FILE PHOTO: U.S. flag and TikTok logo are seen in this illustration taken, June 2, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of TikTok creators said Tuesday they filed suit in U.S. federal court seeking to block a law signed by President Joe Biden that would force the divestiture of the short video app used by 170 million Americans or ban it.
"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," said the lawsuit.
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, a law firm representing the creators, provided a copy of the lawsuit to Reuters it said had been filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The suit, which seeks injunctive relief, says the law threatens free speech and "promises to shutter a discrete medium of communication that has become part of American life."
Last week, TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance filed a similar lawsuit, arguing that the law violates the U.S. Constitution on a number of grounds including running afoul of First Amendment free speech protections.
TikTok creators filed a similar suit in 2020 to block a prior attempt to block the app, and also sued last year in Montana asking a court to block a state ban.
The law, signed by Biden on April 24, gives ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell TikTok or face a ban. The White House has said it wants to see Chinese-based ownership ended on national security grounds but not a ban on TikTok.
The law prohibits app stores like Apple, and Alphabet's Google, from offering TikTok and bars internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance divests TikTok by Jan. 19.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
