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The
Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed
suit in July arguing that Texas’ state government TikTok ban "is
preventing or seriously impeding faculty from pursuing research
that relates to TikTok."
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman rejected the suit, saying the
Texas restriction was motivated by data protection concerns and
calling "a reasonable restriction on access to TikTok in light
of Texas’s concerns."
"Public university faculty - and all public employees - are free
to use TikTok on their personal devices (as long as such devices
are not used to access state networks)," he wrote.
Pitman contrasted the ban to Montana that sought to ban all
TikTok use in the state starting Jan. 1 but was blocked by
another U.S. judge last month, whole ruled the state ban
"violates the Constitution in more ways than one" and "oversteps
state power."
TikTok sued Montana in May, seeking to block the U.S. state ban
on several grounds, arguing it violates the First Amendment free
speech rights of the company and users.
More than 30 states and U.S. federal agencies including the
White House, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland
Security, and the State Department have banned TikTok from
government devices.
The TikTok ban on federal devices mandated by Congress in
December 2022 does not apply if there are national security, law
enforcement or security research activities.
TikTok is owned by China-based ByteDance, the world's most
valuable start-up. Numerous countries have raised concerns over
its proximity to the Chinese government and hold over user data
across the world.
TikTok, which has more than 150 million users in the United
States, denies it improperly uses U.S. data.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and
Lincoln Feast)
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