A group of TikTok content creators has filed a lawsuit in a US federal court in an effort to block a law signed by President Joe Biden. The law, colloquially known as the “anti-TikTok law”, would require the divestment of the popular short video app used by 170 million Americans, or else it would be banned from operating in the United States. According to the lawsuit, which has been reported by Reuters, the law has had a “profound effect on American life”.
Among the TikTok users who are suing are a Texas Marine Corps veteran; a Tennessee woman who sells cookies and parenting topics; a North Dakota college coach specializing in sports commentary; a Mississippi hip hop artist who shares biblical quizzes, and a recent college graduate from North Carolina who advocates for the rights of sexual assault victims.
The lawsuit, filed by the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on behalf of the creators, argues that the anti-TikTok law threatens freedom of speech and seeks to shut down a media platform that has become an integral part of American life. Meanwhile, the White House has chosen not to comment on the matter, and a spokesperson for the US Department of Justice has stated that the law addresses critical national security concerns in a manner consistent with the First Amendment of the United States and other constitutional limitations.
This is not the first time that TikTok faces a legal challenge in the United States. In 2020, another group of content creators also filed a lawsuit to block a previous attempt to ban the app under the Trump administration, and last year, another lawsuit was filed in Montana to block a state ban. In both cases, the courts ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.
The law signed by Biden, which requires ByteDance to sell TikTok before January 19th or face a ban, also prohibits app stores like Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store from listing TikTok, as well as internet hosting services from supporting the app unless ByteDance divests from it.
Content creators argue that the fine for continuing to allow access to TikTok would be around $850 billion and that the government’s concerns about the security of American data are speculative and could be addressed with more specific legislation. Meanwhile, the lawsuit filed by TikTok last week emphasized that divestment is not commercially, technologically, or legally viable, and that the law would force the closure of TikTok before the established deadline.
