Montana Just Banned TikTok

Montana made history yesterday as the first state in the U.S. to officially ban TikTok. 

Yesterday, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 419 into law. It states that “TikTok may not operate within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana” and that mobile app stores like Google Play may not offer the option for those to download TikTok. 

While the bill does not specify penalties for those who use TikTok within the state’s jurisdiction, it does note that the app store operators and TikTok itself can face fines of $10,000 per day. The state bill has defined an individual violation as “each time that a user accesses TikTok, is offered the ability to access TikTok, or is offered the ability to download TikTok.” 

The law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024; the only way the law would be reversed is if a court blocks the rule or, as noted in the bill, if TikTok is sold to another company that is “incorporated in any other country designated as a foreign adversary.”

In the last few years, TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, have been under strict scrutiny as Democratic and Republican lawmakers have pushed to ban TikTok, with the Biden administration reportedly demanding that TikTok be sold off, or it will be banned. In February, the Biden administration said federal agencies have 30 days to remove TikTok installed on government devices. In March, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before Congress to face questions from lawmakers about the app.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.