The measure, which Gov. Greg Gianforte signed on Wednesday, makes the claim that the site “directs minors to engage in dangerous activities” in order to produce material. It also raises security concerns.
Wednesday saw the approval of a statewide TikTok ban by Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, making Montana the first state to attempt such a comprehensive rejection of the well-liked social media network.
Gianforte tweeted after signing the bill, which was approved by the state House and Senate this spring: “To protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party, I have banned TikTok in Montana.”
The measure will prevent TikTok from operating in Montana and is anticipated to go into effect in January 2024.
According to the bill, any organization that disregards the prohibition would be “liable in the amount of $10,000 for each discrete violation and is liable for an additional $10,000 per day thereafter that the violation continues.” These sanctions only apply to an app store or the app itself, not to TikTok users.
In addition to citing security issues, the legislation claims that the platform “directs minors to engage in dangerous activities” in order to produce content, such as “throwing objects at moving automobiles, taking excessive amounts of medication,” and “licking doorknobs and toilet seats to put oneself at risk of contracting coronavirus.”
The bill also asserts that TikTok’s continued existence in Montana “serves as a valuable tool to the People’s Republic of China to conduct corporate and international espionage in Montana and may allow the People’s Republic of China to track the real-time locations of public officials, journalists, and other individuals adverse to the Chinese Communist Party’s interests.”
The prohibition in Montana, which is anticipated to be contested in court, will act as a sort of test case for future restrictions elsewhere.
TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter hinted that the business would contest the ban in a statement to CNN, calling it a “attempt to censor American voices” and said that “the bill’s constitutionality will be decided by the courts.”
“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,” Oberwetter said in the statement.
In a U.S. House hearing in March, federal lawmakers interrogated TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew for nearly five hours in-depth about the app’s ties to its Chinese parent business and its handling of user data.
As a result of intensified attempts on Capitol Hill to outlaw TikTok in the United States in order to safeguard against Chinese surveillance and information operations as well as other national security issues, Chew’s testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce was delivered amid unusual bipartisan support.
The Trump government tried to prevent TikTok from appearing in Apple and Google’s app stores unless it was purchased by an American in 2020, but the courts eventually blocked those efforts.
The TikTok parent firm, ByteDance, has been given an ultimatum by the Biden administration to sell the app or risk being banned, which would prevent the app’s estimated 150 million American users from using it.
