David Lieber
@davidlieber.bsky.social
Working on privacy issues for TikTok’s public policy team. Puttshack Bank Hall of Fame. Posts are my own foolish and sophomoric musings.
"If TikTok’s logic stands, it could usher in an era of unchecked government suppression of speech. So long as the government proffers a sufficient content-neutral purpose, TikTok instructs that courts may discount content-based motives."
TikTok Inc. v. Garland - Harvard Law Review
Since it burst into American public consciousness in 2018, TikTok has amassed roughly 170 million monthly U.S. users and more than one billion worldwide...
harvardlawreview.org
November 13, 2025 at 6:38 PM
"If TikTok’s logic stands, it could usher in an era of unchecked government suppression of speech. So long as the government proffers a sufficient content-neutral purpose, TikTok instructs that courts may discount content-based motives."
Reposted by David Lieber
This is such a disappointing story from NYT (go figure). Not too long ago, the same paper was arguing in front of the Supreme Court for permission to publish the Pentagon Papers.
Now they're begging the President to ban a dance app that once offended him.
archive.is/2025.08.08-1...
Now they're begging the President to ban a dance app that once offended him.
archive.is/2025.08.08-1...
archive.is
August 8, 2025 at 5:34 PM
This is such a disappointing story from NYT (go figure). Not too long ago, the same paper was arguing in front of the Supreme Court for permission to publish the Pentagon Papers.
Now they're begging the President to ban a dance app that once offended him.
archive.is/2025.08.08-1...
Now they're begging the President to ban a dance app that once offended him.
archive.is/2025.08.08-1...
We are hiring a Privacy Counsel for TikTok's Americas Public Policy team! This is a great opportunity to work on a unique set of privacy issues at a pivotal moment for TikTok.
lnkd.in/eYQgKxzb
lnkd.in/eYQgKxzb
Privacy Counsel, Americas Public Policy
View our opening for Privacy Counsel, Americas Public Policy and learn more about what it's like to work at TikTok!
lnkd.in
July 17, 2025 at 5:08 PM
We are hiring a Privacy Counsel for TikTok's Americas Public Policy team! This is a great opportunity to work on a unique set of privacy issues at a pivotal moment for TikTok.
lnkd.in/eYQgKxzb
lnkd.in/eYQgKxzb
Reposted by David Lieber
NEW: The little-known consulting firms that tell colleges what kind of aid and discounts to offer to each individual student. Whenever I explain this to people out loud, their jaws hit the floor. I finally wrote it down. Happy May 1 decision day to all who celebrate! www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/b...
Who Decides How Much You Pay for College? Here’s How Tuition Costs Are Set. (Gift Article)
Schools turn to little-known consultants, owned by private equity firms, to find applicants and calculate scholarships. Here’s how that affects the price you pay.
www.nytimes.com
May 1, 2025 at 4:18 PM
NEW: The little-known consulting firms that tell colleges what kind of aid and discounts to offer to each individual student. Whenever I explain this to people out loud, their jaws hit the floor. I finally wrote it down. Happy May 1 decision day to all who celebrate! www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/b...
Reposted by David Lieber
We’re going to annex Canada and invade Greenland but we can’t request return of an innocent man from El Salvador.
April 1, 2025 at 3:26 PM
We’re going to annex Canada and invade Greenland but we can’t request return of an innocent man from El Salvador.
Reposted by David Lieber
NEW: After the California fires, we wanted to know this: How can people shop for a climate-safe home? Turns out there were more than 65 questions nested under that first one. @tarasiegelbernard.bsky.social and I got to work on all of them, and here's the result. nyti.ms/3DREtXd
How to Shop for a Home That Won’t Be Upended by Climate Change (Gift Article)
Deciding where to live has always been a high-stakes financial decision, but a changing climate makes it even more critical. This guide will get you started.
nyti.ms
March 19, 2025 at 6:23 PM
NEW: After the California fires, we wanted to know this: How can people shop for a climate-safe home? Turns out there were more than 65 questions nested under that first one. @tarasiegelbernard.bsky.social and I got to work on all of them, and here's the result. nyti.ms/3DREtXd
Reposted by David Lieber
The government should address data privacy concerns without nationalizing media companies. This solution to the TikTok problem would be far worse than the disease.
