TikTok filed a lawsuit Monday to block Montana’s TikTok ban, arguing that the ban violates the free speech of the company and its users.
“We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana,” the company, which is owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, said in a statement on Twitter. “We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.”
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill last week that made the state the first in the U.S. to completely ban the app, the Deseret News reported.
Why did Montana ban TikTok?
After signing the bill to ban the app in the Montana, Gianforte stated that he had done so “To protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party.”
Some lawmakers are concerned that TikTok could share user data with the Chinese government, but the company has stated that this has not happened, The Associated Press reported.
TikTok’s lawsuit argues that the “extraordinary and unprecedented measures (are) based on nothing more than unfounded speculation.”
How does the Montana TikTok ban work?
The ban is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2024, though the legal challenge could delay it, The Washington Post reported.
The new law would fine an app store or TikTok $10,000 a day every time someone in the state is “offered the ability” to access or download the social media app, The Associated Press reported.