The Clock Keeps TikTok-ing
The Clock Keeps TikTok-ing
And more on the upcoming U.S. elections
I’m Scott Nover. Welcome back to Pressing, a newsletter about press freedom. If you haven’t yet subscribed, you can do so here and receive this letter in your inbox every Tuesday morning.
This is the 53rd issue of Pressing and it’s great to have you with me. Please send me feedback, thoughts, suggestions, and tips at sgnover@gmail.com.
The Clock Keeps TikTok-ing
In what I view as a crucial First Amendment case, the popular social media app TikTok won a significant reprieve this weekend.
On Sunday, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. granted a preliminary injunction against part of a Trump administration executive order, delaying a ban on new app downloads from going into effect at midnight Monday.
In reviewing the app download ban, which would’ve compelled Apple and Google to drop TikTok from their respective app marketplaces, the judge didn’t weigh in on the First Amendment free speech or Fifth Amendment due process claims. Rather, he found TikTok demonstrated "likelihood of success on the merits" of its claims that Trump "exceed the lawful bounds proscribed by IEEPA," an emergency economic powers law.
Last week, a federal judge in San Francisco granted a similar preliminary injunction on Trump’s ban of WeChat, a messaging app that’s one of the sole technologies connecting Americans to those in mainland China. In this case, the judge did weigh in on free speech claims, saying there were likely First Amendment violations for WeChat users who depend on the app.
Ultimately, the implications of the TikTok ruling are simple: Users can continue to download the app, and it affords ByteDance, the app’s owners, more time to complete a deal to spin the company off and abide by government orders.
As I’ve written before in this newsletter, open internet is a free speech issue. Surely data privacy and national security issues are crucial in our advanced society, but severe actions by governments to limit important communications technologies should be justified and allegations should be proven. Otherwise, we’ll end up with an internet where only companies favorable to the United States government are allowed to fully and freely operate.
A Note About Pressing
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Ahead of the Election
Since the U.S. elections are nearing, I think it’s important that we pay close attention to it. The very fact that President Donald Trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transition of power, should he lose, should raise alarm bells for every American. This is an issue foundational to our democratic republic. It’s also a huge story.
No one told that story better than The Atlantic’s Barton Gellman. In Gellman’s cover story, “The Election That Could Break America,” he explores the intricacies through which Trump refusing to concede could bring the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis. It’s a must-read for every journalist and citizen.
What else is going on in Trumpland ahead of the election?
Business Insider: Press freedom advocates are slamming Trump for glorifying violence against reporters (Sarah Al-Arshani)
The New York Times: Trump Turns Attack on MSNBC Journalist Into Rally Fodder (Katie Robertson)
The New York Times: What’s the Plan if Trump Tweets That He’s Won Re-election? (Editorial Board)
The New York Times: Trump Wants to Discredit the Election. This Nerd Could Stop Him. (Ben Smith)
The Washington Post: Voters need an urgent update on mail-in ballots. The media should help. (Brian Klaas)
Across the Country
CNN: State Department revoked award for journalist over social media posts critical of Trump and lied about it, watchdog finds (Jennifer Hansler)
Louisville Courier Journal: Daily Caller reporters arrested covering Louisville protests after Breonna Taylor indictment (Mary Ramsey)
The Nation: Federal Agencies Tapped Protesters’ Phones in Portland (Ken Klippenstein)
The New York Times: D.A. Won’t Prosecute Reporter Arrested While Covering Shooting of Deputies (Concepción de León)
The New York Times: Karen McDougal’s defamation suit against Fox News is dismissed. (Michael M. Grynbaum and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs)
Politico: Engel subpoenas head of government's foreign broadcast media agencies (Kyle Cheney)
Around the World
The Guardian: Suspect in new Charlie Hebdo attack angered by republished cartoons, say Paris police (Kim Willsher)
HuffPost: Journalist Auqib Javeed Assaulted, Harassed By Kashmir Cyber Police For Article On Cyberbullying (Meryl Sebastian) … READ MORE in Reporters Without Borders
The New York Times: Saudi Writer’s Dream Comes to Life Two Years After His Killing (Ben Hubbard)
The New York Times: China’s ‘Big Cannon’ Blasted Xi. Now He’s Been Jailed for 18 Years. (Chris Buckley)
From the Opinion Pages
The Hill: First Amendment shines through during toughest of times (Gordon H. Smith)
The Los Angeles Times: An examination of The Times’ failures on race, our apology and a path forward (Editorial Board)
Miami Herald: My brother Austin asked me to go to Syria with him. Four months later, he was taken (Jacob Tice) … Hundreds of McClatchy newspapers and websites published this op-ed.
The Washington Post: Four years ago, Trump survived ‘Access Hollywood’ — and a media myth of indestructibility was born (Margaret Sullivan)
In Technology
The Atlantic: Reddit Squashed QAnon by Accident (Kaitlyn Tiffany)
Bloomberg Law: Justice Department Seeks to Limit Websites’ Legal Shield (Ben Brody and Chris Strohm)
The New Yorker: The TikTok Fiasco Reflects the Bankruptcy of Trump’s Foreign Policy (Evan Osnos)
Reuters: Thailand takes first legal action against Facebook, Twitter over content (Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Panarat Thepgumpanat)
Wired: YouTube’s Plot to Silence Conspiracy Theories (Clive Thompson)
Student Media
The Daily Gamecock (University of South Carolina): We need transparency as students, journalists (Editorial Board)
The New York Times: 43 Student Journalists Quit N.Y.U. Paper After Dispute With Adviser (Katie Robertson) … READ THEIR LETTER
The Washington Post: College newspaper reporters are the journalism heroes for the pandemic era (Elahe Izadi)
Thanks for reading Pressing today and always. Like what you read and want to support me? Consider donating via a paid subscription here. I’ll see you next Tuesday! Send tips and feedback to sgnover@gmail.com.