Alan Rosenstein, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, explained to WIRED that this is a valid legal strategy, because the First Amendment allows laws to be deemed unconstitutional. A law is unconstitutional if it depends on solving a specific problem.” It is a very limited method and the law remains unresolved. ”
But the judge did not seem to accept that argument. “It’s a pretty blind view that the law only singles out one company,” Justice Douglas Ginsburg said during the hearing. “This describes a category of companies that are owned or controlled by hostile forces, have been in negotiations with some companies for two years, held countless public hearings, and held meeting after meeting. (and) efforts to reach an agreement on a national security agreement have failed.
The Justice Department also responded to TikTok’s questions about the exemption clause, saying in court briefs that if the provision is found to be problematic, it would require the company exemption clause to be changed rather than invalidating the entire law. Said that simply deleting it is the correct solution.
In recent years, data security concerns have become one of the major points of friction in US and Chinese technology policy. While the Chinese government has passed laws regulating cross-border data transfers, the U.S. government has taken a more piecemeal approach, examining the risks posed by products such as TikTok and Chinese-made smart cars.
Some experts and lawmakers have advocated for a more comprehensive legal framework to resolve this issue. “Not only does this bill fail to solve the problem, it puts at risk the free speech and livelihoods of the 170 million Americans who use the app. Regardless, we should pass legislation that prevents apps from collecting and transmitting data and criminalizes foreign interference with social media algorithms,” Congressman Ro Khanna said in an emailed statement. Mr. Khanna voted against the PAFACA bill.
For now, Chinese e-commerce sites like Shein and Temu are subject to far less data security oversight than TikTok. But TikTok’s legal strategy of highlighting other Chinese companies’ alleged data security risks will no doubt put more pressure on them. If TikTok fails its legal challenges and is banned from operating in the United States unless it is sold, it’s not hard to imagine that lawmakers could turn their attention to other prominent Chinese tech companies.
“There may be some kind of legal strategy behind this, but in terms of how the public currently perceives TikTok, TikTok has voluntarily chosen not to associate itself with Teem and Shayne. “It’s invalidating a lot of the narrative work that we’ve been trying to do,” says Ivy Yang, founder of Wavelet Strategy, a strategic PR consulting firm who previously worked in Alibaba’s PR department. .
By comparing TikTok’s data security concerns to those of Shein and Temu, the company essentially labeled itself among the many Chinese companies considered to pose a security risk.
So far, Mr. Shein and Mr. Tem have not made any statements regarding the PAFACA bill and its potential impact on their businesses. A Shein spokesperson responded in an emailed statement: “SHEIN has robust data security policies and practices that align with industry standards and is committed to collecting and using only the minimum amount of data necessary to fulfill orders. of customer data within Microsoft’s US-based Azure cloud-based solution and AWS’ US-based cloud-based solution.” Temu and TikTok did not respond to requests for comment.
