TikTok filed a lawsuit in US federal court on Monday (May 22) after the state of Montana opted to ban the video-sharing app entirely.
TikTok’s contention
According to TikTok, the ban that shall be imposed on it by the US state of Montana from 2024 will be a deprivation of its constitutional right to freedom of speech.
Recently as per the complaint lodged in Federal court, by the app, Tiktok stated, “We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to safeguard our company and the thousands of Montanans who use the app. In an interview with the news organisation, a spokeswoman for TikTok stated, “We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.”
Source: The Indian Express
State’s response
The governor of the state of Montana, Mr. Greg Gianforte had given his historic ban of the law relating to this on May 17. According to a tweet by the Governor, the intention of putting such a ban to protect Montanans’ private information from the Chinese Communist Party. However, in defense the app argued that the state has imposed such restrictions merely based on observations and assumptions.
TikTok installations are prohibited in Montana under the state’s new statute. Any “entity” — such as an app store or TikTok — would face a daily $10,000 fee for each instance in which a user “is offered the ability” to access the social networking site or download the app. Sers, on the other hand, would be exempt from the fines.
Response from Users
Last Monday, five TikTok users filed their own complaint, arguing that the app’s ban in Montana violates their rights to free speech as enshrined under their First Amendment, and asking a federal court to overturn the decision.
Both cases filed against Montana claim that the state is violating free speech rights while simultaneously attempting to use national security powers that are exclusive to the federal government.
