TikTok sues Montana over controversial state ban


On Monday, TikTok sued Montana over a new law that would ban the app statewide next year.
The lawsuit comes less than a week after Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed SB 419, the first state bill to ban the popular video app. The law, set to go into effect January 2024, would prohibit TikTok from operating “within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana” and would force mobile app stores to make the app unavailable for download within the state.
“We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana,” Brooke Oberwetter, TikTok spokesperson, said in a statement Monday. “We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.”
TikTok’s lawsuit follows much of the criticism civil liberties groups like the ACLU have raised since the bill was first passed by the Montana state legislature in April. The suit claims that the ban is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment. TikTok also argues that it’s unlawful for states to implement these bans, claiming that the federal government has the sole authority to remedy threats to national security.
TikTok’s Monday suit is the second challenging the Montana ban. Last Thursday, a group of TikTok creators filed their own lawsuit, calling it unconstitutional and infringing on their free speech rights.
While Montana’s ban is the first state ban to be approved, TikTok has previously challenged other federal attempts to ban its app nationwide. US federal judges have blocked attempts to ban that and other Chinese apps like WeChat, stemming from executive orders signed by former President Donald Trump.
Last Thursday, Eric Ebenstein, TikTok’s vice president for public policy, told CNN that the national security complaints raised by Montana, state lawmakers, and federal policymakers were unjustified.
“National security concerns are rightly within the purview of the federal government,” Ebenstein said Thursday. “That’s not within the basis of governance for Montana or any other state. We think there’s probably a reason why no other state currently has a similar bill. This is an outlier.”
On Monday, TikTok sued Montana over a new law that would ban the app statewide next year. The lawsuit comes less than a week after Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed SB 419, the first state bill to ban the popular video app. The law, set to go into effect January…
Recent Posts
- FTC Chair praises Justice Thomas as ‘the most important judge of the last 100 years’ for Black History Month
- HP acquires Humane Ai and gives the AI pin a humane death
- DOGE can keep accessing government data for now, judge rules
- In a test, 2000 people were shown deepfake content, and only two of them managed to get a perfect score
- Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, February 19 (game #1122)
Archives
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010