When Montana outlaws TikTok

I read an article from The Verge.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has signed a bill banning TikTok within the state — the first ban of its kind in the United States.

First, this guy has an alliteration of G-G-G. It’s not everyday that someone has the same letter for the title, first name, and last name. Also, he’s trying to set a precedent by being the first state to ban TikTok. I see him on the cover on Guinness World Record. Let’s hope the M in Montana does not stand for Mistake.

TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter responded with a statement on Twitter. “Governor Gianforte has signed a bill that infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of #Montana by unlawfully banning #TikTok, a platform that empowers hundreds of thousands of people across the state,” Oberwetter wrote. “We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana.”

On the other side of the argument, someone on the TikTok side cites the First Amendment to appeal to the people about the right to free speech and expression. If all social media platforms were banned, there would be no free speech. It seems like no social media platform can be guaranteed protection if bills are written to ban specific platforms. Though, making a promise in this case will not do anything because legislation is taken in effect in 2024.

The ban would be an unprecedented restriction on Americans’ access to the internet. But it won’t go into effect right away. The law is effective January 1st, 2024, by default. On top of that, there’s a significant loophole: it’s voided automatically if TikTok severs its ties to Chinese parent company ByteDance, as long as its new owner isn’t located in a “foreign adversary” nation.

See, even the author agrees that banning TikTok is like going to prison. I mean lifetime imprisonment. No turning back. So, I think the loophole is just so TikTok sells its U.S. assets to a social media competitor, or the U.S. version may be under a U.S. incorporated party. This is like when Huawei sold Honor to a different corporation to be free of the scrutiny from the U.S. government.

We do know, however, that the ban will probably be challenged immediately.

That’s right. TikTok has such a big market share, and losing its U.S. market share slowly may impact the company’s revenue. To stop other states from banning, TikTok must fight back with legal coordination.

At least a few US judges have reached the same conclusion. In 2020, courts blocked then-president Donald Trump’s executive orders banning TikTok and the similarly Chinese-owned WeChat, concluding that the Trump administration hadn’t demonstrated a security risk worth shutting down users’ speech. These executive orders were reversed when President Joe Biden took office, so the cases never reached a final ruling — but so far, Chinese apps have fared better in court than the politicians trying to ban them.

Previous attempts to ban TikTok have failed. Let’s see how Montana will spin its case when justifying the need to ban TikTok. Maybe, Montana will join the rest of the group as failures.

TikTok is also far from the only place where people encourage each other to do stupid things online. And Montana lawmakers aren’t banning YouTube or Facebook... because protecting speech you find distasteful or dangerous is a pretty key element of the First Amendment.

I like this statement. Every online platform has some sort of crazy culture or controversial take. Does that mean they should be banned? If singling out one platform doesn’t solve the problem of reckless challenges, why is there even efforts to ban only one platform but legislators leave the rest untouched? My suggestion is that focus on legislation to protect people online is significantly better than limiting access to a platform.

That’s all for today. Check it out at

https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/17/23686294/montana-tiktok-ban-signed-governor-gianforte-court