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TikTok files lawsuit to stop ban in US state of Montana

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed the unprecedented prohibition into law on 17 May to come into effect in 2024.

TIKTOK HAS FILED a suit in US federal court to stop the state of Montana from implementing a ban on the video sharing app.

The unprecedented ban, set to start in 2024, violates the constitutionally protected right to free speech, TikTok argued in the suit.

“We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts,” a TikTok spokesperson told AFP.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed the unprecedented prohibition into law on 17 May.

Gianforte said on Twitter that he endorsed the ban in order to “protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party.”

“The state has enacted these extraordinary and unprecedented measures based on nothing more than unfounded speculation,” TikTok contended in its lawsuit.

Five TikTok users last week filed a suit of their own, calling on a federal court to overturn Montana’s ban on the app, arguing that it violates their free speech rights.

The state is trying to exercise national security power that only the federal government can wield and is violating free speech rights in the process, both suits filed against Montana argue.

TikTok called on the federal court to declare the Montana ban on its app unconstitutional and block the state from ever putting it into effect.

“Montana can no more ban its residents from viewing or posting to TikTok than it could ban the Wall Street Journal because of who owns it or the ideas it publishes,” the lawsuit filed by TikTok users contends.

The app is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance and is accused by a wide swath of US politicians of being under the tutelage of the Chinese government and a tool of espionage by Beijing, something the company furiously denies.

Montana became the first US state to ban TikTok, with the law set to take effect next year as debate escalates over the impact and security of the popular video app.

The prohibition will serve as a legal test for a national ban of the platform, something that lawmakers in Washington are increasingly calling for.

The Montana ban makes it a violation each time “a user accesses TikTok, is offered the ability to access TikTok, or is offered the ability to download TikTok.”

Each violation is punishable by a $10,000 fine every day it takes place.

Under the law, Apple and Google will have to remove TikTok from their app stores and companies will face possible daily fines.

The prohibition will take effect in 2024, but would be voided if TikTok is acquired by a company incorporated in a country not designated by the United States as a foreign adversary, the law reads.

The law is the latest skirmish in duels between TikTok and many western governments, with the app already banned on government devices in the United States, Canada and several countries in Europe.

© AFP 2023

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    Mute Maria Mcphillips
    Favourite Maria Mcphillips
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    May 22nd 2023, 10:21 PM

    Wish it was banned everywhere. Has the kids gone dulally, crazy

    184
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    Mute Ní neart go cur le chéile.
    Favourite Ní neart go cur le chéile.
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    May 22nd 2023, 10:42 PM

    @Maria Mcphillips: so why tiktok is ok in China? What the gov and company have done to the problem? Are their parents doing differently? Can the west learn anything from them?

    8
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    Mute Garreth mc mahon
    Favourite Garreth mc mahon
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    May 22nd 2023, 10:50 PM

    @Ní neart go cur le chéile.: the app has time restrictions in China and content is completely different to what we see. Alot of videos are educational based and driven by the state, compared to the crap we see.

    112
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    Mute Nick Cahill
    Favourite Nick Cahill
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    May 22nd 2023, 10:54 PM

    @Ní neart go cur le chéile.: It operates under a different name in China. The Chinese are sound out.

    20
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    Mute Ní neart go cur le chéile.
    Favourite Ní neart go cur le chéile.
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    May 22nd 2023, 11:27 PM

    @Garreth mc mahon: why the western gov can’t do the same? use its platform to educate, encourage kids, promo positive…

    14
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    Mute Dave Wave
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    May 22nd 2023, 11:44 PM

    @Ní neart go cur le chéile.: They dont have that right, different laws/regimes.

    23
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    Mute Jason O Flynn
    Favourite Jason O Flynn
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    May 23rd 2023, 6:15 AM

    “Ban Tik Tok, it’s destroying our children ‘.
    “And assault rifles.?
    “Nah. . . They’re ok.
    USA
    USA
    USA

    68
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    Mute Nestor
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    May 22nd 2023, 10:46 PM

    It is Neo-McCarthyism. I often wondered how McCarthyism could have lasted so long but it seems that if accusations are made often enough, people believe them.

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    Mute Dave Wave
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    May 22nd 2023, 11:51 PM

    @Nestor: My guess is that they don’t care in the slightest about the data sharing with the ccp and are just using that as an excuse to ban it. I believe wholeheartedly, that the platform is socially and intellectually destructive. Constitutional laws must be held as sacred though so they need to find another way to counter it.

    38
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    Mute Alan
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    May 23rd 2023, 1:59 AM

    Protect our data from China. How is protecting it from the US? Seems a fine that will probably end up been reduced is enough punishment for Meta

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    Mute Niall Ó Cofaigh
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    May 23rd 2023, 2:29 AM

    @Alan: well as I read this article I see Meta is fined a huge amount for transferring non US user data to the USA. This gives a proven stronger point to ban all Meta products than to ban TikTok for unproven allegations, even if the claim that TikTok spied on a few journalists. Not sure how much data we sent to Google… but certainly a lot more than to TikTok

    38
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    Mute Hughie Lynch
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    May 22nd 2023, 10:46 PM

    Can they not just create a 40 second video rather than spend millions on lawyers?

    24
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    Mute Dave Wave
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    May 22nd 2023, 11:58 PM

    @Hughie Lynch: they are confident their lip sync dance duet to a Taylor swift song will be a strong opening arguement. Apparently the state can’t dance a lick and doesn’t even have 1k followers

    22
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    Mute Kieran Menon
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    May 22nd 2023, 11:00 PM

    Surprised TikTok hasn’t been sued to oblivion due to all the dangerous “Challenges” it allows to trend resulting in lots of deaths of impressionable young idiots.

    54
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    Mute Gearóid MacEachaidh
    Favourite Gearóid MacEachaidh
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    May 23rd 2023, 9:06 AM

    The fact that they think it’s even possible to ban it in Montana shows how out of touch they are with reality. If you haven’t watched it already check out the video of the tiktok CEO appearing before Congress several weeks ago. The questions they were asking him were hilarious.

    9
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