Montana has officially become the first state to ban TikTok in the United States of America (USA).
This comes after Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, signed a bill restricting downloads of the immensely popular social media app into law.
The prohibition signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte will serve as a legal test for a national ban of the Chinese-owned platform, something that lawmakers in Washington are increasingly calling for.
TikTok may not operate within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana,” said a copy of the freshly-minted law at the state website.
The ban makes it a violation each time “a user accesses TikTok, is offered the ability to access TikTok, or is offered the ability to download TikTok.”
Each violation is punishable by a $10,000 fine every day it takes place.
Under the law, Apple and Google will have to remove TikTok from their app stores and companies will face possible daily fines.
Lawsuits challenging the ban based on the right to freedom of expression are expected.
Owned by Chinese company ByteDance, TikTok has already been banned on government-issued devices in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the U.S. amid cybersecurity concerns.
The app has more than a billion users worldwide and is widely used in the U.S. and Europe, fuelling fears that Chinese authorities and secret services might use the app to collect information from users or to spread influence.
The company has rejected such allegations.