Montana becomes the first to pass bill ban TikTok
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Montana Lawmakers Pass Bill For Statewide Ban On TikTok

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Montana officially becomes the first state to pass a bill to ban TikTok statewide.

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The state House voted 54-43 to pass the bill, which will now be forwarded to Governor Greg Gianforte for approval. The state already banned the social media platform on state-owned devices, and a spokesperson for TikTok said they would continue to advocate for creators and users based in Montana.  The bill cited Chinese surveillance and the potential theft of state intellectual property as reported by CNBC.

“TikTok’s stealing of information and data from users and its ability to share that data with the Chinese Communist Party unacceptably infringes on Montana’s right to privacy.”

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A spokesperson from the social media platform said they would continue to advocate for creators and users who rely on their livelihood from the app: “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.”

“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,”

What happens if TikTok is banned from Montana?

Although TikTok users who live in the state won’t face any penalties if they continue to use the app and evade it, companies will face a $10,000 fine per violation if found to use any loopholes.  Although some social media users have made memes about the situation, some are worried that the state’s move could influence other states to follow their example.

As previously reported, US officials have expressed their fears that the Chinese government could possibly have access to TikTok user data through the social media platform’s parent company, ByteDance, and it could possibly be used to promote propaganda campaigns,

However, there is no evidence that the Chinese government has access to the personal data of TikTok users in the United States. TikTok attempted to reassure these claims by stating they could put up a “firewall” to protect user data as part of an initiative called Project Texas.

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