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TikTok asks US judge to block Montana state ban on app

TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, has filed a lawsuit against the Montana state ban and is seeking a preliminary injunction to block its enforcement that should come into effect on 1 January. Montana passed a law imposing fines of $10,000 for each violation by TikTok. The law does not impose penalties on individual TikTok users.

TikTok filed suit in May and is now asking the US District Judge to issue a preliminary injunction to block the first-of-its-kind US state ban on several grounds, claiming that it infringes on the First Amendment rights of both TikTok and its users. Additionally, the platforms claim that the ban is preempted by federal law and violates the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution.

The company estimates that around 380,000 people in Montana use TikTok out of 150 million users nationwide. The platform also insists that it does not share any data with the Chinese government and warns that the ban would have significant and irreversible effects on its business and brand. Montana, on the other hand, is considering expanding the ban.

TikTok’s CEO: Some China-based employees can access US user data

TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew confirmed it: China-based employees who pass specific internal security checks can access certain information related to TikTok’s US users, including public videos and comments. All of that data is protected by ‘robust cybersecurity controls’ and is not disclosed to the Chinese government, he said.

TikTok has reiterated that Project Texas, which includes physically storing US user information in data centres on US servers owned by software giant Oracle Corp, is the answer. However, the US Senate Intelligence Committee is concerned about the reliability of TikTok’s promises and has asked the US Federal Trade Commission to open an investigation into whether TikTok misled US lawmakers about China-based employees of its parent company, ByteDance, accessing American user data.