Judge Blocks Montana's TikTok Ban

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Facts

  • District Judge Donald Molloy blocked Montana's ban on TikTok — scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1 — on Thursday, noting it violated users' free speech rights and the Constitution 'in more ways than one.'1
  • The ban 'oversteps state power,' Judge Molloy ruled. In May, TikTok sued Montana, arguing that the state's legislation prohibiting the app violated the company and users' constitutional rights.2
  • According to the preliminary injunction, the ban on the ByteDance-owned app was intended to target 'China's ostensible role in TikTok' rather than protect its users.3
  • GOP-governed Montana had cited the potential for TikTok to share user data with the PRC — which can legally marshall firms to gather intelligence — when it became the first US state to ban the app.4
  • The judge, however, suggested Montana could provide public service warnings about the possibility of ByteDance collecting data because users are required to agree to TikTok's policies to use the app.5
  • Meanwhile, the Montana attorney general's office has said that Judge Molloy's ruling was only preliminary and that it would make 'the complete legal argument' to defend the ban.6

Sources: 1BBC News, 2The Guardian, 3Forbes, 4Independent, 5The Hill and 6Reuters.

Narratives

  • Anti-China narrative, as provided by The Hill. The Department of Justice is probing ByteDance's use of TikTok data to spy on US journalists. Montana's ban says the app can operate unfettered if it severs its connection with ByteDance. Given how murky Chinese companies are, such a ban is necessary to keep Americans safe from a prying China. Hopefully, more US states will follow Montana's path.
  • Pro-China narrative, as provided by Xinhua. Leaders on both sides of the aisle are leading a cynical assault against TikTok to foment anti-China sentiment, with there being not one shred of evidence that the app is used for espionage purposes by China. TikTok collects no more data than American tech platforms but is under much more scrutiny. The TikTok crusade is bordering on hysteria, as US leaders ignore the grave privacy concerns posed by Western social media platforms.

Predictions