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Red State Moves To Fully Ban TikTok Over National Security Concerns

   DailyWire.com
BRAZIL - 2023/04/06: In this photo illustration, a woman's silhouette holds a smartphone with the TikTok logo in the background.
(Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Lawmakers in Montana have moved to completely ban TikTok from the state due to national security concerns over the app’s ties to the China

The bill passed the Republican-controlled state House on Friday, after previously passing the likewise Republican-led Senate. The bill will prohibit app stores “from offering the TikTok application to Montana users.” 

It now heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has not indicated yet whether he intends to sign the bill. His office said that he would “carefully consider any bill the Legislature sends to his desk.” If signed by the governor, the bill would go into effect on January 1, 2024. 

According to the bill’s text, the reason for the ban is because TikTok “gathers significant information from its users, accessing data against their will to share with the People’s Republic of China” and “fails to remove, and may even promote, dangerous content that directs minors to engage in dangerous activities.”

The bill was sponsored by Republican state Sen. Shelley Vance, who said that TikTok was “a major threat to our national security.” TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company, and has been accused of allowing China access to data on Americans. 

A spokeswoman for TikTok said that the ban would be a violation of the First Amendment and that the ban would be difficult to enforce. 

“We will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana whose livelihoods and First Amendment rights are threatened by this egregious government overreach,” spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter said. 

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Companies such as Apple and Google could face a penalty of $10,000 per day if they allow the app to be downloaded from their app stores. 

The ACLU and related groups have also voiced opposition to the ban, saying it would “trample on Montanans’ constitutional right to freedom of speech.”

Last month, it was reported that TikTok was under investigation for allegedly surveilling U.S. citizens. The FBI, Department of Justice Criminal Division, Fraud Section, and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia opened the criminal investigation over TikTok’s alleged spying on American journalists.

Prosecutors have subpoenaed ByteDance over “efforts by its employees to access U.S. journalists’ location information or other private user data using the TikTok app.”

A federal ban on TikTok has been proposed, and the Biden administration has signaled that it might be willing to support a ban of the app. 

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