WASHINGTON—President Trump yesterday signed an executive order instructing his attorney general not to enforce the federal TikTok ban for 75 days to provide his administration “an opportunity to determine the appropriate course of action.” The ban had already taken effect on Sunday after the Supreme Court upheld the law late last week.

The following can be attributed to Ramya Krishnan, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute:

“President Trump’s executive order doesn’t save TikTok. It just makes the app entirely dependent on his whims and consolidates his power over the digital public sphere. This isn’t a win for free speech and it certainly isn’t a win for the rule of law. Congress’s TikTok ban is terrible policy, but overriding a duly enacted law by executive fiat sets a dangerous and anti-democratic precedent.”

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, along with Free Press and PEN America, filed an amicus brief in the case, arguing that the ban unjustifiably restricts Americans from accessing ideas, information, and media from abroad in violation of the First Amendment. Read the amicus brief here.

For more on the executive order, read the Knight Institute’s Xiangnong (George) Wang’s commentary in today’s Just Security, “President Trump’s Attempt to ‘Save’ TikTok is a Power-Grab that Subverts Free Speech” here.

For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, [email protected].