A group of TikTok creators have filed a lawsuit against the controversial sell-or-face-ban law against the short-video app, which has paved the way for a complete blockage of TikTok in the United States (US) if the company does not agree to the government’s demands.
The case has been brought by content creators from different states, including Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, and North Dakota. The individuals have leveraged the short-video app for various business and recreational purposes, including selling ranch products, cookies, sharing sports commentary and content for survivors of sexual assaults, according to Reuters.
“Although they come from different places, professions, walks of life, and political persuasions, they are united in their view that TikTok provides them a unique and irreplaceable means to express themselves and form community,” the lawsuit states, adding that the short-video platform has demonstrated a “profound effect on American life”.
Last week, TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, took the law to court arguing that it violates the right to freedom of expression as granted in Article 19 of the US Constitution. The law, titled “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act”, was signed by President Joe Biden in April shortly after it was passed by the Senate. It requires TikTok to sell its US operations until January 2025 or face a permanent ban. The move received strong criticism from digital rights advocates and content creators.
TikTok too denounced the law and announced that the company would challenge it in court. “Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew had declared. “We are confident and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts. The facts and the constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail again.” He said TikTok’s divesture as demanded by the US government was not possible commercially or legally.
The regulatory scrutiny around TikTok has increased significantly over the past two years in both the US and Europe, where it is being viewed as an “agent” of China. The US regulators have raised concerns that the app could be forced into handing over citizens’ data to Chinese government, which China could use for “traditional espionage operations”. However, no substantial evidence surfaced so far to support these claims.
TikTok, on the other hand, has repeatedly rejected reports that it has any connections with the Chinese government.
There are roughly 170 million TikTok users in the US.
