After the law banning it.. Tik Tok is suing a US state

TikTok filed a lawsuit, Monday, before a federal court to prevent the application of a law passed by the US state of Montana banning the short video platform from the beginning of 2024.

In its lawsuit, “Tik Tok” considered that this unprecedented ban contradicts the freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution.

‘Unfounded speculation’

It also indicated in the text of the lawsuit that “the state activated these exceptional and unprecedented measures based on mere baseless speculation.”

A spokesperson for the platform also confirmed to AFP that TikTok is confident of its ability to win this legal confrontation, relying on “a very strong set of precedents and facts.”

Experts warn

This comes after the state passed, last week, a law banning “Tik Tok” as of January 1, 2024, in a move that other states may also adopt.

However, many experts in the field warn that lawsuits and technical obstacles may make law enforcement difficult.

Greg Gianforte, the Republican governor of the northwestern US state, ratified the law on May 17, citing his move as “protecting the personal and private data of Montanaans from the Chinese Communist Party.”

Users file a claim

Last week, 5 users of the application filed a lawsuit before a federal court, in which they considered that the ban interfered with their freedom of expression.

In this lawsuit, as in the one filed by “Tik Tok”, the plaintiffs also accuse the state of Montana of attempting to exercise national security powers that belong exclusively to the US federal government, and of violating freedom of expression through this.

And the “Tik Tok” users saw in their lawsuit that “Montana has no right to prevent its residents from viewing or publishing on Tik Tok, as much as it has no right to ban (the newspaper) The Wall Street Journal because of its owner or the ideas it publishes.”

(AFP)

A fine of $10,000 per day

The new law orders electronic application stores (through Apple and Google devices) to stop making the app available for download in Montana as of January 1, 2024. Violating companies face a fine of $ 10,000 for each day of violation, but users will not be subject to any penalties.

Nor does the law provide any information on how to accurately determine the population of this sparsely populated state.

In addition to technical obstacles, the new law carries many elements whose legality can be challenged in the courts.

accusations of espionage

It is noteworthy that the ownership of “Tik Tok” belongs to the Chinese ByteDance group. Many members of the US Congress accuse this platform, which specializes in short and entertaining videos, which is used by 150 million people in the United States, of enabling Beijing to manipulate and spy on users, which those responsible for it deny.

Decisions to ban TikTok have been issued by many organizations and federal agencies in the United States and the European Commission, including the BBC.