Montana has become the first US state to ban TikTok, after Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill on Wednesday to halt the operation of the short-form video app.
The ban comes amid growing calls for the Chinese-owned social media platform to be banned across the United States due to concern that it could aid Chinese espionage.
Under the legislation, which Gianforte said will further “our shared priority to protect Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance,” mobile application stores are prohibited from offering TikTok within Montana.
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The legislation also prohibited the use of all social media applications that collect and provide personal information or data to foreign adversaries on government-issued devices.
Gianforte said TikTok could face fines if they violate the ban which takes effect Jan. 1, 2024. The fines, which would not apply to users, include a $10,000 penalty per day for each time someone “is offered the ability” to access the social media platform or download the app.
TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant, ByteDance, has been under intense pressure from Western governments as concern rises that the platform could be used as a conduit pipe by the Chinese Communist Party to harvest personal data of users.
Though the company has repeatedly denied sharing data with the Chinese government, stating that if Beijing asked – it will not do it, Western governments have been skeptical. Since last year, several governments have banned the use of TikTok on official devices.
US lawmakers are working on legislation that will empower President Biden to ban TikTok and other apps perceived as a threat to national security.
TikTok said in a statement that the Montana bill “infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok,” adding that they “will defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana.”
Although Montana has a population of just over 1 million people, the legislation could set off a precedent that other US states, who have already banned the use of TikTok in government-issued devices, could follow.
However, the ban is likely going to set off a legal showdown that will test the First Amendment. A TikTok spokeswoman said in a statement that “Gianforte signed a bill that infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok.”
The spokeswoman didn’t say if the company plans to challenge the legislation in court, but TikTok had done so in a similar situation in the past. In 2020, when former President Donald Trump attempted to ban its operation in the US using executive order, a judge in Pennsylvania blocked the order after the company went to court.
American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU)’s local policy director, Keegan Medrando, said in a statement that Montana’s legislation infringes free speech.
“With this ban, Governor Gianforte and the Montana legislature have trampled on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use the app to express themselves, gather information, and run their small business, in the name of anti-Chinese sentiment,” he said.