A Victorian couple is suing TikTok after their account was banned from the social media platform, allegedly for competing in TikTok live battles against banned users.
Selim Ozgan and Inci Guven, a married couple, have sued TikTok and its Singaporean subsidiary in the federal court of Australia, alleging that the ByteDance-owned company had unfair contract terms under Australian consumer law.
According to court documents seen by Guardian Australia, the couple created the account @mrnmrsttt in 2022 for taking part in TikTok live battles, through which they earned money.
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TikTok live battles pit two creators against each other in live streams where they compete to have their followers give them the most virtual gifts. The gifts are bought in the TikTok app using virtual coins available to users over 18 years of age. Users can buy 20 virtual coins for A$0.49, or up to 17,500 for A$419.99.
In the five-minute battle, each side builds up scores by encouraging their followers to donate gifts to them, which are represented in brightly coloured animations as the gifts are donated. Regardless of who wins, both accounts get to keep a share of the revenue from gifts donated to them that can be cashed out. TikTok also takes a share.
Details on how much creators make are not disclosed by TikTok. Tikleap tracks the creators making thousands of dollars a day through gifts donated on live streams, including battles.
Several videos featuring the couple’s battles are still on TikTok, despite their account being banned. Those videos show that at the time of the battles the couple’s account had more than 150,000 likes.
The couple said in their statement of claim that between 16 March 2024 and 9 April 2024, they received violation notifications. They were told by their account manager via Telegram they were not in breach of TikTok policies but the account had been flagged because it was used to battle a banned person who was using a new account.
The account manager allegedly told the couple that battling or going live with banned users risked suspension or banning.
The couple said in the submission they requested more information about the allegedly banned person to ensure they did not violate TikTok policies but did not receive any more information.
Their account was permanently banned on 2 May 2024, the couple said. They said neither their account manager nor TikTok responded to requests for further information or appeals to reinstate their account.
The couple alleged TikTok was in breach of its policies by failing to provide them with procedural fairness, and TikTok had “permanently removed” their livelihood. They alleged that TikTok’s policies, including the company being able to disable or remove people’s accounts without notice, were unfair terms under Australian consumer law.
They are asking for their account to be restored and seeking damages with interest and costs. In a court order last week, the federal court gave TikTok until this Friday to apply for a summary judgment, with the matter to be referred to mediation in the first instance.
TikTok declined to comment. The company has yet to file a defence and Guardian Australia was refused access by the court to a submission TikTok had made.
The law firm acting for Ozgan and Guven was approached for comment.
