Freedom of speech is dead. In fact, freedom of speech is limited almost everywhere. You can’t say George Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words” on TV (or radio). That is freedom of speech. Most websites have user terms of service which limit what you can say. That is infringing on your freedom of speech. Social media sites are notorious for limiting posts that “others might find harmful.” This is your freedom of speech out the window. Online outlets also can limit who sees your post. This is silencing your speech.
TikTok claims banning them is infringing on freedom of speech, yet they fail to recognize they already limit this very statute. They are not alone in this. Facebook won’t let you call the October 7th terrorist attacks in Israel a “massacre”. Sites like YouTube, X, Bluesky, Pintrest, and Reddit all have “code of conduct” agreements for users, which most of us have not read. However, if you read those “terms and agreements”, you’ll soon see how you are limited. TikTok is no different your speech is limited in some way shape or form.
Armed with this in mind, the TikTok ban is actually about control of algorithms. The company claims the legislation passed by the United States is infringing on users’ freedom of speech. This is wrong. TikTok users don’t have freedom of speech. Their own terms and agreements say they have the right to ban you if you post, “material that, in the sole judgment of TikTok, is objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using the Services, or which may expose TikTok, the Services or its users to any harm or liability of any type.”
Meaning they determine if you are free to say “China Sucks” on TikTok. (Full disclosure I don’t Tik or Tok, but friends on the left and right say they have never seen an anti-China post.)
Social media algorithms are not speech. They are manipulative tools being used to keep you scrolling and addicted to your phone/apps. ByteDance’s claims its freedom of speech is being infringed upon by banning TikTok has clearly never had a post censored on social media or followed any other country’s social media regulations before. Just like any other business that operates in the United States, you must follow our country’s “terms and services” agreement. Don’t pay taxes? You go to jail. Caught insider trading? You go to jail (except if you are in Congress). Have you exploited your customers? You pay a fine, go to jail, or both.
To put it simply, algorithms exploit their users. There is no freedom with algorithms (this goes across all social media). The internet and algorithms do not set you free. They are being used to label you and put you into a state of doom/zombie scrolling. These algorithms can be and have been manipulated by the left, right, and bad actors across the world.
The two truest quotes from Revenge of the Nerds are: “Those nerds are a threat to our way of life” and “No one is really going to be free until nerd persecution ends.” I say this being a full-fledged nerd who loves Star Wars, comic books, and Magic the Gathering. However, I have no ill intentions in mind for the internet, others do.
The nerds who are controlling algorithms are controlling the narrative. With TikTok, those nerds who are making algorithms have the Chinese Communist Party in mind. Sure the outlet may not be owned by China (technically) but we are seeing the direct effects of allowing TikTok into our world with Gen Z.
Yes, TikTok needs to be banned. This is not a freedom of speech issue, as your speech on all social media platforms is limited in some way, shape, or form. This is an issue of allowing our foreign adversaries to manipulate what we see. With their flaws Facebook, X, and Bluesky were all made in America by Americans. We may not always agree politically, but no other country has come close to being able to connect people (or filter bubble them) like we do, until TikTok.
Banning TikTok would, pure and simple, end the online power struggle the United States is facing. Today’s battlegrounds are becoming more of a theater of the mind and less of a theater of the physical world. Banning TikTok is not a freedom of speech issue. It would end the mental battleground we currently find ourselves in.
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Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