Trump says that TikTok might be put into the as-of-yet-uncreated US sovereign wealth fund
February 3, 2025 at 9:47 PM
The government should address data privacy concerns without nationalizing media companies. This solution to the TikTok problem would be far worse than the disease.
Reposted by David Lieber
The other countries that ban TikTok: Afghanistan, India, Iran, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, North Korea, Senegal, Somalia, Uzbekistan, and of course China.
January 19, 2025 at 12:41 PM
The other countries that ban TikTok: Afghanistan, India, Iran, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, North Korea, Senegal, Somalia, Uzbekistan, and of course China.
Reposted by David Lieber
This TikTok ban eve, worth remembering how much the Biden administration declassified on foreign bad actors. Russia's plans on Ukraine, RT funding conservative influencers, Chinese/IR/NK hacking ops. Makes it even more striking it never gave evidence of TikTok being a PII suck or propaganda machine.
January 19, 2025 at 12:54 AM
This TikTok ban eve, worth remembering how much the Biden administration declassified on foreign bad actors. Russia's plans on Ukraine, RT funding conservative influencers, Chinese/IR/NK hacking ops. Makes it even more striking it never gave evidence of TikTok being a PII suck or propaganda machine.
Reposted by David Lieber
First take on the SCOTUS TikTok ban (combined with Biden saying "meh, now that we got what we fought for, we won't use it). A dark day for internet freedom.
www.techdirt.com/2025/01/17/s...
www.techdirt.com/2025/01/17/s...
SCOTUS: TikTok’s China Connection Is So Scary & Urgent, We Can Ban An Entire App. Biden Admin: Just Kidding, We Won’t Enforce It
It seemed pretty obvious from the way the Supreme Court’s oral arguments went regarding the TikTok ban that this would be the outcome: a 9-0 per curiam decision saying “eh, it’s fine to ban TikTok.…
www.techdirt.com
January 17, 2025 at 7:30 PM
First take on the SCOTUS TikTok ban (combined with Biden saying "meh, now that we got what we fought for, we won't use it). A dark day for internet freedom.
www.techdirt.com/2025/01/17/s...
www.techdirt.com/2025/01/17/s...
Reposted by David Lieber
TikTok’s future will turn on politics, not on today’s ruling, but by upholding the ban, the Court has markedly expanded the government’s power to censor in the name of national security. Its implications for TikTok may be limited, but the ruling creates a lot of space for other repressive policies.
January 17, 2025 at 3:27 PM
TikTok’s future will turn on politics, not on today’s ruling, but by upholding the ban, the Court has markedly expanded the government’s power to censor in the name of national security. Its implications for TikTok may be limited, but the ruling creates a lot of space for other repressive policies.
Reposted by David Lieber
Better idea: pass a comprehensive data privacy bill that applies across the board... and maybe *DON'T* mimic Chinese authoritarianism by creating a "Great Firewall" of apps that aren't allowed to operate here.
You can actually fix things AND not abuse the 1st Amendment in one shot!
You can actually fix things AND not abuse the 1st Amendment in one shot!
I’m concerned that Americans are flocking to a number of adversary-owned social media platforms. We still need a comprehensive and risk-based approach to assessing and mitigating the risks of foreign-owned apps.
January 15, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Better idea: pass a comprehensive data privacy bill that applies across the board... and maybe *DON'T* mimic Chinese authoritarianism by creating a "Great Firewall" of apps that aren't allowed to operate here.
You can actually fix things AND not abuse the 1st Amendment in one shot!
You can actually fix things AND not abuse the 1st Amendment in one shot!
Reposted by David Lieber
It took us a few thousand words in our amicus brief in the TikTok case to say what this individual said in less than a minute in ... you guessed it ... a TikTok video.
(Here's our brief, for reference: knightcolumbia.org/documents/5c...)
(Here's our brief, for reference: knightcolumbia.org/documents/5c...)
i don’t think that people who aren’t on tiktok have a good appreciation for just how much the impending ban has the potential to radicalize an entire generation against the united states and the concept of american liberalism writ large
January 14, 2025 at 7:50 PM
It took us a few thousand words in our amicus brief in the TikTok case to say what this individual said in less than a minute in ... you guessed it ... a TikTok video.
(Here's our brief, for reference: knightcolumbia.org/documents/5c...)
