April 14 (UPI) — The Montana legislature passed a bill on Friday to ban TikTok in the state, sending the legislation to Gov. Greg Gianforte’s desk.
According to the Billings Gazette, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Brandon Ler, R-Savage, said it was necessary to maintain U.S. security from China.
“We are facing a threat unlike any other from the Chinese Communist Party hiding behind TikTok,” Ler said. “We know the People’s Republic of China is one of our top adversaries, yet we allow them to freely gather information about Montanans, Montana’s companies, and the intellectual property of its users.”
TikTok criticized the vote as it has with other attempts to block its use in the United States.
“The bill’s champions have admitted that they have no feasible plan for operationalizing this attempt to censor American voices and that the bill’s constitutionality will be decided by the courts,” said spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter. “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.”
Federal lawmakers have been pushing for a nationwide ban on TikTok, and the app already is banned on U.S. government devices.
Gianforte has not said yet if he will sign the bill, but he already has banned the use of TikTok on state-owned devices and networks.
The ban would take effect on Jan. 1, 2024.