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Montana Becomes The First State In The USA To Ban TikTok

Last month, TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew sat and testified before the US’s congressional lawmakers. In what is being considered a pivotal moment for the social media platform Chew tried to mitigate privacy concerns and bipartisan fears about the platform.

Less than a month later, on Friday the 14th of April 2023, Montana became the first state to impose a ban on the app. The GOP (Grand Old Party) controlled Montana House of Representatives officially passed and sent the bill to ban TikTok to Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte. The GOP is a nickname for the Republican Party of America. The governor can now sign the measure into law.

The ban will prohibit TikTok from operating within Montana’s state lines. This will therefore make it illegal for anyone to download and use the app in Montana.

The ban also includes penalties of up to $10,000 a day for any app stores (including Apple and Google’s) or TikTok themselves if they make the app available in the state. If at all the law will be signed and enacted, the ban will not take effect until January 2024.

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As NPR reports, TikTok is expected to launch a legal challenge well before the law takes effect. TikTok’s spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said, “We will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana whose livelihoods and First Amendment rights are threatened by this egregious government overreach.”

Brooke also claimed that in passing the law, its backers have openly admitted that there is “no feasible plan” in place to ban the app as a ban in one state only would be almost impossible to enforce. He also said that the ban is dangerous as it represents censorship of the voices of Montana’s residents.

The law has received a split reaction from the public with both sides (for and against) having sound concerns. Critics of the bill according to NPR include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have labeled it a violation of free speech rights. According to them, it “would set an alarming precedent for excessive government control over how Montanans use the internet.”

On the other side are supporters of the bill who highlight a Chinese intelligence law in favor of the possible ban. So what law is this? In 2017, the Chinese intelligence law was passed. The law requires private companies (TikTok qualifies as one) to hand over data about customers to the government if it ever requests such information.

This is the law that has brought about much of TikTok’s issues with lawmakers in the USA and the world at large. Since it is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese organization, the fear is that the Chinese Communist Party could request access to the 150 million TikTok accounts in America and potentially spy on U.S. citizens.

This bill comes while TikTok is negotiating with President Biden’s administration regarding the app’s future in the country. TikTok is being advised to separate from its Beijing-based parent company or risk a nationwide shutdown of the app.

The bill specifies that the restriction would end if TikTok were to be acquired by a corporation based outside China. The measure would also be nullified if TikTok were made illegal nationwide by a statute passed by Congress.

There is no evidence that TikTok is sharing user data with the Chinese communist party but similar to Montana, Washington D.C. is another state where the app is viewed as a national security threat. Will more states follow in Montana’s footsteps? Only time will tell.