Prof. Alan Rozenshtein Quoted in New York Times Editorial About Trump Not Enforcing Law Banning TikTok

Professor Alan Rozenshtein was quoted in a New York Times editorial about Donald Trump’s lack of enforcement of the law banning TikTok. By large margins, the U.S. Congress passed the law last year that said parent company ByteDance must sell the video app or be shut down due to national security interests. By Trump not following the law and the Congress doing nothing in response, the editorial said, “ByteDance continues to amass personal data about Americans and shape national discourse through its secretive algorithm for promoting videos.” The lack of enforcement “is also a gift to the world’s most powerful authoritarian government.” In addition, the administration now has leverage over the tech companies that host TikTok on app stores or servers, including Google, Apple and Oracle. Under the law, the Justice Department can fine companies that keep TikTok on U.S. app stores and servers. After Trump delayed the ban, the department promised that it would not penalize the companies for disobeying the law, but that promise is not binding.  Prof. Rozenshtein said that these these companies have reason to want to remain in the administration’s good graces. He said, “Corporations operate under a sword of Damocles in every interaction with the White House.”