Now that Biden has signed the ‘TikTok ban’ into law, the app is preparing for the fight of its life. TikTok CEO Shou Chew has made it clear that he plans to combat the ban in court. Chew’s argument is that the potential ban of TikTok (if it fails to divest, aka sell, its assets to a U.S. buyer) is a violation of First Amendment rights. But Chew won’t be alone in this fight.
As reported by Forbes, law firm Davis Wright Tremaine — who previously sued Montana over its TikTok ban — is leading the charge in attempting to rally TikTokers to join them in building a class action lawsuit to save TikTok.
Previously, TikTok itself funded Davis Wright Tremaine’s lawsuit against Montana. But it’s unclear whether the social media giant is driving these latest legal efforts by the law firm.
The class action lawsuit battle for TikTok rages on
But this law firm isn’t the only one trying to get onto creators’ radar. TikTok Shop merchant Puneet Nanda, for instance, told Forbes that he’s heard of at least three different lawyers “trying to gather steam” for a lawsuit and building cases defending TikTok.
But he added that he was still deliberating over whether to join the legal fight for TikTok. He told the outlet: “I don’t want to put my company or myself in harm’s way by turning against the government of the United States.”
These claims by Nanda are also corroborated by creator Vitus Spehar of @UnderTheDeskNews fame. Spehar said in a viral video: “I’ve also been reached out to by a lawyer who is trying to put together a class action lawsuit of creators and businesses who would be negatively impacted if this ban were to go into effect.”
Furthermore, TikToker @BlackJackAmerican said in March that he was “organizing and personally financing” a class-action lawsuit fighting the TikTok ban.
With a 9-12 month window for TikTok to divest, it might be a while until these plans turn into anything solid. But at least we know that TikTok won’t be going down without a fight.
