Singapore and the US and is not subject to the data sharing laws with China.
Could I make a law that says no company doing business in
the United States can store data in a manner that would be subject to the Chinese
data access laws?
Do you have any other suggestions that could address the National
Security issue better?
Articles:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54223980
Watch these in this order I could not find them together in one clip.
https://www.yarn.co/yarn-clip/50d7695c-e676-45f3-8945-5bdd7ba0263a
https://www.yarn.co/yarn-clip/69ca372b-024b-4c36-8ecb-a6a5487738f4
Regarding your last question - As an alternative to the ban, the federal government could have engaged in a more interactive process with these companies to identify security and policy changes. Like requiring TikTok to store all of their user data domestically and provide more transparency into how user personal and proprietary information is protected.
ReplyDeleteAnother alternative would have been for the federal government to file a lawsuit against the companies for “reportedly censoring content” and “disinformation campaigns.” Both claims that the President made in his Executive order as justification for the ban. Wouldn’t those claims have satisfied the case or controversy requirement for bringing the claims to court?
Those are good suggestions Vicky. In your first suggestion, requiring companies to identify security and policy changes, it seems that these would probably be in place as part of corporate policy. So sharing them with the government would be fairly easy.
DeleteI have mixed feelings about this. I agree that a law could be passed to protect national security, but if there is something going on that we are not aware of, there may not be time for the lengthy process of creating a new law.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of TikTok, that ban was stopped when appropriate security measures were put in place with Oracle taking on the company. I wonder if the executive order was partly a political move to get security measures put in place without having the lengthy process of a law suit or creating a new law.
Really good point. If the concerns can be resolved with Oracle owning the company why could it not have been done with the existing owner by requiring the structure of stored data to be enforced? Is it because the current company was subject to the the Chinese data sharing laws and Oracle is not?
DeleteAs a comparison, If I said T-Mobile is no longer allowed to make calls to China but there is still Version and AT&T. Is your freedom of speech limited?
ReplyDeleteYes, if you are locked into a contract with T-Mobile and can't afford to pay the fees to terminate so that you can enter a contract with Verizon or AT&T there is a limitation on your freedom of speech.
Good Point
ReplyDeleteI thought I had posted my comment but it did not post, but I also thought about this topic of Tik Tok because they are trying to figure out if they really can ban Tik Tok because it will protect an American's privacy rights. Anyway, that isn't the questions but I have read a few articles on this topic of Tik Tok, and I don't even use the app. It is just interesting to see what happens to this app on both sides. But it there a national security situation where we could compromise some of our rights to use Tik Tok, I mean there could be but aren't there other sites or phone details that could also compromise our privacy? I mean there are multiple ways to get one's information, but I think that the ban would not be something we should do. But it could be a political move.
ReplyDelete