TikTok is Suing the US State of Montana

Despite being in another country, this could spell trouble for Aussie users.

Social media app TikTok is taking the US state of Montana to court over the state’s decision to ban TikTok altogether.

#BREAKING: TikTok is suing the State of #Montana over their ban of the app. pic.twitter.com/6HO2FN052B

— Hexdline (@HexdlineNews) May 22, 2023

Montana’s government announced their decision to ban the Chinese-owned app last week over concerns about data security for users.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte said the ban would aid “our shared priority to protect Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance”.

TikTok argues that the ban will violate the First Amendment rights of the company and its users.

In the US, the First Amendment protects free speech and freedom of association.

Under the ban, which is set to come into force on 1 January, TikTok and app stores that host TikTok face fines of $10,000 USD every time they violate the restrictions and an additional $10,000 for every day of continued violation.

But it’s not clear how Montana could even enforce banning an app within it’s borders, as there doesn’t seem to be anything stopping users from downloading it elsewhere or using tools like a VPN.

Individual TikTok users are not targeted by the ban, but that doesn’t mean TikTok users aren’t upset with the ban.

Last week, five individual TikTok users also filed a lawsuit to block the state’s ban.

It’s not the first time TikTok has faced bans this year – TikTok was banned for use on US and Australian government-issued devices over security concerns.

In March, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was grilled by the US congress in a viral hearing where he argued TikTok has no official connection with the Chinese government.

“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” he said.

The move to ban an app like TikTok is unprecedented, and TikTok users and experts alike are wary of the impact it will have going ahead.

Professor Matthew Warren, Director at RMIT’s Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation said the ban poses a threat to the “global system” of the internet.

“The Internet and how it is controlled and monitored is changing, and this change is referred to as the ‘splinternet’. This is when the Internet will break down into regional versions of the Internet, e.g., China, Russia, Iran, Turkey and the West,” he said. 

“The dream of the internet being a global system ultimately disappears.”