Montana faces lawsuit from TikTok following ban on the Chinese-owned app
TikTok argues that Montana's ban infringes upon the constitutional right to free speech protected by the First Amendment
Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok filed a lawsuit yesterday in a US federal court, seeking to prevent the state of Montana from enforcing a complete ban on the app. The action follows the recent signing of a law by Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, which effectively prohibits the use of TikTok within the state.
TikTok's lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Montana, seeks to challenge the 'unlawful' ban imposed by the state. In the complaint, TikTok asserts that Montana's ban infringes upon the constitutional right to free speech protected by the First Amendment.
TikTok also argues that Montana is exceeding its jurisdiction by attempting to regulate national security matters instead of deferring to federal regulators, which consequently imposes unnecessary obstacles on the company's ability to engage in interstate business within the US. TikTok contends that the ban is grounded in 'unfounded speculation' regarding potential Chinese government access to TikTok's data.
"We are challenging Montana's unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana," a TikTok spokesperson said.
"We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts."
TikTok's lawsuit names Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who holds the responsibility of enforcing the law in question.
The TikTok ban in Montana is scheduled to go into effect in January 2024. According to the law, any 'entity,' including app stores or TikTok itself, would be subject to fines each time an opportunity is provided for someone to access the platform or download the app. The law does not impose penalties on individual TikTok users. The ban would be invalidated if TikTok is acquired by a company incorporated in a country that is not designated as a foreign adversary by the United States.
Gianforte said last week that the decisive action against TikTok would "protect Montanans' private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party."
The ban follows from one on the use of TikTok on government devices, implemented last December.
Last week, five TikTok creators took legal action by filing their own lawsuit against the state of Montana. Central to their argument also is the violation of the First Amendment.
"The law takes the broadest possible approach to its objectives, restricting and banning the protected speech of all TikTok users in Montana to prevent the speculative and unsubstantiated possibility that the Chinese government might direct TikTok Inc., or its parent, to spy on some Montana users, " the creators argued.
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has faced accusations from numerous US politicians who assert that the app is influenced by the Chinese government and potentially used as an espionage tool by Beijing. TikTok has consistently denied these allegations and maintains that it does not provide users' data to the Chinese government.
In 2020, former President Donald Trump attempted to prevent new downloads of TikTok and the Chinese-owned app WeChat. However, a series of court decisions intervened and blocked the implementation of these bans.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner has emphasised that due to the potential for the federal court to overturn Montana's ban, it becomes increasingly important for Congress to pass the legislation he introduced. This legislation aims to grant the US president new powers to impose restrictions or outright bans on TikTok and other foreign-owned applications.
Earlier this year, the UK government imposed a ban on TikTok's usage on government devices, with immediate effect. The ban applies to work phones used by ministers and civil servants; however, it does not extend to their personal phones.
In March, the BBC also issued a recommendation to its employees, urging them to remove TikTok from their work-related mobile devices.
"We don't recommend installing TikTok on a BBC corporate device unless there is a justified business reason," a guidance issued by the company said.
"If you do not need TikTok for business reasons, TikTok should be deleted."