TikTok has filed a lawsuit in Montana, which recently became the first state to sign a bill banning the popular app statewide starting Jan. 1, citing national security concerns related to its Chinese owner.
TikTok has filed a lawsuit in Montana over a new law that will ban the app statewide next year. According to the social network, the new state law prohibiting the app statewide would violate the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
The lawsuit comes days after Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a law on May 17 banning app stores from offering TikTok in Montana starting Jan. 1, 2024. Gianforte said the law protected citizens from the Chinese Communist Party’s foreign influencebecause TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based company.
TikTok wants to have its ban reversed
The Montana ban will not prevent current users from accessing the app. Rather, it aims to disrupt the availability of the app by threatening companies such as TikTok, Apple and Google witha $10,000 fine for each day the app remains in app stores from which users in Montana can download it.
In response, TikTok therefore filed a complaint with the Montana District Court. A company spokesperson said: We are challenging the unconstitutional ban on TikTok in Montana to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana. We believe our legal action will be successful based on an extremely solid set of precedents and facts. “.
TikTok also claims that it is illegal for states to implement these bans.on the grounds that the federal government has the sole authority to address threats to national security.
While Montana’s ban is the first to be approved, TikTok has already challenged other federal attempts to ban its app nationwide. Several weeks ago, the CEO of the application, Shou Zi Chew, had also had to defend the cause of his company with local senators about the processing of data from American users.