Montana Gov. Signs Statewide TikTok Ban
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte on Wednesday banned TikTok from operating in the state.
Citing concerns over intelligence gathering by "foreign adversaries," the Republican governor signed Senate Bill 419(Opens in a new window), making Montana the first US state to prohibit use of or access to the social network for everyone, not just on government-issued devices, effective Jan. 1, 2024.
The move comes one month after Montana legislators voted 54-43 to ban the short-form video app from operating in the state. In December, Gianforte also banned TikTok(Opens in a new window) on state equipment and for state business in Montana.
"The Chinese Community Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented," Gianforte said. "Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans' private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Community Party."
According to the bill text, those who violate the law—in this case meaning TikTok itself and app stores that list it for download—could be fined $10,000 "each time that a user accesses TikTok, is offered the ability to access TikTok, or is offered the ability to download TikTok." They'll also face an additional $10,000 each day thereafter. (It does not address web-based TikTok access.)
The penalties do not apply to individual users who download TikTok onto their devices. Also exempt: law enforcement activities, national security interests and activities, security research activities, or essential government uses permitted by the governor, the bill text says.
"Gov. Gianforte has signed a bill that infringes on the First Amendment rights of
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