Montana on the Move to Completely Ban TikTok Statewide

Montana is in process of banning Tiktok statewide. Source: May Gauthier via Unsplash

Montana is on the path to passing a first-of-its-kind bill to completely ban TikTok statewide.

Less than a month after a hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives examined potential national security threats posed by TikTok, Montana state legislators have moved to pass Senate Bill 419, a sweeping TikTok ban. The bill has already passed the Montana House by a 54-43 vote after passing the State Senate in the beginning of March. 

If enacted, the bill makes it illegal to download the app in the state of Montana. Violations would be met with steep penalties; under the bill, both TikTok and any app stores that allowed users to download it would be subjected to a $10,000 fine per day.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has since proposed changes to the language of the bill, moving to strike mentions of TikTok and instead ​apply the ban to any "social media applications that provide certain data to foreign adversaries."

The push for this ban came amid U.S. lawmakers’ escalating distrust of TikTok and concerns over its foreign ownership. In late March, the House Energy and Commerce Committee grilled TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, over TikTok’s relationship with Chinese parent company ByteDance, the app’s handling of sensitive user data and the app’s potential harm on its young user base.

One of the biggest fears among U.S. lawmakers is that the Chinese Communist Party will use TikTok as a vehicle to collect personal data on U.S. citizens. 

The Montana bill cites not just national security concerns, but also fears for TikTok’s impacts on youth. The legislation notes how TikTok allegedly fails to remove — and even promotes, through its algorithm — harmful behavior, like in popular site challenges of cooking chicken in NyQuil and licking toilet seats and door knobs.

Enforcing the ban will be no easy feat. Brooke Oberwetter, a TikTok spokesperson, said even the bill's backers have conceded that there is "no feasible plan" for instituting the ban, as blocking downloads of apps in one individual state would be nearly impossible to enforce. 

Plus, the bill is already facing legal pushback on First Amendment grounds. The American Civil Liberties Union called the legislation a violation of free speech rights that "would set an alarming precedent for excessive government control over how Montanans use the internet."

Dr. Lauren Yanks, a philosophy and communications professor at Marist College, is critical of Montana’s move to ban TikTok.

“It's one thing if they’re banning it on state technology, but now they want to ban it on people's private phones. That's basically saying that we are going to control what you see,” Dr. Yanks said. 

She went on to note what the hypothetical future holds for this bill in regards to it being potentially brought to court for its infringement on first amendment rights. In addition, Dr. Yanks brought up the Pentagon Papers, highlighting how fast that case against the New York Times was brought to the U.S. Supreme Court.. 

“If he [Gianforte] signs it, there's definitely going to be a legal battle,” Dr. Yanks said.

With TikTok’s popularity among teen and college-aged students, the prospect of a nationwide ban has become a hot topic of conversation at Marist.

“Tiktok has been such a great platform for small artists to get noticed,” Emily Smith ‘23 said about the popular app. “Banning the app would limit that in a way, and I feel like it's going to hurt small artists and businesses as well.”

Noting how the TikTok algorithm has launched an advertising campaign in opposition to the ban, Alison Karpowich ‘23 added how this issue has escalated quickly and has become highly politicized.

“I know more about the Tiktok issues than who’s running for president,” Alison Karpowich ‘23 said.

If enacted, the ban in the state would not start until January 2024.