(PartiallyPolitics.com) – On Wednesday, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) signed legislation that completely banned the social media app TikTok.
The law is going to go into effect on Jan. 1, making Montana the first state to have officially banned the social media network following the increased concerns about data privacy. As part of the law, TikTok would no longer be allowed to operate within Montana and would no longer appear in the app stores, including both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, from making TikTok available to download in the state.
Both TikTok and app stores could face fines of up to $10,000 per day for violating the law, however, the penalties would not be applicable to users.
TikTok is currently owned by the Chinese-based company ByteDance, which has faced a lot of criticism for the way it has been handling U.S. user data. Federal lawmakers are also looking into whether the federal government is going to be able to restrict or ban apps like TikTok.
The Montana law points out that the Chinese government has a lot of control over ByteDance and other corporations in order to gain access to user information. As such the move aims to protect the private data and information of Montana citizens that would have otherwise been available to the Chinese Communist Party through TikTok.
The law is likely going to end up being challenged in court, as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups have pushed for lawmakers to vote against this bill which they have deemed to be “censorship.”
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