First anti-Chinese move in the United States. The Montana became the first U.S. state to ban the use of TikTok, the popular video sharing social network from property of the Chinese company ByteDance. The governor of Montana, the Republican Greg Gianforte, signed a readers special (law SB 419) which bans the app, citing the need to protect personal data and information of citizens from the presumed risk of data collection by the Chinese Communist Party. The law passed with a 54-43 majority vote.
Law in force since January 2024
Il prohibition to operate within the state is the first of its kind and provides that i app distributors on digital stores (such as Google, Apple and Windows) stop making available the popular Social Network on their online stores. The risk is fines up to 10.000 EUR. For those who use TikTok, on the other hand, there are no penalties. There law will come into effect starting from 2024st January XNUMX. The only solution proposed to ByteDance to avoid the ban of TikTok from all over the USA is that the social is sold to an American owner.
Probable the launch of a lawsuit that could also influence the regulation of the app at a national level. In particular, the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which guarantees the Freedom of expression. TikTok could file an appeal to block the application of the law or delay its entry into force.
TikTok defends itself: illegal law
TikTok spokesperson for America Brooke Oberwetter declared that the law "violates the First Amendment” then reassuring the citizens of Montana about the use of the app: “We want to reassure the citizens of Montana that they can continue to use TikTok to express themselves, earn a living and find a community, while we continue to work for defend the rights of our users in and out of Montana,” the spokeswoman tweeted. Support for TikTok came from some associations of lawyers who deal with civil rights and freedom of expression, including theAmerican Union for Civil Liberties, who expressed doubts about the constitutionality of the law passed by Montana. Me too'American Civil Liberties of Montana e NetChoice, a trade advocacy group that counts Google and TikTok among its members, called SB 419 "fundamentally against the Constitution."
TikTok increasingly in the sights of the West
TikTok has come under fire from the West because of data security concerns and the ipotential influence of the Chinese government. TikTok is one of the most downloaded and popular social networks in the world, with over a billion active users globally, and it is the only social network used in the West that belongs to a Chinese company. In recent months, governments have expressed concern that the large amount of data collected by the app could be used by China to spy users, promote their own political interests or interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. For this reason, the European Commission and other Western countries have already banned their employees from use TikTok on the devices you use for work.
In the US, several members of Congress have drafted bills, though not yet in the consideration stage, to ban TikTok nationwide or give the president the power to enforce such a ban. In March, the administration Biden has officially demanded the Chinese company ByteDance to sell its shares in the company, otherwise threatening to ban its use nationwide. Also in March, theinterrogation, to the ByteDance CEO's US Congress Shou Chew in which he tried to present the company as private and independent from the Chinese government, but without fully convincing senators and representatives.
