![[Img #74675]](https://thelatestnews.world/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/They-discover-a-new-class-of-X-ray-sources-in-the-150x150.jpg)
First modification:
The governor of Montana outlaws the social video network from 2024 “to protect the personal and private data of the users from the Chinese Communist Party” of the state. Criticism of organizations in favor of freedom of expression”.
“To protect the personal and private data of Montanans from the Chinese Communist Party, I have banned TikTok in Montana,” Montana Governor Greg Gianforte tweeted Wednesday.
TikTok is just one app tied to foreign adversaries. Today I directed the state’s Chief Information Officer to ban any application that provides personal information or data to foreign adversaries from the state network. pic.twitter.com/92Im6D9Jgx
— Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) May 17, 2023
The ban was signed into law with his signature and will serve as legal evidence of a nationwide ban on the platform, something congressmen in Washington are increasingly calling for.
“TikTok will not operate within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana,” reads the state’s website via a copy of the newly created law.
It is considered a violation of the law any time “a user accesses TikTok, is given the ability to access TikTok, or is given the ability to download TikTok” and each violation is punishable by a $10,000 fine for each day it occurs.
Under this law, Apple and Google will have to remove TikTok from their app stores, with exposure to potential daily fines.
The decision will almost certainly be challenged through lawsuits.
Political leaders in the state have “trampled on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use the app to express themselves, gather information and grow their small businesses, in the name of anti-Chinese sentiment,” said Keegan Medrano, director of policy at the Montana headquarters of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
This law tramples on our free speech rights under the guise of national security and lays the groundwork for excessive government control over the internet.
Elected officials do not have the right to selectively censor all social media apps based on their country of origin.
— ACLU (@ACLU) May 17, 2023
“Foreign Adversary”
The ban will take effect in 2024, but it will be reversed if TikTok is acquired by a company based in a country that is not designated by the United States as a “foreign adversary,” the law says.
“Governor Gianforte signed a law that infringes the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by an illegal ban on TikTok,” a company spokeswoman told AFP.
“We want to make sure that the people of Montana can continue to use TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community,” he added.
TikTok has been emphatic in saying that it will be the courts that ultimately decide the constitutional nature of the ban.
Several leaders want to extend the ban to the entire country. The video platform is used by 150 million Americans and, according to its detractors, would allow Beijing to spy on and manipulate users. They also point out its harmful effects on young people (addiction, depression). Some Democrats counter that other social networks, like Instagram, also deserve to be regulated.
The White House encourages the Chinese group ByteDance, owner of TikTok, to sell the application to an American company in order to remain in the country.
(With AFP)
