The Chinese-owned media behemoth TikTok will soon be unusable on personal devices in Montana, making it the first US state to do so.
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On Wednesday, Governor Greg Gianforte officially enacted the prohibition. It is scheduled to go into effect on January 1.
According to the video-sharing website, the prohibition "violates the people of Montana's First Amendment rights."
Authorities from all across the world are investigating TikTok due to worries that data may be given to the Chinese government.
A larger prohibition, according to Republican Representative Greg Gianforte, would further "our shared priority to protect Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance."
In a statement, TikTok claimed that "hundreds of thousands of people" in Montana utilized the app.
As we continue to battle to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana, we want to reassure Montanans that they may still use TikTok to express themselves, make a job, and discover community.
It's anticipated that TikTok will file a legal challenge against the law.
By a vote of 54 to 43, Montana lawmakers last month approved a bill that forbids the use of TikTok on personal devices.
Although the rule forbids app shops from selling TikTok, it does not prevent users who already own the program from using it.
The app was prohibited on government devices in Montana, a state with a population of just over 1 million, in December.
TikTok claims to have 150 million American users. Although the app's user base has grown recently, teenagers and users in their 20s continue to be its most loyal followers.
However, there are worries that TikTok could pose a national security risk across the board in the US.
ByteDance, a Chinese firm, owns TikTok.
Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, was questioned by a congressional committee in March about whether the Chinese government could access user data or affect what Americans saw on the app.
Even while he acknowledged that staff members had used journalists' TikTok accounts to gather information about them, Mr. Shou insisted repeatedly that the company would never snoop on Americans.
The US government warned ByteDance earlier in March to sell TikTok or risk being banned from the nation.
Companies are subject to the fines, but not individual users. Companies that contravene the law might be fined up to $10,000 (£8,012), and the Montana Department of Justice would be responsible for enforcing these penalties.
It implies that tech behemoths like Apple and Google could incur penalties if they permit Montana residents to download TikTok from their app stores.
ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, has always disputed that the Chinese government is in charge of it.