First Amendment lawyers challenge Thursday a Texas ban on TikTok on devices and networks that violates the constitution by restricting research and teaching at public universities claimed to have.
The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed the lawsuit on behalf of a group called the Coalition of Independent Technology Research. Its members include professors at the University of Texas, who claim their research has been compromised by blocking access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi and on campus. issued computer.
The lawsuit provides a glimpse into the real-world impact of a TikTok-targeted ban and the growing legal backlash that comes with it. Universities in more than 20 states have banned TikTok in some form, according to a new rule from lawmakers that says TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is a national security threat.
The Knight First Amendment Institute, which is working on free speech lawsuits for free, is seeking exemption from the ban on college teachers in Texas and other states as well.
“The Supreme Court has made academic freedom a special First Amendment concern,” said Ramya Krishnan, an attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute. “With so many Americans using TikTok, it is important that researchers can study the impact the platform is having on public discourse and society more generally.”
A representative for Mr. Abbott, who announced the ban in December, did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Jacqueline Vickery, an associate professor and digital media scientist at the University of North Texas, “cancel research projects, change research questions, change teaching methods, and discontinue teaching materials” for the following reasons: said he was forced to Ban.
Vickery has collected and analyzed a large number of TikTok videos for work focused on how young people use digital and social media for informal learning and activities. but could no longer do so on university-owned computers or social activities. Internet network, according to the lawsuit. Based on her use of email and other apps at the university in Texas, the ban in Texas appears to extend to her personal cell phone, according to the complaint.
In an interview, Vickery said he had been unable to access TikTok since the university returned from winter break, even with an assignment asking students to read the site’s privacy policy. She said the ban’s impact on her teaching and research was “extremely difficult,” especially since she doesn’t have a personal laptop.
“This is not just an app that young people use for fun, there is a lot of research done and a lot of education done through this site and through the site,” Vickery said. “The ban doesn’t seem to really take into account the effects of trickle down.”
Vickery is part of the Independent Technology Research Coalition, a group of academics, civil society researchers and journalists formed last year to promote “the right to study the impact of technology on society.”
The question of whether the TikTok ban violates free speech rights has also been raised in two lawsuits in Montana, both of which are funded by the company. The state’s first TikTok ban will go into effect on January 1. The company is not involved in the Texas lawsuit.
