The U.S. Government’s Astonishing Constitutional Claims on TikTok ⇥ lawfaremedia.org

Alan Z. Rozenshtein, Lawfare:

Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) release, we now have the letters that Attorney General Pam Bondi sent to major tech companies like Apple, Google, and Oracle regarding their continued business with TikTok. These letters provide a legal rationale (if it can be called that) for the Trump administration’s commitment not to enforce the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACAA), the divestment-or-ban law that the Supreme Court upheld in January. The letters make two central claims, both of which are astonishing in their breadth and implications for executive power.

TikTok is far from the most pressing governance issue of the United States today, but this reasoning should be alarming to anyone paying close attention. I also find the compliance of tech companies in this case far more concerning than in, say, the Gulf of America situation. At least there, they could point to updates made to official documentation. In continuing to provide access to TikTok despite its illegality, however, it is because of a mix of public pressure, group compliance — nobody wants to be the one company refusing to permit TikTok — and cozying up to a kingly president.