TikTok is suing Montana in an effort to stop the US state from banning it over national security concerns, arguing the move is both “unlawful” and “unconstitutional”.
The social media app, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, filed the lawsuit in federal court on Monday, just days after Montana’s governor signed into law a first-of-its-kind bill that would from January prohibit app stores from allowing downloads of TikTok in the state. It would also ban the app from operating in the western state, which has a population of about 1.1mn.
The proposed ban comes as governments and regulators globally have raised fears that TikTok’s China ties could allow the app to harvest data on its users to be wielded for spying purposes. In particular, TikTok has become a flashpoint in rising tensions between China and the US, where it has 150mn users, with Washington calling on the short-form video app to divest from its Chinese parent or face a federal ban.