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Social media company TikTok Inc. filed a lawsuit Monday to overturn Montana’s first-in-the-nation ban on the video-sharing app, arguing that the law is a constitutional violation of free speech rights and is based on “baseless speculation” that the Chinese government can access users’ data.
The case against TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, follows one filed last week by five content creators. They made similar arguments including that the state of Montana has no authority to act on matters of national security. Both lawsuits were filed in federal court in Missoula.
Signed by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte the bill on Wednesday and the content creators’ lawsuit was filed hours later. The law is set to take effect on January 1.
TikTok said it has not shared and will not share US user data with the Chinese government and has taken steps to protect the privacy and security of its users, including storing all US user data in the United States, as the case may be.
Some lawmakers, the FBI and officials at other agencies are concerned that the video-sharing app could be used to allow the Chinese government to access information on US citizens or push disinformation to pro- Beijing to influence the public.
Chinese law compels Chinese companies to share data with the government for any purpose deemed to involve national security. TikTok says this has never happened.
“The Chinese Communist Party is using TikTok as a tool to spy on Americans by collecting personal information, keystrokes, and even the locations of its users — and by extension, people who don’t have TikTok. with users may have information about themselves shared without even knowing it,” Emily Flower, a spokeswoman for the Montana Department of Justice, said in a statement.
“We anticipate legal challenges and are fully prepared to defend the law that will help protect the privacy and security of Montanans,” he wrote.
The federal government and about half of US states, including Montana, have banned TikTok on government-owned devices.
Montana’s new law bans TikTok downloads in the state. Well any “entity” – an app store or TikTok – $ 10,000 per day every time someone is “offered the ability” to access the social media platform or download the app. Penalties do not apply to users.
(AP)