“Corporations may not hide behind flimsy First Amendment arguments to avoid regulation carte blanche.”

WASHINGTON – Open Markets Institute senior legal analyst Daniel Hanley released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a law that requires ByteDance to divest TikTok in the US:

“In choosing to uphold the divestiture of TikTok in the United States, the Supreme Court reaffirms an important precedent that Congress maintains fundamental legislative authority to regulate corporations, their business structures, and the means used to compete in the marketplace. In other words, corporations may not hide behind flimsy First Amendment arguments in order to avoid regulation carte blanche.

That said, forcing TikTok to divest from ByteDance, its parent company, is insufficient to solve the profound threats that oligarch-controlled communications platforms present to the American peoples’ democracy and liberty. Rather than solely target platforms controlled by foreign adversaries, Congress must get serious about ending business models dependent on prolific surveillance and psychological manipulation that facilitate illegal discrimination, invade our right to privacy, and spread disinformation and discord.”

Open Markets has consistently urged Congress to take a holistic approach to regulating harmful platform business models, including by weighing in when the U.S. House and Senate voted in favor of TikTok’s divestiture.