Jane Bambauer Comments on Upcoming Supreme Court Review of Possible TikTok Ban in the U.S.

Jane Bambauer, Brechner Eminent Scholar and director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, is quoted in “Public Safety or Free Speech? What’s at Stake in the TikTok Case” published in The Christian Science Monitor on Jan. 9.

The article focuses on the popular social media app TikTok which some consider a serious threat to national security. In 2024, Congress passed a law that could result in TikTok being banned from the U.S. on Jan. 19. The Supreme Court on Jan. 9 will hear oral arguments on the platform and try to balance protecting the public with protecting civil liberties.

According to Bambauer, “There are other social media platforms, and the specificities of the TikTok case could allow the court to ‘make this a specific-to-China kind of issue.’ That would preserve the rest of the court’s First Amendment jurisprudence.”

She adds, “When we’re not sure, we allow people who are voluntarily receiving information to keep receiving information, even when it’s from a hostile government. That’s the gamble the open society takes.”

Posted: January 9, 2025
Category: College News, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project News
Tagged as: Jane Bambauer, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project, TikTok