TikTok has filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Montana, Monday after a bill was passed that plans to ban the app from being downloaded in the state starting early next year, per NPR.
TikTok is claiming that banning the social media app violates the US Constitution, including the First Amendment free speech clause as well as other federal laws, according to a complaint filed in Montana District Court. The Montana law
“unlawfully abridges one of the core freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment,”
the suit states. The company also argued that the concerns surrounding the threat to
“national security”
and the Chinese government having access to US customer’s information, are
“unfounded.”
The suit seeks to have the Montana law, which is set to go into effect in January 2024, overturned.
“We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana,”
TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said in a statement.
“We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.”
The bill which was signed by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte last week, would fine companies like Apple and Google, which operate app stores, fees up to $10,000 a day if they make the app available for download within the state once it commences January 1, 2024.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance. TikTok currently has 150 million users in the U.S., according to the company. Hypothetical concerns from the Biden administration on whether China uses the app to collect data on Americans, and spy on U.S. citizens have been debunked by TikTok’s chief executive, Shou Zi Chew.
“I want to stress that the US side has not provided any evidence to prove that TikTok poses a threat to the national security of the US,”
ministry spokesperson Mao Ning also said in defense of the app.
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
