In a previous post, I gave an update on the US Government Ban on Chinese-Owned app: TikTok. In this update, news broke of Montana being proactive in wanting to protect user’s data by banning the app.
On Wednesday, May 17th, Montana became the first state in the US to officially ban TikTok after Governor Greg Gianforte signed the bill into law. This law is set to take effect in January 2024 and is already facing legal challenges.
“To protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party, I have banned TikTok in Montana,” wrote Gianforte via Twitter. There are some concerns that the ban infringes upon First Amendment rights of people who use the app to express themselves, earn money/run a business, and find useful information.
The governor’s office claimed in a news release about the ban that “penalties will be enforced by the Montana Department of Justice,” and anyone in violation of the law is liable to pay $10,000 per violation, and also liable for an additional $10,000 each day the violation continues, according to the text of S.B. 419. In all honesty, I’ve never downloaded the app and don’t plan on ever using it due to it being Chinese-owned and our data isn’t stored here in the US, but I couldn’t imagine paying that big of a fine for the people who already use it and want to continue doing so.
TikTok has been an ongoing subject of debate in both local and federal government, as concerns are in several areas, such as the potential for TikTok to be addicting to younger users and the ability for people to use the app to spread misinformation or incite violence. While these concerns may very well be relevant and true, what makes TikTok any different from other social media platform if these are the only reasons to ban it? TikTok stands out as alarming due to government officials concern of privacy issues related to the app’s ownership by China-based ByteDance.
Access to user data has become a point of uneasiness for Congress, the Biden administration, and state and local governments. Many of them see banning the application and forcing users to stop using it as the solution to this problem, although TikTok has denied that it shared any data with the Chinese government.
What are your thoughts on this entire situation, whether you use TikTok or not? Subscribe to my blog if you haven't already and follow my Instagram, ToBeSecured, for Cyber Security info. Thank you for tuning in and remember ToBeSecured!
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