Amid a surge in security concerns, The US State of Montana bans TikTok video-sharing social networking app completely and has become the first US state to do so.
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday (local time), the Republican Governor Greg Gianforte announced the ban on TikTok in Montana, saying that it is done to protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party.
“TikTok is just one app tied to foreign adversaries. Today I directed the state’s Chief Information Officer to ban any application that provides personal information or data to foreign adversaries from the state network,” Gianforte tweeted.
“I prohibited the use of TikTok on state devices which poses a significant risk to the security of our state and Montanans’ sensitive data.”
Gianforte said that TikTok posed a “significant risk” to confidential state information when Montana banned the app on devices used by the government in December 2022. The federal government and more than half of the states in the US have a comparable ban on video-sharing social networking platforms.
The ban will likely be challenged in court, and the TikTok-free America that many national lawmakers have envisioned will get a chance to test its viability here, according to LA Times.
Gianforte also said on Wednesday (local time) that as of June 1, no social media platforms linked to foreign enemies would be allowed to be used on government property or for official activities in Montana.
He mentioned several apps, including WeChat, whose parent business is based in China, and Telegram Messenger, established in Russia.
The new law in Montana bans TikTok downloads within the state and fines any “entity”–such as an app store or TikTok–USD10,000 per day for each occasion when a user “is offered the ability” to visit the social media site or download the app. Users would not be subject to the fines, LA Times reported.
TikTok did not immediately answer a request for a response, but the company has stated that it will battle to allow people of Montana to use the app.