Montana passed a bill to ban TikTok in the state.
The state legislature passed the bill in a 54-43 vote — a step further than a ban on video-sharing apps on government devices by nearly half the states and the U.S. federal government.
The measure now goes to Republican Governor Greg Gianforte for consideration.
The bill, known as SB-419, cited a number of concerns about the app, including alleged surveillance by the Chinese government and encouraging young users to engage in “dangerous activities” such as “throwing objects at moving cars” or “photographing The mirror “sets on fire and then tries to put it out using only his own body parts”.
The legislation makes it illegal for app stores to offer TikTok, but it doesn’t prevent those who already own the app from using it.
Violations of the Act could result in fines of up to $10,000 (£8,000), which will be enforced by the Montana Department of Justice.
Montana The app has been banned on state-owned devices.
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“We will continue to fight for Montana’s TikTok users and creators whose livelihoods and First Amendment rights are threatened by this appalling overreach by the government,” TikTok spokesman Brooke Oberwetter said in a statement. Threat of expansion.”
Ms Oberwetter said the bill’s supporters “have acknowledged that they have no viable plan to implement this attempt to censor American voices, and that the constitutionality of the bill will be determined by the courts”.
TikTok, owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, has been under intense scrutiny over concerns it could hand over user data to the Chinese government or promote pro-Beijing propaganda and misinformation on the platform.
Leaders of the FBI, CIA and numerous lawmakers from both parties have raised these concerns without offering any evidence that it happened.
Supporters of the ban point to two Chinese laws that compel the country’s companies to cooperate with the government in national intelligence work.
TikTok said its servers containing information on U.S. users are located in Texas.