Montana Is The First State To Fully Ban TikTok
Montana has become the first state to implement a TikTok ban, following heated debates over privacy and national security risks. Governor Greg Gianforte tweeted that the ban has been implemented to protect "personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party." In April, Montana became the first state to pass a bill seeking a complete ban on TikTok, and earlier today, the state's governor put his signature on it, turning it into law. The TikTok ban is supposed to enter legal enforcement starting January 1, 2024.
To protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party, I have banned TikTok in Montana.
— Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) May 17, 2023
The signed bill claims that the Chinese government is interested in collecting information about the state's citizens and companies, especially on intellectual property, and to use TikTok for engaging in espionage. And since the Chinese government "exercises control and oversight over ByteDance," according to the bill, TikTok's parent company can be forced to hand over data such as their real-time location and other personally identifiable data against its will.
The bill also targets TikTok for allegedly promoting dangerous habits and trends that often go viral on the platform, but interestingly, some of them have since been debunked as fake by news outlets. The bill points to TikTok trends like overdosing on medicines, "cooking chicken in NyQuil," "smearing human feces on toddlers," "loosening lug nuts on vehicles," and licking toilet seats that could put them at the risk of COVID-19 infection. Enforcing the ban likely won't be a cakewalk, as multiple courts blocked the bid to ban TikTok on U.S. soil during Donald Trump's presidential regime.
Familiar concerns, rocky road ahead
On the legal side of things, the bill claims that TikTok's theft of user data and subsequent sharing with the Chinese government violates Montana's privacy laws and that the social media platform acts as an espionage tool to keep an eye on government officials and journalists among other high-value targets. Once the ban goes into effect, the app would be pulled from mobile repositories like Apple's App Store and Google Play Store to block downloads, and entities that violate the ban could face up to $10,000 in penalty.
The ban on TikTok is a notable move, but not entirely shocking. In December 2022, Gianforte imposed a ban on installing TikTok on state-issued equipment citing the app's aggressive data harvesting tactics and the resulting alleged national security risks. Just over a week later, the governor also asked that the Montana University System (MUS) ban the usage of TikTok on educational campuses and on its networks, claiming that "even downloading TikTok is a massive security threat."
Over the past year, multiple states and government agencies have prohibited TikTok on devices issued by the state over similar concerns. TikTok, on the other hand, argues that the bill violates the "First Amendment rights of the people of Montana." In a statement shared with Reuters, TikTok says it will fight for its users in Montana and challenge the law. The company is yet to outline the exact methodology it will employ to negate the ban.