TikTok Asks US Courts To Suspend Restrictions On Application Use In Montana State

US District Judge Donald W. Molloy, handled the TikTok lawsuit. (Photo: special)

JAKARTA - TikTok Inc on Wednesday July 5 asked a US judge to suspend enforcement of the ban on the use of applications owned by the Chinese company before taking effect on January 1.

TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance filing a lawsuit in May, asked US District Judge Donald W. Molloy to issue a temporary ban order to block the US state's first implemented ban, citing violating the right to free speech as guaranteed by First Amendment to companies and users.

President of TikTok Global Business Solutions, Blake Chandlee, said in court documents that the Montana ban "will cause significant and irreversible losses to our business and brands" and would be detrimental "with respect to advertisers and business partners across the country and around the world."

TikTok also argues that the ban has preceded federal law as it involves issues that become the federal government's exclusive jurisdiction and violates the United States Constitutional Trade Article, which limits state powers to passing laws that incriminate trade between countries and abroad.

TikTok, used by more than 150 million Americans, has received growing pressure from US lawmakers to ban its use nationwide due to concerns about the possible influence of the Chinese government in it.

TikTok in its lawsuit confirmed that it was "never sharing, and would never share, US user data with the Chinese government, and had taken substantial steps to protect the privacy and security of TikTok users."

Chandlee said if this ban was imposed "we expect advertisers and additional business partners to step down from working with TikTok Inc (which is an entity that receives revenue from US advertisers, including in Montana)."

Montana can impose a fine of 10,000 US dollars (Rp150 million) for any violation committed by TikTok. This law does not impose sanctions on individual TikTok users.

TikTok estimates around 380,000 people in Montana are using the video service, or more than a third of the state's total population of 1.1 million people.

Former President Donald Trump in 2020 tried to ban new downloads of TikTok and WeChat owned by China, a subsidiary of Tencent, and other related transactions. At the time, the companies said the move would basically ban the use of the app in the United States, but a series of court decisions had stopped the ban.

TikTok's lawsuit lists the name of Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who is responsible for law enforcement. The Knudsen office did not immediately provide a response regarding a request for comment last Wednesday.

The sustainability of the feud between TikTok and the US government demonstrates the complexity of relations between China and the United States in the context of technology and data security. This issue reflects concerns about the Chinese government's influence on TikTok user data and US national security. This dispute also reflects China's efforts to reduce dependence on US technology and develop domestic alternatives.

Now, TikTok is petitioning US courts to lift the ban on use in Montana before taking effect on January 1. Court decisions will play an important role in determining the future of TikTok in the state and providing guidance for similar cases in the future