Prof. Alan Rozenshtein Quoted in the New York Times About the Law that Bans TikTok in the U.S.

Prof. Alan Rozenshtein was quoted in the New York Times about a possible TikTok Ban in the U.S. TikTok sued to block the law, passed in April, that required its parent, ByteDance, to either sell the video app by Jan. 19, 2025, to a non-Chinese owner or face a ban due to security concerns. Federal judges are hearing arguments from the two sides today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The lawsuit contends that the First Amendment protects the right of Americans to speak and convene on the app and that the government can’t stop users from expressing ideas through the editor and publisher of their choice. It has also said that changes to TikTok’s ownership could affect its content policies and shape what users are able to share on the platform. The government is worried that the app’s Chinese ownership gives Beijing too much access to U.S. users’ sensitive data, or to control the messages shared on the platform. Prof Rozenshtein said it was “slightly more likely than not” that TikTok would face a ban next spring,