South Carolina AG joins 21-state coalition backing TikTok ban

ABC Team,

(FILE) Attorney General Alan Wilson scag.gov courtesy

(FILE) Attorney General Alan Wilson

 

 

 

(WCIV) — A coalition of state attorneys general is asking the US Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. to uphold a controversial ban on the popular social media app TikTok.

TikTok filed an appeal on Dec. 16 to ask the US Supreme Court to step in on an emergency basis to block the law that would see the app banned in the United States come Jan. 19, 2025.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s voice was added to the coalition calling for the ban to be upheld Monday, joining 21 other attorneys general from states led by Montana’s Austin Knudsen and Virginia’s Jason Miyares.

Wilson called TikTok a “tool of the Chinese Communist Party” and said the app’s operation in the US poses a “serious threat to national security.”

Wilson sued TikTok in October for what he alleged were breaches of state consumer protection laws by deploying a business model designed to be addictive and maximize time in the app. These concerns have not been addressed by the coalition seeking to have the ban upheld in January.

“TikTok is a valuable tool for conducting corporate and international espionage,” said Wilson. “It may allow the Chinese Communist Party to track the real-time locations of public officials, journalists, and other individuals adverse to the Chinese Communist Party’s interests.”

Advocates for TikTok remaining available for US social media consumers have argued the ban is an infringement on the first amendment rights of the app’s users. A June lawsuit filed by the Liberty Justice Center on behalf of BASED Politics Inc. argued that the ban violates the first amendment because it bans all speech on TikTok and that national security considerations justifying the ban do not justify infringing on rights to free speech. The Supreme Court hears oral arguments in that case beginning Jan. 10.

AG Wilson said the ban does not violate free speech because it does not target activities like speech or expression, though he stated he and the coalition were “concerned the app promotes dangerous content to minors as well.”

The full brief can be read here.

Wilson’s fellow Republican and US Representative Nancy Mace opposed the bill targeting TikTok in March, saying that the federal government banning the app was “one step closer to socialism.” She called upon her colleagues in Congress to “pursue measured approaches that safeguard liberties while addressing legitimate security concerns.”

 

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