Will TikTok bend or break? The coming months will tell. The company must be looking at its strategies to know what to tweak to remain the darling-app-of-entertainment for peoples of many nations.
Montana has become the first US state to pass legislation banning TikTok on personal devices.
Short video app TikTok has been facing ban threats in the United States.
These ban threats are spurred by data security concerns about the short video app.
The US lawmakers are concerned about TikTok sharing data with the Chinese government since it is a Chinese company.
However, despite these concerns, no US state until recently has banned the app on personal devices.
They have only placed bans on the app on official devices.
However, Montana has become the first US state to pass legislation banning TikTok on personal devices.
Montana Ban
If signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte, the ban could come into effect in January.
TikTok suggests that it would take legal action to fight the Montana bill.
The bill was passed by a vote of 54 to 43.
It cites several concerns about TikTok, including alleged surveillance from the Chinese government.
Also, it refers to the encouragement of “dangerous activities” among young users of the app.
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These activities include “throwing objects at moving automobiles” or “lighting a mirror on fire and then attempting to extinguish it using only one’s body parts”.
Therefore, the new legislation makes it illegal for app stores to offer TikTok.
However, it does not forbid those who already have TikTok from using it.
Violations of the bill could carry a penalty of up to $10,000 (£8,000).
The penalty would be enforced by Montana’s Department of Justice.
Also, the penalties apply to companies, rather than individual users.
TikTok Reacts
In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson addresses concerns over the bill.
He says the “bill’s champions have admitted that they have no feasible plan for operationalising this attempt to censor American voices and that the bill’s constitutionality will be decided by the courts.
“We will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana whose livelihoods and First Amendment rights are threatened by this egregious government overreach,” the spokesperson adds.
Also, state in America are not alone on this matter.
Governments around the world are moving to ban TikTok on government phones used by employees.
