Companies and Local Laws

The cluster debates whether companies must comply with the laws of countries where they operate or do business, including extraterritorial application of US laws to foreign firms and vice versa.

➡️ Stable 0.6x Legal
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5
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#447
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Keywords

IT US HQ TikTok USA EU GDPR CEO U.S CCP laws country law companies company american companies american business doing business operate

Sample Comments

megous Dec 5, 2019 View on HN

Last time I checked, comapnies are subject to the laws of countries they operate in.

thecatspaw Feb 2, 2024 View on HN

the better question is: why should a company be bound by laws outside of the areas they operate in?

BeFlatXIII Mar 26, 2023 View on HN

Or be a company based outside the US. "Your laws, your problem: my government doesn't care"

amaccuish Dec 20, 2018 View on HN

Ye it's probably worse. Companies are happy to go along with US law, but can't be bothered to follow the law of other jurisdictions...

bagacrap Jun 14, 2023 View on HN

Is there a company that doesn't obey the local laws in the regions where it operates?

exe34 Sep 7, 2025 View on HN

Imagine a foreign company operating in the US refusing to adhere to US law.....

vinay427 Nov 13, 2024 View on HN

As I understand it (very much not a lawyer), the company complies with US laws by not allowing people in the US to use it, so there’s no issue doing business.

vkou Jun 28, 2017 View on HN

I don't know if they should, but de-facto they can. American companies are, for instance, forbidden from doing business within Iran, North Korea, etc. Likewise, nothing stops the US from passing an enforcing a law that requires any foreign companies that do business with the US to follow US laws, even in their operations outside the US.

foobarbazetc Oct 23, 2018 View on HN

Counterpoint: no it isn’t. US law isn’t global anyway, and companies already do it.

andruby Feb 7, 2025 View on HN

Doing business in a country means complying to its laws.The US is/was asking a lot more from the private company TikTok iirc.We can dislike these laws, but they’re not optional.