Montana on Friday passed a law to ban TikTok, a text that is unlikely to be applied in the state, but which could strengthen the United States’ desire to ban the popular platform of the Chinese group ByteDance for good. .
Passed by 54 votes in favor (with 43 votes against), the SB419 law has yet to be promulgated by the Republican governor of this state in the north-west of the country, which has just over a million inhabitants.
Like many Democrats and Republicans elected to the US Congress, Montana representatives believe that the platform of short and entertaining videos, frequented by 150 million Americans, allows Beijing to spy on and manipulate users.
The text orders mobile application stores (Apple and Google) to no longer distribute TikTok from January 1, 2024.
Montana thus becomes the first American state to have passed a law to ban TikTok. But it will certainly be challenged in court, and is unlikely to be applied as is.
“The constitutionality of this text will be decided in the courts. We will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana,” a spokeswoman for the app said ahead of the vote.
“It’s time to stand up to the Chinese and ban TikTok”, Republican Representative Brandon Ler launched Thursday after an indictment against China, which “wants our data and our intellectual property”, and an application dangerous for “health and safety, especially of the youngest.
“Lack of expertise”
“TikTok allows and promotes dangerous challenges, such as throwing objects at moving vehicles or consuming too many drugs,” he added.
Democratic lawmakers opposed to the new law argued during a debate on Thursday that many of the criticisms leveled at TikTok over data privacy, misinformation or adverse health effects (addiction, depression, etc.) also apply to other social networks.
“There is a huge gap between the very serious issues of this subject […] and the lack of expertise of this assembly,” said Zooey Zephyr.
This representative pointed out that Montana residents will still be able to download the application simply by moving closer to the border with neighboring states or by using a VPN (virtual private network), which allows access to the Internet from another location.
“The ban on TikTok is unconstitutional in terms of free speech, impractical since it exempts ISPs and VPNs, and driven by anti-Chinese biases,” tweeted Keegan Medrano, an official at the local branch of the powerful civil rights association ACLU.
The text mentions fines for companies in violation, but not for users. Apple and Google did not react immediately to requests from Agence France-Presse.
The law would be invalidated if TikTok were acquired by a company from a country “not considered an enemy” of the United States.
The balloon too many
The White House recently urged TikTok to seek this type of solution — a takeover by an American company — if it wants to be able to stay in the United States.
Trade and political tensions with China have fueled the animosity of elected officials and public opinion towards the Chinese government for months.
The flight in February of a supposed Chinese spy balloon, especially over Montana, did not help matters.
“I don’t know if this law would have passed if it hadn’t happened,” remarks Andrew Selepak, a professor specializing in the media at the University of Florida.
Joe Biden’s administration is discussing several bills with Congress to ban the app, including the RESTRICT Act.
But this latest text, unlike the one adopted in Montana, goes far beyond the ban on TikTok, notes Andrew Selepak: “It gives more powers to the government to monitor the activities of Americans on social networks. I think law proposals centered solely on TikTok have a better chance of success. »
TikTok has for years denied accusations of spying by China through it.
Heard in March in Washington by intractable elected officials, the boss of the company, Shou Chew, put forward the means deployed to store all the data of American users only in the United States.
“We don’t believe you,” had told him Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the president of a powerful parliamentary commission. “ByteDance is indebted to the Chinese Communist Party, and ByteDance and TikTok are the same. »