Status: 04/15/2023 09:04 am
The US state of Montana may introduce the first total ban on the TikTok app in the country. The governor’s decision. But the video platform could be under threat in the United States.
Concerns have been growing in the United States for some time that the China-developed TikTok video platform could pose a security risk. Montana is now the first US state to completely ban the app in the future.
The Montana House of Representatives passed legislation on Friday night that would allow for an outright ban on TikTok. If it comes to fruition, the app for the online platform launched by the Chinese group Bytedance should no longer be available for download in app stores from next January. Additionally, TikTok is no longer expected to operate as a company in the state. Users who installed the app on their cell phones before the law came into effect would not be affected by the new rules.
High fines for planned violations
If providers continue to offer the app in the event of a ban, they or TikTok itself would have to pay a hefty fine: $10,000 per day. However, users are not subject to fines in case of violation.
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte will now decide whether the outright ban will actually take place. He initially left it open whether he would agree to the law. His spokesman said only that Gianforte would examine the model “carefully”.
It is already taboo about official cell phones in public bodies
Last December, the United States introduced a law that prohibits employees of federal agencies from using TikTok on their corporate cell phones. And the US is not an isolated case: also in Denmark and Canada, the short video application is taboo for government officials. And the EU Commission also introduced such a ban for officials.
The concern behind the ban: Security officials fear that China could gain access to sensitive data through the app. About three and a half weeks ago, Shou Zi Chew, head of TikTok, had to comment on these allegations before the US Congress. He assured that China has never received US data through the app and never will.
However, Democrats and Republicans have jointly developed a bill that could result in the video platform being banned altogether in the United States. The US Congress must decide on this by the end of the year.