The US state of Montana passes a law to ban TikTok

Europe 1 with AFP 11:35 am, April 15, 2023

Voted by 54 votes in favor (with 43 votes against), SB419 must still be signed into law by the Republican governor of this northwestern state of the country, which has a little more than a million inhabitants. The text orders mobile app stores (Apple and Google) to stop distributing TikTok. Like many Democratic and Republican congressional lawmakers, Montana officials believe the short, entertaining video platform, frequented by 150 million Americans, allows Beijing to spy on and manipulate users.

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"It's time to stand up to the Chinese"

"It's time to stand up to the Chinese and ban TikTok," said Rep. Brandon Ler Thursday after an indictment of China, which "wants our data and our intellectual property," and an application dangerous for "health and safety, especially of the youngest." "TikTok enables and promotes dangerous challenges, such as throwing objects at moving vehicles or consuming too much medication," he added.

TikTok has denied the accusations for years. Heard in March by a congressional committee in Washington, the boss of the company, Shou Chew, highlighted the means implemented to store all the data of American users only in the United States. "This law is a shocking violation of Montana's rights to freedom of expression" and a "disastrous precedent," Vanessa Pappas, TikTok's chief operating officer, said after a Montana Senate vote in favor of the ban in early March.

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'Lack of expertise'

Democratic lawmakers opposed to the new law argued during a debate Thursday that many of the criticisms made to TikTok in terms of data privacy, misinformation or adverse health effects (addiction, depression, etc.) also apply to other social networks. "There is a huge gap between the very serious issues of this subject (...) and the lack of expertise of this assembly," Zephyr said.

She also pointed out that Montana residents will still be able to download or update the app simply by approaching the border with neighboring states or by using a VPN (virtual private network), which allows access to the internet from another location. Several independent experts noted that the law would certainly be challenged in court, and was unlikely to be applied as it stood. Apple and Google did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment.

The text mentions fines for offending companies, but not for users. It also states that the law would be struck down if TikTok was acquired by a company from a country "not considered an enemy" of the United States. The White House recently urged TikTok to look for this type of solution a takeover by an American company if it wants to be able to stay in the United States. The government is also discussing with Congress several bills to ban the app.