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On Friday, April 14, Montana lawmakers announced that they had passed legislation to bank TikTok.
Montana is the first state to vote to officially ban the Chinese app, deeming it a potential security threat.
According to NPR, lawmakers are concerned that the Chinese Community Party may use TikTok to covertly steal data from American citizens, for the ultimate purpose of researching potential disinformation campaigns.
According to the Associated Press, 33 American states have already banned downloading the app for use on any device owned by the Federal Government. The state of Montana, however, has taken the legislation a step further. If the legislation is signed into law, it will be deemed illegal for anyone to have the app within state lines.
Responses to the ban on TikTok
As per BBC, if the law is approved by Governor Greg Gianforte, it will be implemented in January. Politicians noted that TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese internet technology company which is partially run by an internal Chinese Community Party committee.
Supporters of the ban noted that a 2017 Chinese intelligence law states that private companies within China are obligated to hand over data to the nation's government. While TikTok has publicly claimed that they will never go through with this demand, American lawmakers remain uncertain about where their loyalties lie.
Along with the potential threat supposedly posed by TikTok, lawmakers stated that the app also promotes dangerous and unlawful activities among young people. These include playing with fire, throwing objects out of moving vehicles, and even hijacking cars.
A spokesperson from the Governor's office said:
"The governor will carefully consider any bill the legislature sends to his desk."
In response to the decision by lawmakers, the company announced that they will attempt to stop the ban. In an official statement, spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter spoke out against the decision of Montana lawmakers, citing freedom of speech as a primary reason.
Oberwetter said:
"We will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana whose livelihoods and First Amendment rights are threatened by this egregious government overreach."
Obewetter also noted that several American citizens are employed at the company, and that banning the app over unfounded suspicions could potentially ruin American lives.
He said:
"Also not mentioned today by members of the committee: the livelihoods of the 5 million businesses (associated with the company) or the First Amendment implications of banning a platform loved by 150 million Americans."
Shou Zi Chew, the Chief Executive of the company, claimed that Chinese Government officials have never received access to their data. Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers asked the Chief Executive if he could answer with '100% certainty' that the company would not pass on data to the Chinese Government. In response, Chew said that the company was free from government manipulation, an answer that Rodgers deemed evasive.
