Due to security concerns, Montana becomes the first US state to ban TikTok
In spite of skepticism from lawmakers, Republican Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill outlawing TikTok in Montana on Wednesday, making it the first state in the union to do so.
The most stringent US law against TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese tech corporation, is Montana’s ban. It is slated to go into effect on January 1, 2024, and a legal challenge is anticipated.
Gianforte released a statement in which he said
“Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ sensitive personal information and private data from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.”
Concerns about TikTok’s potential threat to national security, particularly the possibility that the Chinese government would use the app to snoop on American residents, have been expressed by lawmakers from both political parties. Additionally, an increasing number of red states have imposed TikTok restrictions on devices obtained through official channels.
The GOP-controlled state legislature of Montana presented the bill in February, which triggered months of national discussion before the House handily approved it last month. However, according to cybersecurity experts, it might be challenging to enforce the restriction.
According to Brooke Oberwetter, a spokesperson for TikTok, the regulation violates people’s First Amendment rights and is illegal.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Oberwetter said. “We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, make a career, and find community. As we continue to work to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana.
Montana outright forbids TikTok
The new law in Montana prohibits the download of TikTok throughout the state and fines any “entity” $10,000 per day for each instance in which a resident of the state can access the social media site or get the app. Users would not be subject to the fines.
The action comes in response to Gianforte’s late-December ban on the app on government-owned smartphones. Tiktok, according to the governor, posed a “significant risk” to private state information.
Additionally, on Wednesday, Gianforte declared that. He will forbid the use of any social media platforms in Montana that are connected to hostile foreign nations. Including WeChat and Telegram Messenger.
Opponents contend that state residents can get around the restriction by using a virtual private network. Which provides online encryption for users’ added protection and anonymity.
Critics claim that TikTok restrictions are unconstitutional.
The Montana law was deemed unlawful by the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana and the trade group NetChoice.
In a statement, Keegan Medrano, policy director at the ACLU of Montana said that the ban “tramples on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use the app to express themselves, gather information, and run their small businesses in the name of anti-Chinese sentiment.”
A bill that would have outlawed TikTok nationwide was rejected in March by Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Paul claimed that the proposal would be unconstitutional and infuriate app users. Additionally, it is anticipated that advocacy groups and TikTok users will criticize Montana’s government.
The social media platform has amassed enormous global appeal and is perceived as a threat to other American internet behemoths like Meta. TikTok will have been downloaded on more than two billion mobile devices by 2020.
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