Judge overturns TikTok ban in US state of Montana

A federal judge has temporarily put an end to a TikTok ban in the US state of Montana. It was supposed to go into effect in January, but according to the judge, Montana is going too far with the ban, partly because of freedom of expression.

In many US states, government officials are not allowed to have social media apps on their mobile phones, but in Montana the ban goes even further. “Enablers” – for example app stores – to download or use the app can be fined up to $10,000 per day. This penalty does not apply to users.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte defends the law, arguing that a ban would prevent sensitive Americans’ data from falling into China’s hands; TikTok’s parent company is Byte Dance, a Chinese company. It is also feared that the app is being used by China for propaganda. TikTok has always denied that user data ends up in the hands of the Chinese government.

About five people called Content creators, Challenged the ban just like TikTok. The Content creators Earn their money through the app, for example by promoting their company on the platform or through funny videos.

The legal battle is not over yet. This is an interim ruling and the parties can still provide new information. The state of Montana said it still hopes to convince the judge it can “prevent the data.” Montanus fall into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”