Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) faces a lawsuit for banning TikTok in state agencies and universities over its ties to China. The nature of the legal challenge is curious, considering who is bringing it forward.
The Coalition for Independent Technology Research, which includes “academics, journalists, civil society researchers, and community scientists,” accused Abbott of violating the First Amendment rights of university faculty. Taking TikTok away “imposes a profound burden on speech” by affecting teaching and scholars’ ability to conduct research on the app, the suit argues.
The same private entities formed the Virality Project, which used similar methods to help platforms censor skepticism of the COVID-19 vaccine. The researchers “formed strong ties with” President Joe Biden’s Office of the Surgeon General and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to take direction on what “anti-vaccine and vaccine hesitancy” content they should target. TikTok was among the companies involved in both the EIP and Virality Project.
Regardless of the merits of the TikTok lawsuit, the irony is astounding. The CITR alleges that Texas’s governor violated the right to free speech by preventing research projects involving TikTok. Two such projects that CITR members have conducted violate that same right in spirit if not in law.A CITR member organization called Meedan is also a select partner with the Global Disinformation Index, which has received funding from the State Department.
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