A U.S. judge on Thursday declared that Montana’s first-ever state ban on the use of the short-video sharing app TikTok violated users’ right to free speech and prevented it from going into effect on January 1.
A preliminary injunction was ordered by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy to prevent the state from banning the Chinese-owned app, citing the fact that it “oversteps state power” and “violates the Constitution in more ways than one.”
TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance in China, filed a lawsuit against Montana in May, claiming that the state ban violates the company’s and users’ First Amendment rights to free speech. The lawsuit sought to invalidate the prohibition on multiple grounds.
Montanan TikTok users also filed a lawsuit to overturn the state legislature’s authorized ban, citing worries about possible Chinese espionage and the privacy of Montanans.
The since-blocked state law in Montana had the potential to pay TikTok $10,000 for each infraction committed within the state, although it did not target specific TikTok users.
Some in Congress have attempted to outlaw TikTok or grant the Biden administration the authority to impose limits or prohibit apps controlled by foreign entities, but these attempts have not progressed.
Montana was the first state that attempted an outright ban to the use of TikTok on any government-owned equipment, despite other states and the federal government prohibiting its use.
