Virginia, other US states back Montana in TikTok ban -court filing, A group of 18 state attorneys general urged a U.S. judge to reject legal challenges before TikTok’s Jan. 1 ban in Montana.
The state attorneys general of Virginia, Georgia, Alaska, Utah, Indiana, Nebraska, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and South Dakota rejected TikTok and user lawsuits “because TikTok intentionally engages in deceptive business practices which induce individuals to share sensitive personal information that the Chinese Communist Party can easily access and because TikTok’s platform harms children in Montana.”
ByteDance, which owns TikTok, did not answer a request for comment Monday. In May, the firm and users sued to stop the first-ever U.S. state ban on various grounds, alleging it violates their First Amendment free speech rights.
A preliminary injunction hearing for TikTok is scheduled for Oct. 12.
The states said TikTok, used by over 150 million Americans, has been urged by U.S. senators to be banned because of worries about Chinese government influence. Legislation to allow the Biden administration to ban or crack down on TikTok has stalled.
Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen said the legislature and governor “did the right thing in prohibiting TikTok from operating in Montana as long as it is under the control of a foreign adversary.”
In March, lawmakers accused TikTok of harming children and causing “emotional distress.”
TikTok “has not shared, and would not share, U.S. user data with the Chinese government, and has taken substantial measures to protect privacy and security of TikTok users.”
Montana could punish TikTok with $10,000 for each infraction. The law does not punish TikTok users.
According to the company, over a third of Montana’s 1.1 million residents use TikTok.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump tried prohibiting TikTok downloads in 2020, but court rulings blocked it.
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