United States: The state of Montana has passed a law to ban TikTok

Montana passed a law on Friday to ban TikTok, which is unlikely to be enforced as it stands, but could strengthen the US’s desire to ban the popular site from Chinese group Bite Dance.

With 54 votes in favor (43 against), SB419 legislation has yet to be released by the Republican governor of this northwestern state of more than a million people. The text orders mobile application stores (Apple and Google) to stop distributing TikTok.

Like many Democrats and Republicans elected to the U.S. Congress, the Montana representative believes the platform for short and entertaining videos, frequented by 150 million Americans, allows Beijing to spy on and manipulate users. Rep. Brandon Lehr said Thursday that “it’s time to stand up to the Chinese and ban TikTok” after accusations against China of “risky use of our data and our intellectual property” and “health and safety.” younger

“TikTok allows and encourages dangerous stunts like throwing objects at moving vehicles or taking overdoses,” he added. TikTok has denied these allegations for years. Asked by a congressional committee in Washington in March, the company’s boss, Sho Shiv, presented steps taken to store all data of American users only in the United States.

“This law is a shocking violation of Montanans’ rights to free speech” and “sets a devastating precedent,” responded Vanessa Pappas, TikTok’s director of operations, after the Montana Senate voted in favor. Ban in early March.

Democratic lawmakers who oppose the new law argued during Thursday’s debate that many of the criticisms leveled at TikTok over data privacy, misinformation or adverse health effects (addiction, depression, etc.) apply to other social networks. “There is a huge gap between the most serious issues of this matter and (…) the lack of expertise of this assembly”, declared Zooey Zephyr.

The representative also pointed out that Montana residents can download or update the app by accessing the border with neighboring states or through a VPN (virtual private network) that allows Internet access from another location. Several independent experts noted that the law will almost certainly be challenged in court and is unlikely to be used as it stands.

Apple and Google did not immediately respond to AFP’s requests. The text mentions penalties for infringing companies, but not for users. It also stated that the law would be void if TikTok was acquired by a company from a country “not considered an enemy” of the United States.

The White House recently encouraged TikTok to seek this type of solution — a takeover by an American company — if it wants to stay in the US. The government is talking to Congress about several bills to ban the use.