This post serves as an update to the April 19, 2023 post, found here, detailing the Montana lawmaker's approval of a bill banning TikTok within the state. On May 17, Montana governor, Greg Gianforte signed that bill into law. The law is set to take effect on January 1, 2024. TikTok and other companies, such as Apple and Google, could face fines of $10,000 daily for failing to comply with the law by making the app available for download within the state. [1]

Since the enactment of the law, TikTok has filed suit in an attempt to block the ban. Individual content creators have also filed suit  arguing the law is unconstitutional and a violation of their First Amendment rights. [2] Tik Tok's suit argues the legislation violates the First Amendment and Commerce Clause because such ban would regulate commerce between the states, which is a matter left to the federal government. 

While this is the first state in the U.S. to enact a law totally banning the use of TikTok, India banned the app in 2020. Other countries, including Britain, Canada, and France have banned the use of the popular app on government devices. [3]

TikTok is a major platform for many content creators, and one that provides increasingly lucrative benefits. It will be interesting to watch whether other states decide to attempt to enact similar bans. All eyes will certainly be on the Montana lawsuits, as important First Amendment rights and concerns over national security come to a head. 

[1] Maheshwari, Sapna "Montana Governor Signs Total Ban of TikTok in the State", N.Y. Times, May 17, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/17/business/montana-tiktok-ban.html. 

[2] Hanson, Amy Beth et al., "TikTok content creators file lawsuit against Montana over first-in-nation law banning app", AP, May 18, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-montana-lawsuit-72be560de89fb87e3c677c8e0cfd9fec.

[3] McCabe, David & Maheshwari, Sapna "TikTok Sues Montana, Calling State Ban Unconstitutional", N.Y. Times, May 22, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/technology/tiktok-montana-ban-lawsuit.html.