On May 15 Beijing time, a group of TikTok creators filed a lawsuit in a U.S. federal court in an attempt to halt the TikTok divestiture law signed by U.S. President Biden, arguing that TikTok has had a 'profound impact on the lives of Americans.' The TikTok divestiture law would require ByteDance to divest its TikTok U.S. business or face a ban in the U.S. Previously, TikTok and ByteDance had sued the U.S. government to stop this 'sell or be banned' law.
The TikTok users filing the lawsuit include a retired U.S. Navy veteran from Texas who sells farm products, a woman from Tennessee who sells cookies and discusses parenting topics, a coach from North Dakota who makes sports commentary videos, and a recent graduate from North Carolina advocating for the rights of sexual assault survivors.
The lawsuit states, 'Though they come from different places, different professions, different social classes, different political beliefs, they all agree that TikTok provides them with a unique, irreplaceable way to express themselves and form communities.'
The creators are represented by the U.S. law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, who provided a copy of the lawsuit to Reuters, stating that it has been submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
At the time of publication, the U.S. White House and Department of Justice had not commented on the matter.