There it goes! Montana has become the first state in America to completely ban TikTok. It is reported that after the state’s Governor signed the controversial law into order, it will more than likely be challenged.
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Montana Becomes First State To Completely Ban TikTok; Law Likely To Be Challenged
On Wednesday (May 17), Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed the country’s first law restricting residents from downloading the China-based app TikTok.
It is called Senate Bill 419 and will go into effect on January 1, 2024. SB 419 was passed in the Montana Senate 30-20 on March 2, then cleared the Montana House 54-43 on April 14.
At the time, TikTok released a statement and said, “The bill’s champions have admitted that they have no feasible plan for operationalizing this attempt to censor American voices and 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.”
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It is reported that prior to the new bill, the federal government had already banned TikTok on government devices, but now the new bill will extend to personal ones, stating, “Tiktok may not operate within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana.”
Gov. Gianforte released a statement upon signing the bill and said, “The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented. Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.”
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He then issued a tweet on Twitter doubling down and said, “To protect Montanan’s personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party, I have banned TikTok in Montana.”
Once the law goes into effect next year, the Montana Department of Justice warns that it will be able to fine app stores or even ByteDance — which is TikTok’s parent company — $10,000 for each violation, plus $10,000 for each day that the violation continues.
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Since the news broke, the company has released a statement saying the ban, “infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana.”
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