TikTok to be represented by eight big-name influencers in battle to upturn impending US ban

Social media platform Tiktok, an app that allows users to create, share, and discover short-form videos will be represented by eight big-name influencers including a Texan rancher and a baker from Tennessee as it battles to upturn its impending US ban.

The platform, owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based technology company, is now getting some backup as it is set to face the US Justice Department to challenge its position that will ban its sale and use in the United States of America.

To highlight how much a ban could impact them, many users rely on the popular platform for marketing their businesses and generating income.

The firm’s defense goes beyond its business procedures and practices to address the effects of such actions on the First Amendment rights and the freedom of speech of content creators on social media platforms.

READ ALSO: Tiktok is causing more harm than good in Nigeria — Bashir Ahmad 

Recall that the incumbent US President Joe Biden recently signed a bill that mandates that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, must sell the platform to a U.S.-based entity by January 2025 or face a potential ban in the United States.

Months ago, the US Justice Department declared that TikTok is a threat to national security because it allows the Chinese government to gather information about American users and possibly affect what content they consume.

Both ByteDance and TikTok have consistently denied any affiliation with the Chinese government, and they see the regulation as a “extraordinary intrusion on free speech rights.”

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