Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed legislation Wednesday to ban Chinese-owned TikTok from operating in the state, making it the first state to ban the popular short-video app.
Montana will ban Google and Apple app stores from offering the TikTok app within its borders. The ban goes into effect on January 1, 2024. TikTok, which has more than 150 million US users, is facing growing calls from US lawmakers and state officials to ban the app nationwide over concerns about the Chinese government’s possible influence on the platform.
In March, a congressional committee asked TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew whether the Chinese government could access user data or influence what Americans see on the app. Governor Gianforte, a Republican, said the bill would further “our shared priority of protecting Montanans from surveillance by the Communist Party of China.”
TikTok, owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, said in a statement that the bill “violates the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by illegally banning TikTok,” adding that it “will uphold the rights of our users within and around the country.” outside of Montana.” “
The company has previously denied ever sharing data with the Chinese government and said it would not do so if asked. Montana, which has a population of just over 1 million people, said TikTok could face fines for each violation and additional fines of $10,000 a day if they violate the ban.
The short video app can be downloaded in the Apple and Google device app stores. Google is a unit of Alphabet.
The ban is likely to face numerous legal challenges for violating the free speech rights of First Amendment users. An attempt by then-President Donald Trump to ban new TikTok and WeChat downloads through a Commerce Department order in 2020 was blocked by multiple courts and never took effect.
TikTok’s free speech allies include several Democratic members of Congress, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and First Amendment groups like the American Civil Liberties Union. Gianforte also banned the use of all social media apps that collect and provide personal information or data to foreign adversaries on government-provided devices.
TikTok is working on an initiative called Project Texas, which creates a separate entity to store data from American users in the US on servers run by tech company Oracle.