Montana, on Wednesday, became the first state in the U.S. to implement a complete ban on the sales and use of TikTok.
What Happened: Citing concerns over the Chinese Communist Party's potential access to "Montanans' private data and sensitive personal information," Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill that prohibits TikTok from operating "within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana."
The bill also demands that various app platforms — like Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) App Store and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) subsidiary Google’s Play Store — make Tiktok unavailable for Montana residents, starting Jan. 1, 2024.
The legislative measure introduces fines of $10,000 per day for any mobile store that continues to make the app available, as well as for TikTok if it operates within the state. However, the ban does not impose any penalties on individual TikTok users who continue to use the app.
See Also: TikTok’s ‘Dark Side’ Exposé Spurs Musk To Call App ‘Extremely Destructive’
Why It Matters: This decision is expected to be met with legal challenges. TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter responded with a statement on Twitter.
"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," Oberwetter said.
The American Civil Liberties Union also criticized Gianforte's actions.
"This law tramples on our free speech rights under the guise of national security and lays the groundwork for excessive government control over the internet," ACLU tweeted.
Montana's ban on TikTok is the most extensive action taken against the Chinese-owned app to date. It will be keenly monitored as a test case for how far lawmakers can go in banning the operations of a private company, given the concerns in the U.S. over TikTok's operations.
The Donald Trump administration attempted to compel ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to sell the app to an American buyer but was unsuccessful. Even the Joe Biden administration is following a similar strategy but may run into similar obstacles.
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