As the latest legislative danger to TikTok’s survival in the United States, Montana legislators have passed a measure to outlaw the app’s operation in the state. If passed, Senate Bill 419 would make it illegal for Montana’s mobile app shops to promote or link to the TikTok app. The prohibition was passed by the Montana House of Representatives by a vote of 54 to 43. If passed, the measure would impose fines on mobile app retailers like Apple’s and Google’s as well as TikTok if they break the restriction. The state’s plan for enforcing the prohibition is unclear.
The next step is for Governor Greg Gianforte to sign the measure into law in Montana. A spokesman for the governor’s office said, “The governor will carefully review whatever law the legislature puts to his desk.” With this outrageous government overreach, we will continue to fight for TikTok users and artists in Montana,” the company stated in a statement. Concerns over potential Chinese government control over TikTok have led some American legislators to demand for a statewide ban on the app, which is owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance.
The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, was questioned by a congressional panel last month over concerns that the Chinese government would be able to access user data or exert influence over what Americans see on the app. TikTok has rejected rumors that it has ever given user data with the Chinese government and has stated that it would not comply with such requests in the future. Project Texas is a project being developed by the corporation to form a separate organization for storing data from American users on servers located in the United States and managed by the technology firm Oracle.
