TikTok Goes the Clock

One Hour until the dread January 20th. 23 hours into the strange TikTok banned January 19th. Trump says he will delay the law banning TikTok by executive order. Can he do that???? Don’t ask me. I’m not a lawyer. However, I do have a first amendment right to play a lawyer on the web. Do not pay attention to anything I write (if you ever do).

A law trumps an executive order (which is supposed to explain how to faithfully execute laws). Trump clearly can’t modify a law by executive order. He can order all of his subordinates to delay enforcement of the law — generally there is no obligation to enforce laws in the USA (in Italy there is).

However I think that private citizens can sue TikTok owner BytDance and TikTok enabling corporations. They would have to have standing. Say parents would have to argue taht access to this social medium harmed their child. Tat does not seem to be an assertion plainly false enough to deprive them of standing (in fact I think it is generally considered to be plainly true in many cases).

In general social media companies and internet companies in general are protected from such suits in two ways. One if the first amendment which generally protects communication which might upset or distress someone. The other is the internet decency act which declares that platforms which allow the public access are not the authors, editors or publishers of the content (even if they edit as the word is ordinarily used by deleting content).

I don’t think either can possibly protect the onwer (or enablers) of an explictly banned app. The Supreme Court has just declared the ban to be constitutional — so much for first amendment protection. The TikTok banning act was signed into law long after the internet decency act — if they conflict the internet decency act has been partially repealed (I don’t think an old law can trump a new law).

I think the law matters even if executive branch employees ignore it. Of course i am assuming that the basic principle of the rule of law is still relevant.

Again I am not a lawyer and have no idea what I am typing about