Montana Governor Greg Gianforte recently signed into law a bill that bans TikTok in the state. The legislation doesn’t target users but fines the app if it operates or stores allow downloads.
This state law has become a test of whether it is possible to prohibit the popular app owned by ByteDance, which is based in China. American legislators view TikTok’s data collection policies as a potential national security concern.
The Montana law is currently set to go into effect on January 1, 2024. Questions have already been raised about how to enforce the rules, and TikTok’s home company has filed a lawsuit challenging the legislation.
A group of TikTok users has filed a separate lawsuit challenging the law, saying it violates their First Amendment Rights.
TikTok Has More Than 150 Million Users in the United States
ByteDance has already been working with the Trump and Biden administrations to create a policy that quells concerns about Chinese ownership while providing access to millions of American users.
Before the Montana law was passed, the company had been waiting for President Biden to approve its operational plan. TikTok is also facing bans on government devices in over 20 states, numerous universities, and military phones or tablets.
Montana started debating the TikTok ban shortly after a spy balloon was detected over the state. According to the legislation, app store operators and ByteDance could face daily fines of $10,000 if they don’t comply with the rules.
In its lawsuit against the state, TikTok claims that Montana lacks the authority to impose these rules because that action regulates commerce between states, a duty Congress should have. They also claim it targets specific groups or individuals for punishment, violating a constitutional prohibition.
TikTok released the following statement with its lawsuit.
“The TikTok ban singles out the TikTok application for this punishment, notwithstanding that the data allegedly collected by the app is no different in kind than data collected from any number of other sources and that is widely available in the data broker market.”
Even if the courts don’t block the Montana legislation, critics believe enforcing it will be difficult, if not impossible.
TikTok Users Could Disguise Their Location
People believe that if the courts uphold Montana’s law banning TikTok, users will use virtual private networks (VPNs) to disguise their locations. Those in border towns could get data access from a cell tower in another state, bypassing another restriction point.
Tracking users across VPN nodes is still possible, but much more cost- and time-intensive than it is by IP addresses.
According to TechNet, app stores can’t restrict downloads in a single state. Legislators disagree, saying that the same technology that bans online gambling could apply to the video-sharing platform.
TikTok hopes the lawsuit will cause the court to rule that the law is invalid and permanently enjoin the state from enforcing it. Since the rules aren’t enforceable until 2024, the litigation is proceeding without a temporary restraining order.
If the state courts uphold the law, it could eventually be brought before the Supreme Court.