Montana Governor signed a law on Wednesday banning TikTok.
Republican Governor Greg GianforteTwitter Wednesday that he banned TikTok “to protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party.”
The bill, set to take effect in January, was passed by the Montana House 54-43 before it hit Gianforte’s desk, according to the bill’s You can find out more about this by clicking here..
Montana was the first to ban TikTok because of a perceived risk to security due to the fact the app’s owner is based in China.
“TikTok is a wholly owned subsidiary of ByteDance, a Chinese corporation,” the Bill reads. “The People’s Republic of China exercises control and oversight over ByteDance [owner of TikTok], like other Chinese corporations, and can direct the company to share user information, including real-time physical locations of users.”
The bill states that any “entity” that violates the ban could be fined $10,000 for each violation and an additional $10,000 for each day the violation continues. Mobile app stores offering TikTok could face fines.
In addition to the alleged security risk, dangerous content is also listed as the reason for the ban.
“TikTok fails to remove, and may even promote, dangerous content that directs minors to engage in dangerous activities,” the bill reads. “TikTok’s allowance and promotion of dangerous challenges threatens the health and safety of Montanans.”
The ACLU Contact us for more information. to the news of the ban by saying, “this law tramples on our free speech rights under the guise of national security and lays the groundwork for excessive government control over the internet.”
“Elected officials do not have the right to selectively censor entire social media apps based on their country of origin,” the ACLU tweeted.
Governor also released TikTok. You can also read more about it here. stating that he will be prohibiting the use of any apps that are tied to foreign adversaries on state-issued devices and while on the state’s network.
“Foreign adversaries’ collection and use of Montanans’ personal information and data from social media applications infringe on Montanans’ constitutionally guaranteed individual right to privacy,” wrote Gianforte.