Mountain forbade TikTokthrough a law that will enter into force next year and that fuels the debate about the impact and the security of the popular video application.
With this measure, Montana becomes the America’s first state to ban the famous social network from China.
Prohibition became law with the signature of the governor, Greg Gianforte, and will serve as legal proof of a national ban on the platform, something that congressmen in Washington are increasingly calling for.
TikTok will not operate within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana,” a copy of the newly created law reads on the state’s website.
It is considered a violation of the law any time “a user accesses TikTok, is given the ability to access TikTok, or is given the ability to download TikTok” and each violation is punishable by a $10,000 fine for each day it occurs.
Under this law, Apple and Google will have to remove TikTok from their app stores, with exposure to potential daily fines.
The decision will almost certainly be challenged through lawsuits.
Political leaders in the state have “trampled on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use the app to express themselves, gather information and grow their small businesses, in the name of anti-Chinese sentiment,” said Keegan Medrano, director of policy at the Montana headquarters of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The ban will take effect in 2024but it will be reversed if TikTok is acquired by a company based in a country that is not designated by the United States as a “foreign adversary,” the law says.
Governor Gianforte signed a law that infringes the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by illegally banning TikTok,” a company spokeswoman told AFP.
We want to make sure the people of Montana can continue to use TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community.”
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TikTok has been emphatic in saying that it will be the courts that ultimately decide the constitutional nature of the ban.
With information from AFP
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