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“Tik Tok” filed a lawsuit on Monday in federal court to prevent enforcement of a law passed by the US state of Montana that bans the short-video platform from the beginning of the year 2024 .
And “Tik Tok” found in its lawsuit that this unprecedented ban contradicts the freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution.
“Unfounded speculation”
He also indicated in the text of the lawsuit that “the state triggered these exceptional and unprecedented measures based on mere unfounded speculation.”
A spokesperson for the platform also confirmed to AFP that TikTok is confident in its ability to win this legal confrontation, based on “a very strong set of precedents and facts”.
Experts warn
This comes after the state passed a law last week banning “Tik Tok” starting January 1, 2024, in a move other states could also adopt.
However, many industry experts have warned that legal action and technical hurdles could make 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 highlanders from the Chinese Communist Party.”
Users file a complaint
Last week, 5 of the app’s users filed a lawsuit in federal court, in which they felt 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 federal government of the United States, and of violating freedom of expression through its.
And “Tik Tok” users saw in their lawsuit that “Montana has no right to stop its residents from viewing or posting on Tik Tok, just as it has no right to ban (the newspaper) The Wall Street Journal because of its owner or the ideas it publishes.”
A fine of $10,000 per day
The new law requires electronic application stores (through Apple and Google devices) to stop making the app available for download in Montana starting January 1, 2024, subject to penalties.
Nor does the law provide any insight into how to accurately determine the population of this sparsely populated state.
In addition to the technical hurdles, the new law contains many elements whose legality can be challenged in court.
espionage allegations
Interestingly, the ownership of “Tik Tok” belongs to the Chinese group ByteDance. Many US congressmen accuse this platform, which specializes in short and funny videos used by 150 million people in the US, of allowing Beijing to manipulate and spy on users, which those responsible deny.
Decisions to ban TikTok have been issued by many federal organizations and agencies in the US and the European Commission, including the BBC.
