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San Francisco (AFP) – TikTok filed a lawsuit in US federal court on Monday, May 22, to prevent Montana from implementing a general ban on the social network in that state, in the northwestern United States.
The unprecedented ban, which will take effect in 2024, violates the right to freedom of expression, protected in the US Constitution, TikTok argued in its lawsuit.
“We believe our legal recourse will prevail based on a very strong set of precedents and facts,” a TikTok spokesperson told AFP.
The ban was signed into law by Montana Governor Greg Gianforte’s signature on May 17.
Gianforte said on Twitter that he supported the ban to “protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Communist Party of China.”
“The state has enacted these extraordinary and unprecedented measures based on nothing more than unfounded speculation,” TikTok said in the text.
Last week, five TikTok users filed an appeal in Montana federal court to overturn the blanket ban, also arguing that it violates their right to free speech.
Both appeals underscore the argument that Montana is trying to seize powers from the federal government, which is responsible for national security issues.
TikTok asked the federal court to declare the ban on its platform unconstitutional and to prevent the state from enforcing it.
“Montana cannot prohibit its residents from consulting or posting on TikTok, just as it cannot prohibit the Wall Street Journal based on who owns it or because of the ideas it publishes,” say the users of the social network who filed the lawsuit.
unprecedented measure
The short video sharing app belongs to the Chinese group ByteDance and several US lawmakers think it allows Beijing to spy on and manipulate its users, which the company denies.
Montana became the first US state to ban this social network. The law will take effect next year as debate intensifies over the impact and safety of the popular app.
The ban will serve as a test case for an eventual national ban, something lawmakers in Washington are increasingly calling for.
Montana’s measure makes it an infringement any time “a user accesses TikTok, is offered the ability to access TikTok, or is offered the ability to download TikTok.”
Each violation is punishable by a fine of $10,000 for each day it occurs.
Under this law, Apple and Google will have to remove TikTok from their app stores and the companies will face possible fines.
The ban will be lifted if TikTok is acquired by a company based in a country that is not designated by the United States as a “foreign adversary,” according to the text of the law.
The cases should move quickly through court, as they focus on pieces of law that don’t require gathering much evidence, according to Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor.
“There are very compelling constitutional arguments that favor the plaintiffs,” Tobías said.
“First, freedom of expression; and second, that this is a matter for the federal government and not for any individual state,” he added.
The law is the latest skirmish in the duels between TikTok and many Western governments. The app is already banned on government devices in the United States, Canada, and several countries in Europe.
AFP
