Montana approves TikTok ban, bill heading to Governor's desk

April 16, 2023

The Montana House of Representatives has approved SB419, a bill that will ban the social media app TikTok, which has ties to China's data mining operations.

The House voted 54 to 43 to send the bill to Governor Greg Gianforte's (R) desk.

The bill was passed amid national concerns about TikTok's data collection. TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, which means the Chinese Communist Party has access to sensitive information from millions of users.

Chinese companies are required to cooperate with the CCP on any intelligence operations, and that means anything collected by TikTok can be exploited by the CCP.

The national security risks that TikTok poses to the United States have spurred calls for it to be banned nationally. Montana is forging ahead of the rest of the nation with the passage of SB419.

The bill will go into effect in January 2024 but could be voided by TikTok cutting ties with China or the passage of a federal bill. For now, Montana is setting an example that the rest of the states can follow to protect American privacy.