Unconstitutional TikTok ban would open the door to press censorship

Posted

The Pentagon Papers case famously established that, even in wartime, the government cannot prohibit speech by claiming a threat to national security. Justice Hugo Black explained that “the word 'security' is a broad, vague generality whose contours should not be invoked to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment.”

Good thing that’s settled. Or so we thought.

Fast forward 50-plus years and officials from both parties, with White House support, want to ban a whole social media platform, TikTok.

Read more from the Freedom of the Press Foundation