TikTok filed a lawsuit Monday against Montana over the state’s new law that would ban the app starting early next year.
“We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana. We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
The suit claims Montana “unlawfully abridges one of the core freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment.” The complaint, submitted in the Montana District Court, also alleges that the ban violates other federal laws. Additionally, the suit dismisses concerns that the Chinese government could access the data of US TikTok users, calling them “unfounded.”
Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the bill last week, banning TikTok “to protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party.” Under the bill, starting January 1, 2024, TikTok and mobile app stores would be fined $10,000 each day the app is made available to personal devices in the state.
