TikTok creators sue US over divest-or-ban law

Eight TikTok creators are suing the U.S. government over a law requiring TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance to sell the app or face a ban, arguing it violates their First Amendment rights. 

The creators allege that the law is “unconstitutionally overbroad” and lacks “any conceivable legitimate interest that would warrant shuttering an entire media platform used by millions.” 

The law, known as the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, was passed last month as part of a larger foreign aid package. 

Lawmakers have pointed to national security and data privacy concerns stemming from TikTok’s Chinese parent company in supporting efforts to force a sale or ban the popular social media app. 

However, the creators pushed back on these justifications and suggested that they could be addressed with narrower regulations. 

“The government cannot ban a medium for communication because it believes that medium is used to transmit foreign ‘propaganda’ or other protected content,” the lawsuit reads.  

“Nor does the government have any actual, non-speculative evidence that banning TikTok in its current form enhances Americans’ data security, or that its ban is narrowly tailored to accomplish that objective,” it continues. 

TikTok and ByteDance also sued to block the law last week on First Amendment grounds, arguing that a sale is “simply not possible” and would lead to a shutdown of the app in the U.S. and cut off millions of daily users. 

Meanwhile, potential buyers have lined up, from former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to real estate billionaire and former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.