Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a historic ban Wednesday, becoming the first state to do so tick tock is completely forbidden.
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Some states and even the federal government had previously banned government employees from using it on company cell phones. Now Montana has banned the use of TikTok statewide, denying its citizens access to the platform.
Montana’s governor justified the move by “protecting the personal and private information of Montana residents from the Chinese Communist Party,” an argument the country has used for years to call for a ban on TikTok.
The new law will come into effect in January 2024 and will fine app stores like Google Play Store and App Store that allow downloading TikTok. The text doesn’t mention anything about app updates for those who already have them installed.
TikTok could still appeal or be sold to avoid being banned outright
In the wording of the law, there is one exception to the ban not happening: if ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, sells the application to a company based in a country that is not considered a “foreign adversary” of the US.
However, the law can also be challenged in court before it comes into force, which should be the case.
The NetChoice association, which represents tech companies like Meta, Twitter and Google, issued a statement saying the new law was “clearly unconstitutional.” In response, TikTok also stated that the law “violates the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by illegally banning TikTok, a platform that empowers hundreds of thousands of people across the state.”
The company said it wants to reassure Montana citizens that they can continue to use TikTok to express themselves, make a living, and find community, while continuing to defend the rights of its users inside and outside of Montana . It remains to be seen whether other states in the country will follow the ban.