> Nothing is being censored. If ByteDance refuses to sell, TikTok will be removed from App Stores

What if Google says no?

> What if Google says no?

Same as if Google says no to paying taxes. Law enforcement mediated by the courts.

The fines end up being in the billions of dollars - $5,000 per user per day. Even Google can't absorb that for long.

Could you help me understand how that isn't censorship, with more steps?

> Could you help me understand how that isn't censorship

Censorship bans the speech. If we were censoring Bytedance, we’d block TikTok.com.

This is more in the vein of “you can’t advertise your brothel at the elementary school.” You can still advertise your brothel. The distribution and amplification is just being regulated.

If we stretch your argument to absurd then we can say that putting a political prisoner in jail also doesn't limit his free speech: he is still able to write letters.

> putting a political prisoner in jail also doesn't limit his free speech: he is still able to write letters

Free speech is a big topic. I would argue that yes, that person’s speech has been curtailed, but depending on what they were jailed for (saying something offensive versus stabbery) it could be reasonable.

Unless they were jailed for their speech, what you describe would not amount to censorship.

Because it's not targeting the speech. If an American company acquires TikTok it can continue to provide exactly the same content.