Montana became the first state in the U.S. to approve a TikTok ban when the state's Republican governor signed a bill into law Wednesday afternoon preventing anyone in the state from downloading the app and implementing fines for app stores that offer it in a ban slated to start on January 1—though the move is expected to bring legal challenges.
FILE - In this March 7, 2016 file photo, Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte, left, ... [+]
Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the first-of-its-kind bill after it passed without any significant challenges through Montana’s Republican-controlled legislature.
Gianforte tweeted after he signed the bill that he did so “to protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party.”
Montana previously banned the app from being downloaded or used on government-owned devices in December 2022, with Gianforte saying TikTok posed a “significant risk” to state data.
It’s unclear how the ban will be enforced—or what will happen to users who download the app before the ban goes into effect—but the law will not punish or fine individual users of TikTok.
When signing the bill Wednesday, Gianforte said he is directing state employees to bar all other social -media applications that have ties to foreign adversaries from being used on state equipment and for state business in Montana, similar to his ban of TikTok on government devices, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Montana becomes 1st state to ban TikTok; law likely to be challenged (Yahoo)
TikTok Ban Signed in Montana, Paving Way for First Amendment Legal Battle (Wall Street Journal)