Montana has become the first state to officially ban TikTok as Governor Greg Gianforte signed legislation Wednesday prohibiting the app.
Set to go into effect January 1, the law bans app stores such as the Apple App Store and Google Play Store from making TikTok available to download within the state. Stores face fines of up to $10,000 every day they violate the law, but there are no punishments for users.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese-based company ByteDance, and has come under scrutiny by legislators recently over questions concerning its handling of user data, with the Montana law claiming the Chinese government “exercises control and oversight over ByteDance, like other Chinese corporations, and can direct the company to share user information.”
Federal lawmakers have also sought to restrict the app, but experts say that the security risk from data harvesting is no greater than that of which American-owned social media platforms engage in.
The law is likely to face legal challenges. While they have not filed opposition yet, the American Civil Liberties Union in junction with other free-speech and civil-liberties organizations previously urged Montana lawmakers not to pass the bill, saying it "would violate the First Amendment rights of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use TikTok to communicate, receive information, and express themselves daily."
"The government cannot impose a total ban on a communications platform like TikTok unless it is necessary to prevent extremely serious, immediate harm to national security," the coalition letter reads. "But there’s no public evidence of harm that would meet the high bar set by the U.S. and Montana Constitutions, and a total ban would not be the only option for addressing such harm if it did exist."
The coalition also warned of the "alarming precedent" the law sets for "excessive government control" over the internet, and what defines freedom of speech in a digital age.
"[The law] would unjustly cut Montanans off from a platform where they speak out and exchange ideas everyday, and it would set an alarming precedent for excessive government control over how Montanans use the internet," it continues. "Montana residents have a right to use TikTok and other platforms to exchange their thoughts, ideas, and opinions with millions of people around the state, country, and world."
