The 33-page lawsuit was reported by The Washington Post, citing constitutional concerns related to free speech. It states the new law “bans an entire medium of communication and all the speech communicated through that medium, even though, at the very least, the vast majority of that speech is protected.”
The creators represented in the document go on to say that they “rely on TikTok to express themselves, learn, advocate for causes, share opinions, create communities, and even make a living.” However, the complained comes only a week after TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, filed its own lawsuit against the U.S. attorney general’s office.
Both lawsuits reference the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which was signed into law last month by President Joe Biden. The law is designed to ban the app from the U.S. market if ByteDance does not sell or get rid of it.
A Department of Justice spokesperson said that the legislation that could ban TikTok “addresses critical national security concerns in a manner that is consistent with the First Amendment and other constitutional limitations. We look forward to defending the legislation in court.”
Report Olivia Gerling | Jun 5, 2024
Report Olivia Gerling | Jun 3, 2024
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