TikTok Sues The State Of Montana

EKO HOT BLOG reports that TikTok, the popular video-sharing app, has taken legal action against the state of Montana in response to a newly enacted law that prohibits the use of the platform within the state’s borders.

Montana became the first state in the United States to implement a ban on TikTok after Republican Governor Greg Gianforte signed the bill into law on Wednesday. The legislation is scheduled to go into effect in January 2024.

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Governor Gianforte cited concerns over the protection of Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party as the driving force behind the law.

In response, TikTok filed a lawsuit challenging the ban, arguing that it is unconstitutional. The company expressed confidence in its ability to prevail in court and defended its legal action as necessary to protect its business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana.

A spokesperson for TikTok shared a statement with CBS News, stating, “We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana. We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.”

The lawsuit filed by TikTok contends that the ban imposes prior restraint on the speech of the company and its users, thereby unconstitutionally shutting down the platform as a forum for speech and unfairly targeting TikTok users with the contention that the app’s videos are harmful to minors.

Additionally, the lawsuit argues that matters concerning security concerns related to user data access by the Chinese government fall within the jurisdiction of the U.S. federal government rather than individual states.

Prior to TikTok’s legal action, a group of content creators on the platform based in Montana had already initiated a lawsuit against the state government over the ban. The complaint was filed just hours after the governor signed the bill into law.

The group asserts that the ban infringes upon their First Amendment rights by impeding their access to the platform and hindering their ability to create lawful speech, thereby threatening their livelihoods.

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As the legal battle unfolds, the outcome of TikTok’s lawsuit against Montana and the content creators’ case will be closely watched, as they raise important questions regarding the balance between state legislation, national security concerns, and the protection of free speech rights in the digital age.

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