A US judge late Thursday blocked Montana’s first-of-its-kind state ban on the use of short video-sharing app TikTok from taking effect on January 1, saying it violated users’ free speech rights.
District Judge Donald Molloy issued a preliminary injunction to block the ban on the Chinese-owned app, saying the country’s ban “exceeds state authority and violates consumers’ constitutional rights.”
TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, did not immediately comment Thursday. The company sued Montana in May, seeking to block the state’s ban on several grounds, arguing that it violates the company’s and consumers’ First Amendment free speech rights. TikTok users in Montana also filed a lawsuit to block the ban.
The attorney general’s office, which defended the ban passed by the legislature citing concerns about Montana users’ personal data and potential Chinese espionage, did not immediately comment.
The judge said Montana’s ban “exceeds state authority and violates consumers’ constitutional rights.” Reuters
TikTok said in a court filing that it “does not share, and will not share, US user data with the Chinese government, and has taken significant steps to protect the privacy and security of TikTok users.”
Molloy, who was appointed to the bench by Democratic President Bill Clinton, found merit in many of the arguments raised by TikTok in his opinion.
During the October hearing, Molloy questioned why no other state followed Montana in banning TikTok and asked if the state was being “paternalistic” by arguing the ban was necessary to protect TikTok users’ data.
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill banning TikTok in his state into law. AP
Montana can impose a $10,000 fine for each TikTok violation in the state but the law does not impose penalties on individual TikTok users.
TikTok has faced efforts by some in Congress to ban the app or give the Biden administration new powers to impose restrictions or block it, but those efforts have stalled in recent months.
Former President Donald Trump in 2020 tried to block new downloads of TikTok, but a series of court rulings prevented an effective ban from taking effect.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
