In recent years, TikTok has quickly become a popular short video platform around the world with its unique algorithm and colorful content creation
However, the situation has changed abruptly, and the US government's attitude towards TikTok has taken a sharp turn, especially in 2023 and 2024. U.S. President Joe Biden signed a bill targeting TikTok that would require its parent company, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. operations or face a ban.
The move sparked widespread controversy and backlash, especially from TikTok creators.
TikTok, a popular short-form video app that has taken the world by storm, has quickly captured the hearts of hundreds of millions of users around the world by relying on its intelligent recommendation algorithm and a large community of content creators. In the United States in particular, TikTok has about 170 million users.
In May 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a bill requiring TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. operations within 270 days or face a blanket ban. The ban on TikTok isn't just about the platform, it's a fierce fight over national security and freedom of expression.
The signing of this bill has triggered a strong reaction from TikTok creators. These creators are not unequal, they come from all walks of life, from veterans to housewives, college coaches, hip-hop artists, and even rights advocates for survivors of sexual assault.
They have come out against the bill not only because it threatens the platform on which they live, but also because they believe it violates their right to free speech. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution explicitly guarantees citizens' freedom of speech, but this bill seeks to deprive 170 million Americans of the right to use TikTok through forced stripping or bans.
In this battle, the creators filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit through legal channels to try to stop the implementation of the "sell or no" bill. Their law firm, Davis Wright Tremeen, pointed out that the bill not only lacked a practical basis, but was also unworkable on a commercial, technical and legal level. In the lawsuit, the creators emphasized that TikTok provides them with a unique and irreplaceable means of expressing themselves and building community that cannot be replicated by other platforms.
Even Biden's campaign is using TikTok to campaign, and this contradictory behavior raises questions about the real intent of the bill. In the lawsuit, the creators quoted the deputy manager of the Biden campaign as sarcastically saying, "It would be foolish to ignore any place where people get information about the president." This point-to-the-point assessment reveals the double standards of the U.S. government in dealing with the TikTok issue.
TikTok has faced similar crises several times before this.
In 2020, then-U.S. President Donald Trump also tried to block TikTok through an executive order, but ultimately failed to do so due to court intervention. In 2023, TikTok creators successfully blocked the state's ban in Montana. These cases show that creators are not inactive and have been defending their rights through legal means.
In the context of this lawsuit, TikTok and ByteDance are also actively responding. On May 7, TikTok and its parent company ByteDance formally sued the U.S. federal government against the bill signed by Biden, saying that the bill violated the U.S. Constitution in many places, including the right to free speech protection. TikTok CEO Zhou Shouzi lobbied hard in the U.S. Congress to try to buy more space for TikTok to survive.
However, in the face of the U.S. government's hardline attitude, ByteDance also said that if all legal means are still unable to stop the ban, they would rather shut down their U.S. operations than budge. The decision will undoubtedly have far-reaching consequences for TikTok users and creators in the United States, and the platform they rely on could disappear overnight. For creators who have built a huge fan base on TikTok, this is not only a huge financial loss, but also a cut off from their main channel for expressing themselves and building community.
In the midst of this turmoil, TikTok creators have shown unprecedented unity and tenacity. They disseminated information through social media and launched multiple online petitions to call on more users and people from all walks of life to pay attention to and support their lawsuits. Creators have unique influence in their respective fields, and their joint actions are not only to defend TikTok, but also to defend their freedom of speech and creative space.
At the same time, TikTok is closely watching the progress of this fight in markets outside the United States. As a global Internet company, TikTok has a huge user base in many countries and regions, and the turmoil in the US market will undoubtedly affect its global strategy. ByteDance is actively communicating with regulators in other countries to ensure that the U.S. policy does not affect the normal operation of other markets.
On the U.S. side, the White House and the Justice Department remain tough, insisting that the bill is motivated by national security concerns. A Justice Department spokesman said the bill addresses key "national security concerns" and was enacted "in a manner consistent with the First Amendment and other constitutional limitations." However, the government has not provided a convincing explanation for the restrictions on freedom of expression raised by the creators.
In court, the lawyers of both sides engaged in heated arguments.
Lawyers for the creators point out that the government's claims of a national security threat are not supported by concrete evidence, but are more of a speculation and hypothesis. And even if there are security risks, they can be addressed through more precise and narrow legislative measures, rather than a blanket ban on the entire application. Government lawyers have stressed that TikTok's back-end data management is at great risk and could be used for espionage or manipulation of public opinion, threatening national security.
The final outcome of this legal battle is still up in the air, but it is foreseeable that regardless of the court's final ruling, this event will have far-reaching implications for future internet regulation and freedom of expression. The joint action of the creators undoubtedly shows a new way for the public to respond, that is, to defend their rights through the dual pressure of legal means and public opinion.
And behind this struggle, there are more complex entanglements of interests. TikTok, an app developed by a Chinese company, has inevitably been affected by tensions between China and the United States in the United States. In recent years, the competition between China and the United States in the field of technology has become increasingly fierce, from Huawei to TikTok to semiconductor chips, the two countries have launched a fierce game on many fronts. Against this backdrop, TikTok's fate is not just a business issue, but also part of the international political and economic game.
As the old saying goes, "the flame is high when everyone gathers firewood". In this struggle, the voices and actions of creators will become an important force for social progress. Regardless of the final outcome, this turmoil will become an important page in the history of the Internet, reminding us to always be vigilant and guard against possible risks while enjoying the convenience brought by technology.
The road ahead is still full of challenges, but it is these challenges that keep us moving forward and exploring a fairer and freer Internet world. The fate of TikTok may be just the beginning, and each of us will be a part of this change, witnessing and writing a new chapter in the Internet era.