Montana TikTok ban sparks range of reactions, including a lawsuit to block the ban

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed legislation to ban TikTok in the state, effective Jan. 1. On Thursday, five TikTok users in Montana who create content posted on the short-video app filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block the ban. The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Montana late on Wednesday, names the state's attorney general, Austin Knudsen, who is charged with enforcing the law.

The TikTok users argue the state seeks to "exercise powers over national security that Montana does not have and to ban speech Montana may not suppress." The suit said users believe the law violates their First Amendment rights.

TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, has faced growing calls from US lawmakers and state officials to ban the app nationwide over concerns about potential Chinese government influence over the platform.

Some Montana residents cautiously agree with the ban, citing "serious" and "inherent" risks with TikTok.

But Jenna Leventoff, Senior Policy Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said there are many factors to consider around the ban, including the impact on small businesses in Montana.

"People are concerned. They're concerned about losing their access to this app, especially small business owners. I have heard from people in Montana that use TikTok to access customers across the country. It's a really small state. The customer base is small. They need TikTok, you know, to build a business," she explained.

Leventoff expressed scepticism over the national security argument.

"Throughout our history, the government has used national security concerns to justify violations of our free speech rights. It's the oldest trick in the book to try to justify taking away the speech of Americans, and that's why it's something that we need to fight. We can't just accept the idea that something is bad for national security and therefore justifies limiting our speech," she said.

Montana, which has a population of just over 1 million people, said TikTok could face fines for each violation and additional fines of $10,000 per day if it violates the ban.

David Choffnes, an Associate Professor of Cybersecurity at Northeastern University feels the ban will be difficult to enforce. He added that he does not "personally see TikTok as a particularly greater threat than any other major company in the US that is also collecting large amounts of data from us and that isn't targeted by the Montana law or any law in the US"

Christian Poole is a Montana-based TikTok creator, who makes what he characterizes as "satirical" videos about Montana. Poole criticized the ban. He explained that although he only creates his TikTok content for "fun" and only makes a little bit of money off of it, a ban would affect him negatively.

"So, you know, but yet, there’s still work put into it. There’s still four years, of, you know, me growing this fan base. And all of a sudden, you know, one day, our governor doesn’t like it, it goes away… I don’t know. I’d be pretty p.o.’d a bit," he said.

TikTok on Wednesday, shortly after the governor signed the bill, said Montana's ban "infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok," and said it will "continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana."

TikTok has repeatedly denied that it has ever shared data with the Chinese government and has said the company would not do so if asked.

Reuters