JAKARTA - Five TikTok users in Montana have filed a lawsuit in federal court to end the state's new ban on the platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance.
The governor of Montana, Greg Gianforte, has signed into law banning TikTok in the state starting January 1. The five TikTok users want to block the law, which prohibits Alphabet Inc's Google and Apple Inc app stores from offering TikTok within the state.
The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court in Montana on Wednesday evening May 17 and is against the state Attorney General, Austin Knudsen, who is tasked with enforcing the law.
The TikTok user argued that the state was seeking to "exercise powers in national security that Montana does not have and prohibit speech that Montana should not obstruct." The lawsuit says the users believe the law violates their First Amendment right to free speech.
"Montana cannot prohibit its residents from viewing or posting on TikTok any more than it can ban the Wall Street Journal because of who owns or publishes ideas," the lawsuit read, as quoted by Reuters.
Emily Flower, a spokeswoman for Knudsen, said the country was ready for a lawsuit. "We expect a legal challenge and are fully prepared to defend the law," he said.
관련 항목:
TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, has come under increasing pressure from US lawmakers and state officials to ban the app across the country because of concerns about the Chinese government's influence over the platform.
According to the lawsuit, the five plaintiffs, who are all residents of Montana, include a sustainable swimwear designer who uses TikTok to promote her company and interact with customers; a former US Marine Corps sergeant who uses TikTok to connect with other veterans; a rancher who uses TikTok to share content about outdoor adventures; a student studying applied human physiology and sharing content about outdoor adventures; and a man who shares funny videos on TikTok and earns revenue from the content he posts.
After the governor signed off on the law, Knudsen, who like Gianforte is a Republican, labeled TikTok a "Chinese Communist Party spying tool that is a threat to every Montanan."
TikTok stated that Montana's ban "violated the First Amendment rights of Montana residents by unlawfully banning TikTok," and said it would "continue to work to defend the rights of our users in and outside of Montana."
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