Montana becomes first US State to ban TikTok
Montana has been recorded as the first US State to ban TikTok after the governor signed the legislation prohibiting mobile application stores from offering the app within the state by next year.
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Since TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny over its ties to China, amid concerns that such links could pose a national security threat, The federal government, and more than half of US states, have prohibited the app on government devices.
Montana’s new law, which will take effect 1 January, prohibits downloads of TikTok in the state and would fine any “entity” – an app store or TikTok – $10,000 per day for each time someone “is offered the ability” to access the social media platform or download the app. The penalties would not apply to users.
Meanwhile, TikTok said in a statement that the Montana bill “infringes on the first amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok”, and that the company intends to “defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana”.
Also, in March, TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, was forced to defend his company’s relationship with China at a bipartisan congressional hearing, with lawmakers also grilling the CEO on the social network’s impact on the mental health of young people.
TikTok is one of the world’s most popular social networks with more than 100 million US users, and questions remain about how such bans will be enforced and what their impact will be on creators who use the platform.
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