Prof. Alan Rozenshtein Authors Commentary in The Atlantic About the Pending TikTok Ban and the Government’s Ability to Regulate the Internet

Professor Alan Rozenshtein authored a commentary in The Atlantic about the pending TikTok ban. He wrote, “Many will read last week’s federal appeals-court opinion that could ban TikTok as a loss for the First Amendment, and in some ways it is. If TikTok disappears from the United States, some 170 million Americans will lose access to a platform central to their daily lives and creative expression. And the court’s deference to Congress and the executive branch’s national-security claims continues a pattern of courts weakening First Amendment protections whenever the government invokes national-security concerns. But the opinion need not be viewed solely through this lens. Significantly, the court rejected the usual framing of national security versus the First Amendment, and instead cast TikTok itself as the First Amendment villain. This approach could have long-term consequences for the government’s ability to regulate the internet.”