WASHINGTON, May 14 (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 ( AAPL ), and

Alphabet's Google, from offering TikTok and bars

internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless

ByteDance divests TikTok by Jan. 19.