Texas TikTok Ban on Government Devices Upheld by District Judge
A federal judge in Texas has upheld the state’s ban on the use of TikTok on official devices and networks, including those of public universities. The ban is not a restraint on speech, according to the judge, and is a “reasonable restriction on access to TikTok in light of Texas’s concerns”. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University haled a lawsuit in July challenging the ban, arguing that it violated the First Amendment. The lawsuit was rejected by the judge, who noted that the ban only applies to state-owned devices and networks and that public university faculty, as well as state employees, maintain the right to use TikTok on their personal devices.
The decision comes after a federal judge blocked Montana’s blanket ban on TikTok in late November, just a month before it was set to take effect. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a lawsuit in July challenging the ban, arguing that it violated the First Amendment. The lawsuit was rejected by the judge, who noted that the ban only applies to state-owned devices and networks and that public university faculty, as well as state employees, maintain the right to use TikTok on their personal devices.
The ban is a “reasonable restriction on access to TikTok in light of Texas’s concerns,” according to the judge. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University had filed a lawsuit in July challenging the ban, arguing that it violated the First Amendment. The lawsuit was rejected by the judge, who noted that the ban only applies to state-owned devices and networks and that public university faculty, as well as state employees, maintain the right to use TikTok on their personal devices.
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The decision is a victory for Texas, which has expressed concerns about the popular social media platform, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, putt ng sensitive data in the hands of the Chinese government or being used as a tool to spread misinformation.
