Canadians across the country mark Remembrance Day
Today Canadians will remember and honour the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who gave their lives in service of the country's values and principles.
The Biden administration is under pressure to ban popular Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, but any such move likely hinges on passage of a new law that bolsters the government's authority to regulate speech, experts said.
Pressure is mounting from lawmakers and national security hawks to ban TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, over fears the app could censure content, influence users, and pass Americans' personal data to Beijing, allegations the company denies.
Courts blocked a prior bid by the Trump administration to ban the app in part on the grounds that such a move violated free speech protections.
That means any move to block the app likely depends on passage of legislation like the RESTRICT ACT, a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators this month granting the Commerce Department new power to ban foreign technology that poses a national security risk. That would circumvent the speech protections embedded in existing law, lawyers and China watchers said.
"RESTRICT is really helpful because it gives this completely new, from scratch, legal authority that doesn鈥檛 have any of those complications" under other laws, said Emily Kilcrease, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and former deputy assistant U.S. Trade Representative. "It鈥檚 a much stronger, cleaner legal authority."
TikTok previously criticized the RESTRICT act, saying "the Biden Administration does not need additional authority from Congress to address national security concerns about TikTok: it can approve the deal negotiated with (the Biden administration) over two years that it has spent the last six months reviewing."
TikTok chief executive officer, Shou Zi Chew, will testify Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee and face tough questions from those lawmakers who want to ban the app.
TikTok, which FBI director Christopher Wray said in November could be used to "control software on millions of devices," has been in the crosshairs of the U.S. government for years, since powerful Republican Senator Marco Rubio called for its review in 2019.
Courts struck down former President Donald Trump's bid to block TikTok in 2020 with an executive order that granted the Commerce Department similar authorities as the RESTRICT act.
In that instance, the executive order relied on by Trump had a major hurdle: it derived its power from the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which carves out the import or export of "informational materials," and "personal communication" through the Berman amendment, which sought to protect speech.
Meanwhile, a move by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a powerful body that scrutinizes foreign investments for national security risks, to force Bytedance to divest its U.S. TikTok business remains mired in negotiations two and a half years later.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan endorsed the RESTRICT Act on March 7 saying it "would strengthen our ability to address discrete risks posed by individual transactions, and systemic risks posed by certain classes of transactions involving countries of concern in sensitive technology sectors."
But the bill will likely provide no immediate solutions for those calling for a ban on the app. While the legislation enjoys bipartisan support, no companion bill has yet been introduced in the House. It's also not yet clear when Congress might take it up -- and some think it might be attached to a year-end defence measure.
Some experts said using the new legal tools to ban TikTok could still invite First Amendment challenges.
"Realistically, I don't see this tool coming into play until 2024," said CFIUS lawyer Nicholas Klein with DLA Piper. "And there will most likely be a legal challenge if it鈥檚 used to ban TikTok."
(Writing by Alexandra Alper and David Shepardson; editing by Chris Sanders and Anna Driver)
Today Canadians will remember and honour the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who gave their lives in service of the country's values and principles.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump says that Tom Homan, his former acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, will serve as "border czar" in his incoming administration.
Researchers are uncovering deeper insights into how the human brain ages and what factors may be tied to healthier cognitive aging, including exercising, avoiding tobacco, speaking a second language or even playing a musical instrument.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 2022 Dobbs decision eliminated the federal right to abortion, miscarriage management has become trickier and in some cases, deadlier.
The union representing some 1,200 dockworkers at the Port of Montreal has overwhelmingly rejected a deal with their employers association.
It was the first time that Canadian UN peacekeeper Michelle Angela Hamelin said she came up against the raw emotion of a people so exasperated with their country's predicament.
Applause erupted over and over at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg Sunday as the son of Murray Sinclair, a former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools, spoke about his father.
A children's book written by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been withdrawn from sale after it was criticized for causing offense to Indigenous Australians.
A man who was critically injured in a police-involved shooting in Hamilton late Sunday afternoon has died in hospital, says the province鈥檚 police watchdog.
A congestion crisis, a traffic nightmare, or unrelenting gridlock -- whatever you call it, most agree that Toronto has a congestion problem. To alleviate some of the gridlock, the Ontario government has announced it plans to remove bike lanes from three major roadways.
For the second year in a row, the 鈥楪ift-a-Family鈥 campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.
Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.
A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.
As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.
A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts 鈥 not for themselves, but for those in need.
A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.
Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.
A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.