CDT Joins Amicus Brief as the Supreme Court Prepare to Review the Federal TikTok Ban
On December 23, 2024, the Center for Democracy & Technology joined an amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court, led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), supporting the First Amendment rights of TikTok users in the ongoing constitutional challenge to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, TikTok v. Garland.
In the brief, ACLU, EFF, CDT, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Progressive Policy Institute, Fight for the Future, and Public Knowledge argue that the law directly restricts users’ protected speech and association and imposes a prior restraint that will make it impossible for users to speak, access information, and associate through TikTok. The brief makes clear that national security interests do not diminish protections afforded by the First Amendment and that courts must impose the same rigorous standards to laws that restrict speech. It further argues that the D.C. Circuit misapplied strict scrutiny when it failed to significantly examine the government’s vague and non-specific national security justifications for enacting the statute. In light of the law’s sweeping ban on free expression, the coalition’s brief argues that the court should block implementation of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
