TikTok has asked for an injunction so the Supreme Court or the incoming Trump administration may consider its argument that forcing its ownership sale violates the First Amendment. Given what’s at stake, it only seems appropriate that it’s granted. For users and content creators of this platform, what is key to be aware of is just how much ownership matters. For evidence of this, one need not look further than the New England Patriots.
As the story goes, in the year 2000, a then-unassuming Tom Brady was drafted in the sixth round by the Patriots with the 199th overall pick. This meant he was only a hop and a skip away from not making the NFL at all. To make his historic NFL career even more improbable, the Patriots had just signed its current quarterback, Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowler Drew Bledsoe, to a massive contract — and Brady was to start the season as the fourth-string quarterback.
When Brady went to introduce himself to Patriots owner Robert Kraft for the first time, Kraft responded, “I know who you are, you are Tom Brady, you are our sixth-round draft pick from Michigan.” Brady then told him, “you’ll never regret picking me,” and he certainly kept his word.
This anecdote reveals how, contrary to the perception of some that business owners are aloof or out of touch, counting money all day, Robert Kraft was keenly aware of the personnel decisions that were being made in his organization — even at the lowest levels of the depth chart.
Kraft deserves further credit for having decided to hire Bill Belichick, who made the selection in the first place. Six Brady-led Super Bowls later illustrate the point — ownership matters. If you doubt this, consider starting a new NFL team with former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder.
The misfortune here is this is tantamount to what Congress is attempting to do with TikTok. 170 million American users rely on this app for entertainment, to communicate with friends, or even as their occupation. Congress is now demanding the platform be forcibly removed from those who created it and handed over to what will be inherently remedial ownership. This is guaranteed considering both the genius of the thousands of engineers whose dedication successfully made it the app we know today – and the unlikelihood TikTok would ever part ways with its core algorithm in any sale as it is their most valuable intellectual property (should they continue elsewhere) as well as Chinese law.
If the sale is successfully forced, TikTok will quite literally be a shell of its former self. If you are a content creator who benefits from this platform, understand there is no telling how your feed will be prioritized once it is essentially rebuilt from scratch. Users will find their feed is less tailored to their individual interests.
For these reasons, this unprecedented ban must receive the thorough review from the Supreme Court and the Trump administration that it deserves. The idea that any politician can handpick a person or persons to better run TikTok is ridiculous.
