Montana Bans TikTok: What Does This Mean For Individual Users?

Montana has become the first state to ban TikTok within the state after Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill Wednesday prohibiting the use of the Chinese-owned social media platform "within the territorial jurisdiction" of the state.

The bill, SB 419, demands mobile app stores like Google Play and Apple's App Store to make TikTok unavailable for residents of Montana in order "to protect Montanans' personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party," Gianforte tweeted.

In a nutshell, SB 419 said that "TikTok may not operate within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana," and mobile app stores may not offer "the option to download the TikTok mobile application."

An earlier version of the bill directed internet service providers to totally disallow access to the app, but the provision did not make it into the final text.

Although the bill did not provide any criminal liabilities to users of TikTok, app store operators who will continue to offer TikTok could be fined up to $10,000 per violation per day, and the individual violation is defined as "each time that a user accesses TikTok, is offered the ability to access TikTok, or is offered the ability to download TikTok."

However, a loophole in the bill was found since it doesn't state whether one can use the app through a web interface. It only penalizes app stores for the option to download. It didn't also provide any details about those who already have TikTok on their mobile phones.

And if TikTok severs ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance, and the new owner isn't located in any "foreign adversary" country, the law would be automatically void.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for TikTok said in a series of tweets that the law is an infringement of Montanans' First Amendment rights.

"Governor Gianforte has signed a bill that infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of #Montana by unlawfully banning #TikTok, a platform that empowers hundreds of thousands of people across the state," Brooke Oberwetter said.

"We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of users inside and outside of Montana," she added.

Technology trade group NetChoice called the bill unconstitutional.

"The government may not block our ability to access constitutionally protected speech – whether it is in a newspaper, on a website, or via an app. In implementing this law, Montana ignores the U.S. Constitution, due process and free speech by denying access to a website and apps their citizens want to use," Carl Szabo, the NetChoice's general counsel, said, per CNN.

Aside from TikTok, social media applications "tied to foreign adversaries" like ByteDance-owned CapCut, Lemon8 and Russia-founded Telegram Messenger were likewise prohibited.