Montana’s ban on the Chinese app TikTok just hit a brick wall.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy issued a preliminary injunction against Senate Bill 419, a law banning TikTok in Montana. Set to take effect on January 1, the bill faced a significant challenge, leading to this temporary halt.
The plaintiffs, including TikTok and Montana-based content creators, argued that the bill overstepped state power and infringed on rights guaranteed in the US Constitution.
Judge Molloy’s ruling, issued in Missoula on Thursday, highlighted was a huge indicator in the plaintiffs’ likelihood of success in their challenge.
Judge Molloy observed that while Montana might have a public interest in protecting its consumers, the state had not demonstrated how this specific bill served that purpose.
Critically, Molloy stated, “While there may be a public interest in protecting Montana consumers, the State has not shown how this TikTok bill does that.”
He further criticized the bill’s approach, stating, “Instead, SB 419 oversteps state power and infringes on the Constitutional rights of users and businesses.”
The judge emphasized that the law was not sufficiently narrow, likening the legislature’s method to using an “axe to solve its professed concerns when it should have used a constitutional scalpel.”
The contested SB 419 sought to prohibit TikTok’s operation within Montana and prevent app stores from offering it for download. It proposed substantial penalties for violations, $10,000 for each violation, with another $10,000 each day a violation continues, though individual users were exempt from these penalties.
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Supporters of the law, including Attorney General Austin Knudsen, raised concerns about TikTok’s potential risks to users’ data privacy, given its ownership by ByteDance, a China-based company.
There have been ongoing investigations into the possibility of the Chinese Communist Party accessing U.S. users’ data, claims that TikTok has consistently denied.
Judge Molloy’s analysis identified the law’s emphasis on foreign policy as its critical weakness, asserting that Montana lacked a significant governmental interest in regulating foreign affairs.
“Despite the State’s attempt to defend SB 419 as a consumer protection bill, the current record leaves little doubt that Montana’s legislature and Attorney General were more interested in targeting China’s ostensible role in TikTok than with protecting Montana consumers,” Molloy said.
“This is especially apparent in that the same legislature enacted an entirely separate law that purports to broadly protect consumers’ digital data and privacy,” he continued.
Responding to the ruling, Emilee Cantrell, spokesperson for Attorney General Knudsen, emphasized that the case was still in its early stages.
She noted the judge’s acknowledgment that the analysis might evolve as more facts are presented.
Cantrell stated, “This is a preliminary matter at this point,” adding, “The judge indicated several times that the analysis could change as the case proceeds and the State has the opportunity to present a full factual record. We look forward to presenting the complete legal argument to defend the law that protects Montanans from the Chinese Communist Party obtaining and using their data.”
This ruling represents a significant moment in the ongoing debate over digital privacy, government authority, international data security concerns, and fundamental Constitutional rights, especially as they pertain to China’s influence through technology platforms like TikTok.
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