A federal judge has issued a significant ruling by blocking Montana’s state law that prohibits TikTok, stating that the rule “probably violates the First Amendment.” TikTok, an app owned by a Chinese company, encountered an unparalleled prohibition in Montana, scheduled to be enforced on January 1.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, in his ruling on Thursday, issued a preliminary injunction stating that the TikTok ban, which is the first of its sort in the country, “exceeds state authority and violates the constitutional rights of users.” TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance based in Beijing, expressed contentment with the verdict, highlighting that a considerable number of individuals from Montana can continue to freely express themselves, generate income, and connect with others on the platform.
In a recent hearing, TikTok and content providers contested the Montana law, asserting that it infringed upon the First Amendment. Montana lawmakers expressed concerns about the possibility of the Chinese government obtaining sensitive information on TikTok’s 150 million users in the United States.
Following the judge’s judgement, Governor Greg Gianforte, who enacted the bill in May, was not able to provide a statement.
Critics of the prohibition, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and organisations advocating for digital privacy rights, condemned it as a manifestation of excessive government authority. Upon the ban’s original passage, the Montana chapter of the ACLU accused state officials of infringing upon the free speech rights of a substantial number of Montanans.
It is worth mentioning that no other state has enforced a prohibition on TikTok, but a handful have taken legal measures against the widely used application. The federal endeavour to prohibit TikTok, begun in 2020 by former President Donald Trump via an executive order, has proven unsuccessful. The federal government and more than half of the states have prohibited the use of TikTok on government-owned devices because of concerns about national security and the purported dissemination of pro-China propaganda.
According to a 2022 poll conducted by the Pew Research Centre, approximately 66% of American teenagers use TikTok on a regular basis, with 16% of them claiming that they use it almost constantly.
The proposal in Montana, which was sponsored by the Legislature controlled by the GOP in February, sparked national debates in the midst of escalating tensions. The legislation aimed to prohibit the downloading of TikTok throughout the entire state, while also imposing a daily penalty of $10,000 on organisations that enable access to the platform. Significantly, individual users were not subject to these fines.
The judge’s verdict prompts inquiries regarding the equilibrium between national security considerations and constitutional rights, establishing a precedent for potential legal disputes against analogous prohibitions in subsequent instances.