(Here's our brief, for reference: knightcolumbia.org/documents/5c...)
The tick-tock of the clock is painful…
Can't imagine the youth will be too bummed about tik tok being banned when they can still read the blue sky posts of late nineties alternative rock band eve6
January 11, 2025 at 8:41 AM
The tick-tock of the clock is painful…
Reposted by David Lieber
It's not true that SCOTUS always defers to the government in national security cases, as @adamliptak.bsky.social notes. Pentagon Papers was a national security case. So was Lamont. Also: the celebrated Homes and Brandeis dissents/concurrences were in national security cases. /1
TikTok Case Before Supreme Court Pits National Security Against Free Speech
The court, which hears arguments on Friday in a challenge to a law banning the app, has issued varying rulings when those two interests clashed.
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2025 at 2:13 PM
It's not true that SCOTUS always defers to the government in national security cases, as @adamliptak.bsky.social notes. Pentagon Papers was a national security case. So was Lamont. Also: the celebrated Homes and Brandeis dissents/concurrences were in national security cases. /1
Reposted by David Lieber
In the Wall Street Journal, @mchangama.bsky.social and I explain why a TikTok ban would violate America’s free speech tradition. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Essay | Banning TikTok Would Violate America’s Free Speech Tradition
It’s up to the Supreme Court whether the U.S. will join China, Afghanistan and other authoritarian countries that have barred their citizens from using the popular social media app.
www.wsj.com
January 2, 2025 at 5:09 PM
In the Wall Street Journal, @mchangama.bsky.social and I explain why a TikTok ban would violate America’s free speech tradition. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by David Lieber
I wrote about the TikTok case and what, exactly, the government thinks we should be so afraid of.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Government’s Disturbing Rationale for Banning TikTok
Vague national-security concerns don’t justify shutting down the popular Chinese-owned app.
www.theatlantic.com
December 12, 2024 at 1:49 PM
I wrote about the TikTok case and what, exactly, the government thinks we should be so afraid of.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by David Lieber
I'm delighted to be in such great [email protected]; Erwin Chemerinsky; @genevievelakier.bsky.social and @jameeljaffer.bsky.social --all critiquing the D.C. Circuit's opinion.
December 12, 2024 at 2:17 PM
I'm delighted to be in such great [email protected]; Erwin Chemerinsky; @genevievelakier.bsky.social and @jameeljaffer.bsky.social --all critiquing the D.C. Circuit's opinion.
Reposted by David Lieber
I have a @washingtonpost op-ed with @dispositive on the TikTok ban--which explicitly targeted speech from the start. Gift link: wapo.st/4g9JqbN
Opinion | TikTok’s case is a stunning swing toward paternalism
Case against TikTok is an affront to free speech.
wapo.st
December 12, 2024 at 11:54 AM
I have a @washingtonpost op-ed with @dispositive on the TikTok ban--which explicitly targeted speech from the start. Gift link: wapo.st/4g9JqbN
Reposted by David Lieber
@jameeljaffer.bsky.social and I made a similar argument in a piece we published today in the NYT www.nytimes.com/2024/12/10/o...
Opinion | The TikTok Ruling Is a Blow for the First Amendment and Free Speech
The First Amendment should not be used to cut Americans’ access to TikTok, and the Supreme Court should step in.
www.nytimes.com
December 10, 2024 at 7:58 PM
@jameeljaffer.bsky.social and I made a similar argument in a piece we published today in the NYT www.nytimes.com/2024/12/10/o...
Reposted by David Lieber
Today I learned that the government shutting down a speech platform that 150 million Americans use is not a First Amendment violation because national security.
December 6, 2024 at 4:24 PM
Today I learned that the government shutting down a speech platform that 150 million Americans use is not a First Amendment violation because national security.
Reposted by David Lieber
This is a deeply misguided ruling that reads important First Amendment precedents too narrowly and gives the government sweeping power to restrict Americans’ access to information, ideas, and media from abroad. I hope the DC Circuit's ruling won't be the last word--and I doubt it will be.
December 6, 2024 at 3:45 PM
This is a deeply misguided ruling that reads important First Amendment precedents too narrowly and gives the government sweeping power to restrict Americans’ access to information, ideas, and media from abroad. I hope the DC Circuit's ruling won't be the last word--and I doubt it will be.