our Case

BASED Politics, Inc. v. Garland

The Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit to challenge the recently enacted federal TikTok ban for violating its users’ First Amendment right to free speech.

About BASED Politics, Inc. v. Garland

On June 6, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit to challenge the recently enacted federal TikTok ban for violating its users’ First Amendment right to free speech. The Liberty Justice Center is representing BASED Politics Inc., a nonprofit that publishes educational content on free markets and individual liberty on a variety of platforms, including TikTok, where its accounts have tens of thousands of followers and its videos have millions of views.

In April 2024, President Biden signed the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, a statute that will effectively ban TikTok in the United States by making it illegal for U.S. users to “access, maintain, or update” any apps owned by “foreign adversaries”—defined to specifically include TikTok. The statute gives TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance Ltd., 270 days—until January 19, 2025—to sell the app to a new owner that the President does not deem a foreign adversary. Otherwise, the federal government will force U.S. hosting services and app stores to shut down all access to the app.

The Liberty Justice Center’s lawsuit argues that the Act violates the First Amendment because it bans all speech on TikTok—even though all, or nearly all, of that speech is constitutionally protected. The lawsuit also argues that lawmakers’ justifications for the ban—national security and protecting Americans from propaganda—cannot justify the infringement on users’ First Amendment rights, because there is no evidence that TikTok threatens national security or that a complete ban is necessary to address whatever threat it might pose. Furthermore, the lawsuit argues, the First Amendment does not allow the government to suppress “propaganda,” which is simply speech.

The Liberty Justice Center’s lawsuit asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to declare the Act unconstitutional and issue an order preventing the U.S. Attorney General from enforcing it.

“The federal government’s ban on TikTok is a ban on speech,” said Jacob Huebert, President of the Liberty Justice Center. “The ban would eliminate a forum where millions of Americans express and hear important ideas. It violates the First Amendment, and the court should strike it down.”

“There’s a popular—and wrong—stereotype that TikTok is just a platform for trending dances. The fact is that millions of Americans use TikTok to exercise their right to free speech, seriously discussing important political and social issues. The First Amendment protects that right, but the proposed TikTok ban would trample all over it in a misguided effort to protect Americans through sweeping acts of censorship,” said plaintiff Hannah Cox, co-founder of BASED Politics.

“It’s not just funny cat videos—millions of Gen Z Americans like me use TikTok to express ourselves, share news, and debate our ideas. Many of us have also invested years of work into building businesses and careers online, and now face the prospect of watching our livelihoods be destroyed overnight,” said plaintiff Brad Polumbo, co-founder of BASED Politics. “The government’s de facto TikTok ban tramples on our First Amendment rights and represents one of the most egregious acts of censorship in modern American history. We are proud to partner with the Liberty Justice Center to stop this unconstitutional act of censorship and the economic carnage it would inflict on hundreds of thousands of Americans.”

BASED Politics Inc. v. Garland was filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on June 6, 2024.

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Case Details

CASE NAME

BASED Politics, Inc. v. Garland

Filed

June 6, 2024

Court

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia

Status

Pending

Liberty Justice Center Attorneys

Jacob Huebert

Jacob Huebert

Jacob Huebert serves as the president of the Liberty Justice Center. He previously served as the Liberty Justice Center’s Director of Litigation. In that role, he successfully litigated cases to protect economic liberty, free speech and other constitutional rights. Jacob and his work have appeared in numerous national media outlets, including the Wall Street JournalNew York Times and Fox News Channel.

Jeffrey Schwab

Jeffrey M. Schwab

Jeffrey M. Schwab is a Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, where he litigates cases to protect the rights to free speech, economic liberty, private property and other Constitutional rights in both federal and state courts across the country.

James McQuaid

James McQuaid

James McQuaid is a staff attorney at Liberty Justice Center where he assists in cases to protect the rights to free speech, economic liberty, private property, and other Constitutional rights in courts across the country.

BASED Politics, Inc. v. Garland Details

The Washington Times

Opinion: Supreme Court Can Strike Down Biden Censorship Regime’s Last Gasp in TikTok Case

January 8, 2025

(The Washington Times)—If there’s one policy priority that the Biden administration will be remembered for — and that we should be glad to be putting behind us — it’s the censorship of dissenting speech online. Within days of President Biden’s inauguration in 2021, the White House began privately pressuring social...

The Tennessean

With the Clock Running on TikTok, Nashville Content Creators Worry about the Future

January 8, 2025
(The Tennessean)—Despite facing a First Amendment lawsuit in June, filed by the nonprofit legal group Liberty Justice Center, the law was upheld in a Washington D.C. federal court in December. But on Dec. 16, the Liberty Justice Center joined a group of TikTok creators in filing an emergency petition to...
Tampa Free Press

Liberty Justice Center Urges Supreme Court to Strike down Federal TikTok Ban ahead of Oral Arguments

January 3, 2025

(Tampa Free Press)—The Liberty Justice Center (LJC) filed its final reply brief on January 3, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a proposed federal TikTok ban on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans. With oral arguments scheduled for January 10 and a...

The Mark Davis Show

US Supreme Court Will Hear Liberty Justice Center Challenge to TikTok Ban

December 30, 2024

(The Mark Davis Show)—On January 10, the US Supreme Court will hear the Liberty Justice Center’s First Amendment lawsuit challenging the proposed federal TikTok ban. In this interview on the Mark Davis Show, Liberty Justice Center President Jacob Huebert joins Tom Giovanetti to discuss LJC’s lawsuit, the implications of the...

Tampa Free Press

Supreme Court to Hear First Amendment Challenge to Federal TikTok Ban on January 10

December 30, 2024

(Tampa Free Press)—The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on January 10, 2025, in a pivotal case challenging the federal government’s TikTok ban, set to take effect on January 19. The hearing consolidates three separate legal challenges to the ban, including one filed by the Liberty Justice Center...

The Washington Times

Justices Step in to Review TikTok Days Before Ban of Chinese-Owned Platform

December 18, 2024
(The Washington Times)—The Liberty Justice Center, representing Based Politics Inc., one of the TikTok users challenging the legislation, welcomed the court’s move. “It’s encouraging that the Supreme Court acted so quickly to take up this case and that the court will hear arguments before the TikTok ban can take effect...
The Center Square

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Arguments on TikTok Ban Challenge

December 18, 2024

(The Center Square)—The U.S. Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it will hear arguments on Jan. 10 regarding the constitutionality of a federal law that could potentially ban TikTok in the United States and cut off access to its tens of millions of American users. The Supreme Court did not grant...

Tampa Free Press

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Challenges to Federal TikTok Ban

December 18, 2024

(Tampa Free Press)—The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will hear constitutional challenges to the proposed federal TikTok ban. The Court has scheduled oral arguments for January 10, 2025, just days before the ban is set to take effect on January 19, 2025, one day before the presidential inauguration....

The Center Square

Supreme Court Asked to Block Federal TikTok Ban

December 17, 2024

(The Center Square)—The Liberty Justice Center, alongside some TikTok creators, filed an emergency application to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking to halt the enforcement of a federal law that would ban TikTok in the United States on Jan. 19, 2025. The emergency application requests that the Supreme Court temporarily block...

The Center Square

Emergency Petition Urges Halt to TikTok Ban

December 9, 2024

(The Center Square)—The Liberty Justice Center filed an emergency petition alongside some TikTok creators, asking the court to halt the Jan. 19 ban until the U.S. Supreme Court gives its final ruling on the legal challenge. The emergency petition argues that the act violates the First Amendment because it bans...

June 6, 2024
June 28, 2024