Last week, TikTok sued the US government after President Joe Biden signed a law banning the app in the country. The company has received support from creators on the platform. A group of makers did that filed a lawsuit oppose the possible ban on the popular video app. The lawsuit aims to block the newly passed law that will ban TikTok in a year unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance sells the U.S. arm of its business.
American TikTok creators are suing the government over the new law to ban the app
US lawmakers and security agencies have long labeled TikTok a threat to national security due to its Chinese origins. ByteDance is said to have backdoors for the Chinese government, which could potentially expose user data. That is why the country plans to ban the app. The video-based social media platform has already been banned from government devices in most US states. A bill banning it nationwide also passed the House and Senate last month.
President Biden immediately approved the bill and signed it into law. ByteDance now has a year to either sell TikTok's US division or face a ban. However, as expected, the company will not survive without fighting and possibly winning the battle to continue its operations in the country. Two weeks after the law was passed, TikTok filed a lawsuit against the US government, calling the law “unconstitutional.”
Eight TikTok creators have now responded with a similar lawsuit. 'Request for review and complaint for declaratory judgment and preliminary injunction', is the name of the lawsuit. “Petitioners are among the 170 million Americans who create, publish, watch, interact with, and share videos on TikTok,” the creators begin their complaint. Deep into the lawsuit, they echo TikTok's sentiment by calling the law unconstitutional because it violates their First Amendment rights.
The eight creators want the US government to repeal the law and not enforce a nationwide ban on TikTok. They say a ban “will shut down a discreet communications medium that has become part of American life.” The creators add that such a move will be an “extraordinary restriction of expression.” While ByteDance can sell the platform and allow Americans to continue using it under someone else's ownership, the company says that option is unfeasible.
TikTok supports creators with legal costs
TikTok creators in the US likely wouldn't have challenged the impending ban if the company hadn't publicly announced that it would rather face a ban than sell the app. Perhaps it is a well-thought-out strategy by the Chinese company. When Montana announced a statewide ban on the app last year, several creators sued the state and won. The ban never went into effect, and TikTok is likely hoping for a similar outcome this time.
To this end, the company is supporting the eight creators participating in this lawsuit by covering their legal costs. The makers are represented by the same law firm as the Montana makers last year. It remains to be seen whether TikTok can avoid a ban in the US. This could be an intense legal battle in the coming year.
