Montana Is Officially Banning TikTok

Montana is the first US State to ban TikTok making it the strongest restriction on the Chinese social media app in the country in an attempt to protect its residents from the ongoing data privacy concerns surrounding the app and its founding company, ByteDance.

Montana Leads The Way

Over the past few months, TikTok has come under fire from many countries including the US and its states for its ties with China and allegations that the app collects user data and shares it with the Chinese Communist government.

Although there is currently no proof that the Chinese government has ever acquired the personal information of TikTok users residing in the US, many US officials have expressed concerns that the Chinese government may utilize TikTok to potentially access US data for spying.

As a result, at least 27 US States have banned the use of the social media app on government devices, but none has issued a blanket ban that applies to regular citizens as Montana.

The state’s governor, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, announced the decision on Twitter saying that he has banned TikTok “to protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party.”

To protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party, I have banned TikTok in Montana.

— Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) May 17, 2023

He further asserted in a statement that it is “well documented” that TikTok shares its data with the Chinese government; however, this assertion is unsupported by information available to the public concerning the app and its workings.

TikTok is just one app tied to foreign adversaries. Today I directed the state’s Chief Information Officer to ban any application that provides personal information or data to foreign adversaries from the state network. pic.twitter.com/92Im6D9Jgx

— Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) May 17, 2023

Although there is no proof that TikTok or its parent company ByteDance ever gave the Chinese government access to the app’s data, TikTok has acknowledged an incident in which employees used the app’s location data to snoop on journalists. This scandal is frequently brought up in discussions about the app and privacy issues.

The law is expected to take effect in January 2024 and it forbids the download of the app, which is used by more than 150 million Americans, from app stores including Apple App Store and Google’s. Play Store. Apple, Google, and TikTok would each be subject to a $10,000 fee each day if downloads were permitted; users would not be subject to the same charge.

TikTok’s Data Privacy Woes Continue

However, in a statement to CNN, Tiktok said:

Governor Gianforte has signed a bill that infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok, a platform that empowers hundreds of thousands of people across the state.

We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana.

The app has stirred up comments from free speech groups led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which argued that the law was a clear violation of citizens’ right to speech.

Keegan Medrano, Policy Director of ACLU Montana said

With this ban, Governor Gianforte and the Montana legislature have trampled on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use the app to express themselves.

In order to avoid the logistical nightmare of having other state legislatures enact their own restrictions against TikTok or other apps, Google and Apple are likely to oppose state-level laws that restrict where apps can be downloaded within the United States.

Users of TikTok are likely to push back as well, thus the firm has already been utilizing its devoted user base to oppose the Montana law by running ads that feature small businesses based in Montana that use TikTok and other strategies just to get the legislatures to cheng their minds.

The app has also been fighting on a national level after President Biden signed legislation last December prohibiting the app from being used on government-owned smartphones, and he has been considering a complete ban if ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok, is unable to find an American buyer.

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