Trump’s Ban on TikTok Violates First Amendment by Eliminating Unique Platform for Political Speech, Activism of Millions of Users, EFF Tells Court

We filed a friend-of-the-court brief—primarily written by the First Amendment Clinic at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law—in support of a TikTok employee who is challenging President Donald Trump’s ban on TikTok and was seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO). The employee contends that Trump’s executive order infringes the Fifth Amendment rights of TikTok’s U.S.-based employees. Our brief, which is joined by two prominent TikTok users, urges the court to consider the First Amendment rights of millions of TikTok users when it evaluates the plaintiff’s claims.

Notwithstanding its simple premise, TikTok has grown to have an important influence in American political discourse and organizing. Unlike other platforms, users on TikTok do not need to “follow” other users to see what they post. TikTok thus uniquely allows its users to reach wide and diverse audiences. That’s why the two TikTok users who joined our brief use the platform. Lillith Ashworth, whose critiques of Democratic presidential candidates went viral last year, uses TikTok to talk about U.S. politics and geopolitics. The other user, Jynx, maintains an 18+ adult-only account, where they post content that centers on radical leftist liberation, feminism, and decolonial politics, as well as the labor rights of strippers.

Our brief argues that in evaluating the plaintiff’s claims, the court must consider the ban’s First Amendment implications. The Supreme Court has established that rights set forth in the Bill of Rights work together; as a result the plaintiff’s Fifth Amendment claims are enhanced by the First Amendment considerations. We say in our brief:

A ban on TikTok violates fundamental First Amendment principles by eliminating a specific type of speaking, the unique expression of a TikTok user communicating with others through that platform, without sufficient considerations for the users’ speech. Even though the order facially targets the platform, its censorial effects are felt most directly by the users, and thus their First Amendment rights must be considered in analyzing its legality.

EFF, the First Amendment Clinic, and the individual amici urge the court to adopt a higher standard of scrutiny when reviewing the plaintiff’s claims against the president. Not only are the plaintiff’s Fifth Amendment liberties at stake, but millions of TikTok users have First Amendment freedoms at stake. The Fifth Amendment and the First Amendment are each critical in securing life, liberty, and due process of law. When these amendments are examined separately, they each deserve careful analysis; but when the interests protected by these amendments come together, a court should apply an even higher standard of scrutiny.

The hearing on the TRO scheduled for tomorrow was canceled after the government promised the court that it did not intend to include the payment of wages and salaries within the executive order’s definition of prohibited transactions, thus addressing the plaintiff’s most urgent claims.