New Montana Law Banning Use Of TikTok Declared Unjustified By National Security Concerns

This past week we heard about a new bill gearing up for approval by Montana’s governor regarding the ban on TikTok.

But the tech industry group NetChoice is having its say on how the law is completely unjustified by the concern of national security. Therefore, the letter urged the state’s governor to come forward and veto the bill.

While the firm agrees that any threats to national security must be eliminated before it’s too late, they simply cannot be weaponized and used against people and businesses that are getting shunned.

Hence, banning access to the app through privately purchased devices is certainly a huge example of exercising power owned by the government. Moreover, it’s just not justified and would be deemed unconstitutional in terms of providing protection or safeguarding the nation.

The members of NetChoice entail TikTok and a leading number of other competitors in the world of tech like Meta and search engine giant Google.

This past week we saw Montana’s lawmakers pass out a new bill that prevents users from going to app stores to download the TikTok platform. Moreover, this prohibits so many people from using this app in the state while providing a few exceptions. The latter includes users hailing from government agencies and law enforcement firms.

While the decision certainly does not punish users of the app, what it does is make room for sanctions that begin at just $10,000 against the likes of apps such as TikTok and the mobile app stores.

The bill was set out by lawmakers in the state and it was due to a great many concerns regarding TikTok which is under the ownership of China’s ByteDance. There was a threat that data was getting collected and shared with officials in China.

NetChoice did mention more details about how the Chinese Communist Party is a growing threat to security but it feels banning such a platform is not the right way to go about the situation.

Instead, it wants the country to hold the real threat accountable which is the CCP. Hence, banning this app on devices owned by private citizens is like a punishment to them and the third parties in these places. And it further does absolutely nothing to weaken its power.

Lastly, the bill, if passed, would interfere with America’s First Amendment and that is what provides protection against legal speech while putting out dangerous precedents that may be allowed in several states.


H/T: Media Post

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