TikTok, formerly musical.ly, is a platform where you can present yourself, but it has repeatedly come under criticism due to security concerns. Montana now wants to be the first state in the U.S. to ban the app starting next year. Legal headwinds are expected.
Montana bans the app TikTok from 2024 – fine of up to $10,000
The app TikTok, which is operated by the Chinese group Bytedance and is particularly popular with younger users, is repeatedly suspected of allowing the Chinese Communist Party to access user data.
Several Western countries have already banned their public sector employees from using TikTok on their work cell phones. TikTok itself denies ever having passed on user data to the Chinese government.
The governor of the US state of Montana (population just over one million), Greg Gianforte, signed a law banning the use of TikTok from next year. This is to “protect the personal and private data of the people of Montana from the Chinese Communist Party”.
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
Google and Apple will have to remove the app from the PlayStore/App Store next year. Every time a user accesses TikTok or is even offered access to the app, it is a violation of the law. This is punishable by a fine of 10,000 US dollars.
TikTok has already responded. Company spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter explained that the signed law violates the right to free speech and the rights of the people of Montana through an “unlawful ban.”
If the ban is enforced, the U.S. could use this as a hook for a ban across the country. However, cybersecurity experts say that it will be difficult to enforce this ban. The law is expected to be legally challenged.
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